This is not a paid article but who doesn’t love Nutella, right? I bet if we could we would be eating Nutella every single day. My husband is crazy about Nutella. Well, not as much as dulce de leche but it’s at the same level of craziness. I have to hide the Nutella jars in our house because he could finish them all within several days. Yup.
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The Braided Star Shape
Let’s get straight to the main point of this recipe, the braided star shape bread. Is it difficult to make? Nope, not at all. But I will tell you that it does get messy a bit but the beauty of it is that when it’s baked, it’s going to come out beautiful. Trust me on that.
You can find the written recipe for the bread dough at the bottom of this page. It’s just a straightforward bread recipe.
Now let’s talk about making that beautiful star shape. What I did first was divide my dough into 4 equal portions. I formed each portion into a ball and set them aside. Working with one ball at a time, I flattened it a bit and rolled it into a thin disk.
I was aiming for a 20 cm diameter disk and I used the base of a baking pan as a guidance. I rolled it slightly bigger than the pan. I placed the rolled dough on a baking sheet and continued the same thing with the rest of the balls. I kept the rolled dough between baking sheets so that they didn’t stick to each other.
Then I took 1 rolled dough and marked it with the 20 cm pan base. I simply pressed the pan lightly on the dough. Then I set the pan base aside. I spooned some Nutella onto the marked area and spread it evenly.
Note, warm the Nutella for a few seconds in the microwave so that it’s a bit thinner and thus easier to spread.
Then I took another rolled dough and placed it on top of the first dough that by now had some Nutella on it. I marked it again using the pan base, carefully not to press too hard to avoid the Nutella oozing out.
Again I spread some Nutella onto the marked area. I repeated the same with the rest of the dough. The final dough was left without Nutella on top.
Ok, so far so good. Right?
What I did next was to put the whole stack onto a baking sheet. Don’t worry. Just swiftly lift it and slide a baking sheet underneath.
Then I took the base pan again and put it on top of the stack. Using a sharp knife I cut the stack all around and discarded the excess dough. I removed the base pan and I was left with a perfect round stack of dough and Nutella. Awesome!
Next!
I used a small glass/cup placed it on the center of the stack and lightly pressed it. I wanted to cut 16 strips starting from the edge of the glass. First I cut the stack into 4. Then each section is cut into 2. And that section I cut into 2 again. I was left with 16 strips. Great!
Now comes the twisting part. Don’t worry, it’s actually simple. I took 2 strips that were next to each other and pulled them a bit. Then I twist them 2 times in opposite directions. I did the same with the rest. Simple, don’t you think?
Now comes the pinching part. Taking the edges of 2 twisted strips that were next to each other, I pinched them together. I did the same to the rest. Yes, that was all.
As I mentioned earlier, it will get a bit messy but do not worry. It will come out good.
To finish it off, I removed the glass and covered the braided star bread loosely with cling film. I left it to rest for about 30 minutes so that it puffed up a bit. Then I brushed it with egg white and baked it in the oven until it was golden brown and fully cooked.
I left it to cool slightly on a rack. It’s best eaten slightly warm. It freezes well too. We ate some and I froze the balance. I put it in a zip lock bag. To eat it, I just defrosted it on the kitchen counter 1 day earlier. Before eating I warmed it in a microwave and it was as delicious as the day it was baked.
If you love making bread as much as I do then I highly recommend my mini panettone with chocolate chips and my classic panettone bread recipes. They're so fun and rewarding to make!
More Nutella Recipes
- No-bake Nutella and dulce de leche cheesecake
- Three Kings bread
- Nutella Stuffed Cookies
- Nutella babka buns
Video
📖 Recipe
Braided Nutella Star Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup water (125 ml), warm
- ½ cup milk (125 ml), warm
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 packet dry yeast (7 g)
- 3 ¼ cup bread flour (420 g)
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter (45 g), melted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (65 g)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup nutella (225 g), warm a bit in microwave for easy spreading
Instructions
- In a bowl, add in both warm milk and water. Add in sugar and mix. Sprinkle in the yeast and mix again. Leave it to activate for 3-5 minutes. When it gets foamy then it's ready to be used.
- In a standing bowl mixer, add in the flour, melted butter, sugar, salt and the yeast mixture. Mix to incorporate and knead for 10 minutes. Form dough into a bowl and place it in a greased bowl. Coat the dough with some oil to avoid any crust forming on its surface. Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and leave the dough in a warm and draft free place until it doubles in size.
- Form the dough into a log and cut it into 4 portions. Take each portion and form it into a ball. Take a ball and roll it into a disk that's a bit bigger than 8 inch (20 cm) diameter. Use a base of a pan as guidance (or any item of your choice). Repeat with the rest of the balls. Keep them between baking sheets to avoid them sticking to each other.
- Take one rolled dough. Use a 8 inch base pan and press lightly to mark it on the dough. Remove the pan. Spoon in some Nutella in the marked area and spread evenly, again in the same marked area. Take another rolled dough and gently place it on top. Repeat the same and finish the stack with the final rolled dough without Nutella on top. Now carefully and swiftly slide a baking sheet underneath the stack.
- Gently place the pan again on top of the stack. Carefully cut all around it and discard the excess dough. Remove the pan. Place a glass upside down on the center of the stack, press lightly. Cut the stack into 16 strips, starting from the center (the glass).
- Take 2 strips, pull them a bit and twist 2 times in the opposite direction. Don't worry if things get messy, everything will turn out great at the end. Repeat with the rest of the strips.
- Take the ends of 2 strips and pinch them together. Repeat the same with the rest. Remove the glass. Cover the bread loosely with a cling film and leave it for 30 minutes so that it puffs a bit.
- Brush the bread with egg white. Carefully and swiftly slide a baking tray underneath. Bake it at 180°C (350°F) in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked. Cool on a rack. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mirna says
Great recipe, thank you! I was out of eggs and you helped me make a sweet soft bread without them! I was also out of milk so I just replaced the milk with water and 1 extra tbsp of butter. For those who asked I left it to rise the second time in the fridge, I took it out an hour before baking and I baked it and it was perfect! I had never made a shaped bread like this, it was so pretty and so easy!
Bea says
Yeay, happy that you liked it, Mirna. This bread is really a show stopper, right? Thank you so much for your feedback!
Vidhi says
Still can't see half cup water and milk measure in ml.
Vidhi says
What is the measure of 1 cup in grams ?
Bea says
I've added the grams units to the recipe card, hope it helps.
Cheshta says
Thankyou 😊
Myra Grijaldo says
Yes! I made both Nutella Star Bread and as a Filipino I modified the filling to A purple Sweet potato Jam that I made and it still turned out beautifully! I always bake and I appreciate the detailed steps on the baking process so everybody can come up with a beautiful, delicious bread that every one can enjoy and proudly share to your family and friends!
Bea says
Sweet potato jam sounds delish! I'm glad that you liked it, thank you for your feedback Myra!
Krisztina Bessenyei says
Thank you so much for the step-by-step tutorial, it made it much less intimidating. I did switch up the recipe a bit since I wanted a bigger size so I upped the amount, and also I added some vanilla sugar and lemon zest.
Turned out delicious, and pretty!
Thanks again,
Krisztina
Bea says
Oh I love lemon zest in breads! I'm happy that yours turned out great, thank you so much Krisztina! XO
Denet Brijl says
I have made this recipe before and my family loved it. Making it again tomorrow! My husband is Dutch/Indonesian and introduced me to nutella after we married. I fix a lot of Dutch and Indonesian dishes for him as well.
Bea says
Wow that’s great Denet! My family also loves this recipe 👍 thanks for trying it and the support!
Teresa says
Can this be prepared 1 day ahead and baked next day?
Bea says
I haven't tried it like that so I can't really say, sorry!
Anam says
What is I can’t find bread flour ? Can I use all purpose flour??
kathy says
I made it i made it! it turned out so beautiful despite the mess. lol! thank you!!!!
Bea says
Haha! Yes it gets quite messy at the end, right? And yes, it got transformed after baking 😀 so no worries. Thank you Kathy!