Star Bread

I was looking at babka recipes when this came up.  I thought it would be much harder than it actually is.

I made this during my monthly challah bake.  This was only the second month I've done it, but I'm really liking the concept.  It makes me more likely to do a Friday night routine.  You can do the shape with most yeast bread doughs.  Kick-ass rolls would probably be very good with it.

There are a variety of fillings you can use for this bread.  The simplest is cinnamon sugar.  I decided to use Nutella (or whatever generic version Target carries) because I end up eating most of the week's challah for breakfast over the next several days.  A second one went savory with an herb mix.  You could use pesto, but I'm now trying to keep my challahs pareve (neither meat nor dairy).

The technique works for any number of points to your bread.  I chose six points for the challah.  Eight is easier mathematically if you don't have a star cookie cutter to use as a guide.

Yeast dough of choice (approx weight 10-16 oz, depending on size of finished bread)
1/4 C filling of choice

1.  Proof your dough the first time as usual and punch down.  This is done on the shaping step.  Measure out 4 portions of your dough by weight.  I did 2 oz each, for a half pound loaf.  That was on the small side.

2.  With a rolling pin, roll each ball out into a thin circle.  The 2 oz ended up about 6" across, but proofed out to fill the width of the baking sheet.  This part might take a while.

3.  Place a circle on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Cover with 1/3 of your filling, about 1-2 Tb, leaving the rim clean.  It should be spread or sprinkled very thinly, or it will ooze out while baking.  Lay on another circle and coat again.  Repeat with the third.  Lay the fourth circle on top.

4.  This is where I got out the cookie cutter to mark the points.  Cut radii in your circle, leaving enough uncut in the middle to hold everything together.  Then cut those in half.  So, for six points I had twelve wedges.  Take two adjacent wedges and twist inward about three times, then pinch the points together.  Move on to the next pair, all the way around the circle.  Arrange evenly on the baking sheet.  Proof according to your dough recipe, and bake at that temperature.  If it works for your dough, do an egg wash.

5.  Cool on the baking sheet for at least five minutes before trying to move it to a cooling rack.  These are fragile when warm, and you don't want to break off an arm.  Serve as normal.

Difficulty rating  :)