A Simple Cinnamon Christmas Snowflake Bread to celebrate the holidays.
You know what is one thing that I seem to love even more during the holidays? All the baked goods! Don’t get me wrong. I love baked goods all year round, but there is something even more special about consuming these deliciously baked desserts and breads while listening to Christmas music. I am pretty sure I am not alone!
I saw this bread made last year and have been wanting to give it a go! While the options are endless when it comes to the filling, I decided to go with what my family loves most: a cinnamon sugar filling.
Using yeast for homemade bread is not so scary.
I remember the first time using yeast to make bread. I was like ‘What the heck is this packet of tiny balls?’ If you have seen yeast, then you know exactly what I am talking about. Sometimes the yeast is good and then there are times it is not. When you don’t see the bubbly after effects from adding warm water/milk and sugar, then you know it is not any good.
The hardest part about making homemade bread is having to wait. Ugh. I am so impatient and waiting for my dough to double in size can be aggravating. The plus side of the waiting is that you can clean up and prep for the next steps! Important thing to note: YOU MUST WAIT. Okay? If you are like me and are impatient, you have to fight the urge to quickly bake this yummy Simple Cinnamon Christmas Snowflake Bread.
Cinnamon and sugar goodness.
As I mentioned above, we love us some cinnamon and sugar. It was no wonder that I was going to go with a cinnamon sugary butter filling for this Simple Cinnamon Christmas Snowflake Bread recipe. Other options would be Nutella, Raspberry Jam, or even an Apple Jam. Seriously though. You can go with so many different filling options.
So, what filling would you go with? I may try Nutella next time!
Simple Cinnamon Christmas Snowflake Bread
The perfect way to enjoy a cinnamon and sugar flled bread. This Simple Cinnamon Christmas Snowflake Bread brings the magic to the holidays in both flavor and presentation.
Ingredients
- BREAD:
- 1 package of active dry yeast (1/4 oz)
- 1 cup of milk
- 2 large egg yolks (save the whites for brushing)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- FILLING:
- 6 tablespoons softened butter, unsalted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Add milk and 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter into a microwave safe bowl. Heat up until butter melts. With milk and butter warm, add the yeast packet and allow to activate for about 10 minutes. You will know it is ready when you see bubbles and some foaminess in the liquid.
- While yeast is activated, prepare the rest of the bread dough. Add the flour, salt, and sugar. Mix well. then add the egg yolks.
- Add the activated yeast milk-butter mixture to the flour mixture along with the vanilla extract. With a dough hook, mix all these ingredients.
- Once the dough ball has formed, allow it to continue to knead for another 6-8 minutes, until the dough ball because soft and elastic.
- Remove dough ball and place into a well greased bowl. Flip the dough ball over once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2-3 hours.
- While dough is rising, mix up the filling. Add the softened butter, cinnamon and sugar to a medium sized bowl and mix up until all is incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.
- Punch down dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide the dough ball into 4 equal portions.
- Roll 1 portion into about a 10" circle. Add some of the cinnamon filling to the center of the dough round, spreading it out and leaving 1/2" of edge without filling.
- Repeat this step 2 more times with the rolling of the dough portion and adding the filling, stacking each complete round ontop of the other.
- The last portion will be rolled out and placed on top of the other dough rounds. You will skip the filling on this one.
- Place a 2 1/2" round cutter on top of the dough in the center of the dough round stack, but do not press down! Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into quarters all the way through to the base creating 4 lines: 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock. Next cut each quarter into 2 pieces, then cut those into 2 more pieces. You will end up with 16 strands connected to the middle circle.
- Remove the cutter from the center; grasp 2 adjacent strips and rotate these strips away from each other 2-3 times. Pinch the ends together. Repeat this with all the remaining strips.
- Brush the egg whites onto the snowflake. Cover and let rise until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375. Bake until golden brown, about 18-22 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool, about 7 minutes; then dust with confectioner's sugar.
- ENJOY!
Make that holiday menu magical.
Isn’t it so much fun when you can easily make the holidays more magical? This way is much more delicious than finding places to sneak and pose the Elf 😉 I love all that this Simple Cinnamon Christmas Snowflake Bread brings to the holiday table. You can even get the kids in the kitchen to help! I hope you all enjoy this time of the year and are able to make the most of it all!
More holiday recipes: Holiday Red Velvet Muddy Buddy , Festive Pecan Pie Puff Bites , Granny Smith & Honeycrisp Apple Pie
