Chocolate Orange Star Bread Recipe

With its sweet bread, creamy chocolate, and orange essence it’s hard to go wrong with this star bread recipe! This chocolate orange star bread is surprisingly easy to make, it’s perfect for the holiday season or any time of the year. And I promise star bread is a lot simpler to make than you might think!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. This post may contain affiliate links. For more information see my full disclosure here.

This chocolate orange star bread is a family favorite around here, I have a hard time even stealing more than one piece before it disappears completely! Typically I make this sweet pull-apart bread on New Year’s Day, but it would also make a fun dessert or the perfect breakfast for Christmas morning!

And though it might look complicated, I promise you don’t have to be a professional baker to make it, heck you don’t have to be a baker at all to make this easy bread. Below I’ll give step-by-step directions, plus a little video to show you exactly how to make this bread and create its beautiful star shape.

This recipe, as I said is actually super easy to make, it doesn’t take much time, effort, or even hands-on work to make this chocolate orange bread. You don’t need any special equipment or ingredients, you can even make this recipe with your kids!

Whatever the occasion, whatever time of year, this chocolate orange star bread is sure to impress and be enjoyed! Its delicious flavors, tender dough, and fun shape, make this recipe perfect any time, day or night, for parties or lazy weekends at home. And with a little practice, you’ll be whipping up with recipe in no time at all!

Chocolate Orange Star Bread

Equipment

• Danish dough whisk
• pizza cutter
• sharp knife 
• rubber spatula
• rolling pin
• biscuit cutter or canning jar lid

You can also use a stand mixer with a dough hook for this recipe, but I’ve personally never used one.

Ingredients.

For the bread dough

• active dry yeast
• white sugar
• all-purpose flour
• whole milk
• water
• egg
• softened butter
• sea salt

For the orange chocolate

• semisweet chocolate chips 
• butter
• honey 
• orange zest or orange extract, either one works great and gives a nice orange flavour

Toppings

• powdered sugar
• egg wash, optional, I’ve never used one for this recipe though

Additional topping ideas and suggestions

If you are looking to add a little extra flavor or texture to your star bread try adding one or more of these!

• cinnamon
• candied oranges
• chopped hazelnuts
• chopped pistachios
• nutmeg
• freeze-dried raspberries

How to make Chocolate Orange Star Bread

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the yeast and sugar in a large bowl, and set aside.

In a small saucepan on low heat. Heat the milk and water until they reach 110 degrees F. Gently pour the milk mixture into the yeast and sugar and stir gently. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes, at which point the yeast should be bubbly and smell very strong. (see note, if you are having trouble telling whether your yeast is alive or not)

Add the egg, sea salt, and softened butter and mix slightly before adding the flour. Start by adding 3 and 1/4 cups flour and mixing with your dough whisk until it comes together. If the dough is wet or sticky, add more flour a 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes together to form a ball.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 3-4 minutes or until smooth. The finished dough should be very soft and smooth.

Place the dough in a bowl cover loosely with a tea towel or plastic wrap, and let the dough rise at room temperature or in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes or until double in size.

While the dough is rising, prepare your chocolate filling. Create a double-boiling using a small saucepan, and a small bowl, preferably a glass heat-safe bowl. Fill the pan with 1-2 inches of water and place the bowl over it, the key is the have the bowl hovering above the water, not touching it.

Place the chocolate chips, butter, and honey in the bowl, and turn your lid on low, using a rubber spatula gently stir the chocolate mixture as it melts, be sure to keep a close on it so it doesn’t burn!

Continue stirring the mixture until everything is melted and the chocolate is shiny, then turn off the heat and carefully remove the bowl from the pan, sit in the orange zest or orange extract, taste, and adjust the orange flavoring if needed. Set aside

Once the dough has risen

Gently punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.

Roll out the first piece of dough into a 10-inch circle, roughly 1/4-1/2 an inch thick. Place the first layer on your parchment-lined baking sheet and roll out the second piece of dough.

Spoon 1/3 of the chocolate mixture onto the first round of dough, and gently spread it out, leaving roughly a 1/2-inch gap around the edge of the dough. Place the second round of dough on top of it. Cover the second round of dough with half of the remaining chocolate mixture, again leaving a 1/2-inch gap around the edge of the dough.

Roll out the third piece of dough and place it over the second round, top with the remaining chocolate mixture. Finally, roll out the fourth piece of dough, and place it over the third round as the final top layer. You should have 3 layers of chocolate and 4 layers of dough.

Using a pizza cutter, carefully cut around the bread, trimming any extra overhang, and doing your best to create a perfect circle, you can either bake the scraps of dough or discard them.

With a biscuit cutter or canning jar lid, make a roughly 2-inch big circle in the center of the dough. Push your cutter or jar lid down just hard enough to make an imprint in the dough. Then using a sharp knife cut around the 2-inch circle, about 3/4 of the way down, you do not want to cut all the way to the bottom of the bread.

Then using a pizza cutter, and starting from the edge of the 2-ich crile on the center of the bread, cut 16 equal strips of dough(think of cutting a pie)

Using your hands, gently lift 2 of the strips, slightly off the baking sheet, and twist them over twice in opposite directions. Set them down and gently push the ends of the dough back together. (see the video below) Repeat with the remaining strips of dough.

Cover the finished star bread with a tea towel or plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 20 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow the bread to cool completely, either on the pan or a cooling rack before dusting with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Notes

See the video before for a quick visual of how to twist/shape the bread.

If you are having trouble telling whether your yeast is alive or not, then chances are it is not. Once activated yeast should be bubbly and smell very yeasty, if you aren’t sure whether your yeast is alive or not, then you may want to consider starting over, and making sure that your milk mixture isn’t too hot or cold. If it’s too hot it will kill the yeast, if it’s too cold the yeast won’t be active. Be sure to use newly purchased yeast as well for a better chance of success!

Any leftover star bread can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or placed in an airtight container. Starbread can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days!

Video Instructions