Incredibly easy vegan chocolate hazelnut star bread that’s a festive dairy free holiday breakfast! Easy to prep the day before and rise overnight, this star bread recipe is the perfect Christmas morning breakfast or brunch!
What is Christmas star bread?
Have you ever had star bread before?
It’s basically like a cinnamon bun (most people make their star breads with cinnamon, so then it really is like a cinnamon bun!), except twisted and shaped into a star for the holidays!
I believe star bread actually originates from Sweden. I’ve made it twice in the past, but this year, I decided it would be fun to put a vegan and dairy free “twist” on it, if you will 😉
Don’t worry, this recipe has been tested more than once! This festive Christmas star bread is incredibly simple and easy to follow, and the results are just incredible.
Warm sweet and vanilla-y bread twisted with a vegan chocolate hazelnut spread (I like to use Artisana Organics, Regioni di Assagio’s dairy free nocciolata, or make my own vegan chocolate hazelnut spread) and sprinkled with a little granular sugar.
It is heaven. Especially served warm fresh out of the oven on Christmas morning!
How to make Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Star Bread (overview)
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
If you know how to make cinnamon rolls, you’ll do just fine making this star bread! The dough is quite similar to our vegan cinnamon rolls. The only difference is in how we shape it.
Let me walk you through all of the steps!
Step 1: Make the star bread dough
To start, we’ll make the dough much like cinnamon rolls:
- Heat the coconut milk or dairy free milk to 110F. Too hot will kill the yeast, and too cool won’t activate and therefore the dough won’t rise.
- Combine the heated coconut milk, yeast, and sugar in a bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes. The yeast should start to foam, and this is how you’ll know that the yeast is activated and working. It will also smell like yeast!
- Next, sift in the remaining wet ingredients and mix. Then add in the flour, and start to mix the dough, either in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a spoon. Knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes, until it’s not as tacky.
- Grease a large glass bowl with a little bit of coconut oil or olive oil, and place the vegan star bread dough into the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and place in a warm area or set your oven to “proof” if you have that option! Let the dough rise for 60 minutes. It should be double in size, like the photos below.
Now you’re ready to make your vegan star bread!
Step 2: Roll out the dough
Next, we’re going to roll out the dough into 4 equal portions.
Cut the dough into four equal pieces, and set aside. We’ll be rolling them out into 10″ in diameter circles.
Lightly dust a clean surface, as well as your rolling pin. I find it’s easiest to work on parchment paper so that you can just transfer the finished star bread to your baking sheet. Roll one piece of the star bread dough into a circle, about 10″ in diameter. If you can’t get it exactly 10″, don’t worry. Just make sure that your circles are all equal in diameter.
Repeat for the remaining pieces of dough, and set each aside nearby for the next step.
Take one piece of rolled dough and place it onto a flour-dusted baking sheet. Lightly brush it with melted coconut oil and 1-2 tbsp of vegan chocolate hazelnut spread.
Place another circle of dough on top and repeat the coconut oil and chocolate hazelnut spread assembly. Place the third circle of dough on top and repeat.
For the last circle of dough, do not add the coconut oil and chocolate hazelnut spread on top, but do place the dough on top of the third piece of dough, as you did the others.
Now we’ll move on to shaping and cutting your chocolate star bread!
Step 3: Shape and cut the star bread dough
This part is not as tricky as it seems.
First, press the edges of a 3″ bowl lightly into the center of the dough. This is where you’ll slice from the outside in and stop at the light line.
Next, use a pizza cutter to slice 16 slices into the dough to create 16 equal strips. I suggest first making quarters, then eighths from there.
Now for the fun part. Take two pieces of the sliced star bread dough, twist away from each other once then pinch the tops together to create an oval, as seen below. Repeat for all of the pieces of sliced star bread dough.
Once you’ve finished that step, brush the star bread with the remaining melted coconut oil and add the optional sprinkled sugar on top.
Cover the star bread and place in a warm area to rest while the oven preheats to 350F.
Step 4: Bake!
When the oven is preheated and the dough has rested enough, place the baking sheet into the oven (without the cover) and bake for 35 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
Since we’re not using a real egg wash, I use a vegan “egg wash” by mixing together maple syrup and soy milk. Brush the vegan egg wash onto the top of the bread before baking, and you’ll achieve very similar results. Then sprinkle on the sugar!
Then all you need to do is serve with a little dusted powdered sugar, and you’re done!
Now, if you and your guests haven’t finished your vegan star bread all in one sitting, the bread will last for 2 to 3 days at room temperature, or 4 to 6 days in the fridge.
If you’re reheating it, I suggest warming it up in the oven at 300F for 5 minutes, then immediately spreading with a little extra chocolate- because who doesn’t love more chocolate?!
Star bread fillings:
If you don’t want to use a vegan Nutella or chocolate hazelnut spread as the filling for this, you can of course fill it with other sweet or savory options! Here are a few of my favorites:
- Classic cinnamon sugar (much like a cinnamon roll!)
- Cranberry jam or raspberry jam
- Vegan pesto, like my friend, Francesca, from Plantifully Based
- Garlic and herb filling, like in my cheesy garlic pull apart bread
- Apple or pumpkin butter
- Mixed dried fruits and date puree
Can you freeze star bread?
Absolutely! You can easily freeze this star bread once baked, and store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you want to reheat a piece, simply preheat the oven to 300F, and line a baking sheet with parchment. Place your desired amount onto the baking sheet and heat for 5-7 minutes, until warm.
You are just going to absolutely love this amazing vegan Christmas star bread as much as I do! If you give it a go, let me know down in the comments section, as well as any questions you might have!
As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy kneading, twisting, and baking!
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
Print
Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Star Bread
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Swedish
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Incredibly easy vegan chocolate hazelnut star bread twisted and brushed with a sprinkling of sugar for a festive holiday breakfast that’s like warm cinnamon buns!
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 cups (540 grams) + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided (plus more for flouring surface)
- 1 packet (8 grams) activated yeast
- 1/2 cup (90 grams) granulated sugar or coconut sugar, divided
- 1 1/4 cup (270 grams) dairy-free milk, unsweetened, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (57 grams) salted vegan butter, melted and room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (87 grams) unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 1/2 cup vegan chocolate hazelnut spread
- Vegan “egg wash” (1 tbsp maple syrup + 1 tbsp soy milk)
Instructions
- Please read through all instructions before beginning. The overnight option and gluten free option are down below in the notes section.
- Prep: Grease a medium sized bowl with olive oil or coconut oil, and set aside. Make sure the vegan butter for the dough is melted and cooled.
- Activate the yeast: In microwave-safe bowl, heat the dairy-free milk until it reaches 110F- use a food thermometer to accurately measure the temperature. Any cooler or hotter, and the yeast won’t activate properly. Add in 1 tbsp sugar and the extra 1 tbsp flour. Gently whisk together, then sprinkle yeast, mix with a spoon lightly, cover, and let activate for 10 minutes in a warm area.
- Make the dough: When activated, pour the mixture into a large bowl or a stand mixer with the dough attachment. Add in the remaining sugar, applesauce, melted vegan butter, and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until combine. Then add in about half of the flour and mix on medium speed until the flour starts to incorporate into the wet mixture. Add the remaining flour, and mix on medium speed until a shaggy dough forms. Lightly flour a clean surface and place the dough onto the surface, sprinkling some extra flour on top or kneading.
- First proof: Knead the dough lightly, for 2-4 minutes, until it forms a smooth dough ball that’s not sticky. Then place the dough into the greased medium bowl, cover with a cloth or wrap, and place into a warm area to let rise for 1 hour. It should be double in size. If it’s at least 80F outside, you can place the bowl outside, otherwise you can place it in the oven (which is turned off) and turn on the oven light or start preheating the oven to 350F and place the bowl near or on top of the oven.
- While the dough is rising: grease a large casserole dish with oil and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the coconut sugar and cinnamon, and set aside.
- Shape the star bread:
- Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces, and set aside. Lightly dust a clean surface, as well as your rolling pin, and roll one piece of the star bread dough into a circle, about 10″ in diameter. If you can’t get it exactly 10″, don’t worry. Just make sure that your circles are all equal in diameter.
- Repeat for the remaining pieces of dough, and set each aside nearby for the next step.
- Take one piece of rolled dough and place it onto a flour-dusted baking sheet. Lightly brush it with melted coconut oil and 1-2 tbsp of vegan chocolate hazelnut spread.
- Place another circle of dough on top and repeat the coconut oil and chocolate hazelnut spread assembly. Place the third circle of dough on top and repeat.
- For the last circle of dough, do not add the coconut oil and chocolate hazelnut spread on top, but do place the dough on top of the third piece of dough, as you did the others.
- First, press the edges of a 3″ bowl lightly into the center of the stacked star bread dough. This is where you’ll slice from the outside in and stop at the light line.
- Next, use a pizza cutter to slice 16 slices into the dough to create 16 equal strips. I suggest first making quarters, then eighths from there.
- Take two pieces of the sliced star bread dough, twist away from each other once then pinch the tops together to create an oval, as seen below. Repeat for all of the pieces of sliced star bread dough.
- Second rise: Once you’ve finished that step, brush the star bread with the vegan “egg wash,” and add the optional sprinkled sugar on top. Cover the star bread and place in a warm area to rest while the oven preheats to 350F.
- Bake: When the oven is preheated and the dough has rested enough, place the baking sheet into the oven (without the cover) and bake for 35 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
- Serve and enjoy! Serve with dusted powdered sugar, and enjoy! This will keep fresh at room temperature for 2-3 days, and in the fridge for 4-6 days.
Notes
Gluten free option: Use the gluten free vegan cinnamon roll dough up until the dough has risen. Then shape it as you would the star bread.
Overnight option: Cnce you’ve shaped the dough into the star bread shape, cover the dough and place it into the fridge to rise overnight. In the morning, set it on the counter at room temperature while the oven preheats. Then bake!
Keywords: star bread, vegan star bread, chocolate hazelnut star bread, chocolate star bread
This is a work of art! Looks magical, tastes magical (and kinda like a Nutella croissant!). You must’ve channeled your inner Elsa for this one 😉
★★★★★
Aw you’re so kind!! Enjoy!! Thank you for the sweet words!
This looks insane!! I am really blown away but, do you think I could substitute the regular all purpose flour for 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour?
Hi Alexa!! Aw thank you so much!! So for this, I haven’t tested this with gluten free 1:1, but have a feeling it will act quite differently- I’ll be working on a similar recipe with gluten free flour so stay tuned!!
I’m making this today for tomorrow morning breakfast and it said the overnight directions were in notes but I’m not seeing it. Would I prep everything and just let the dough rise overnight in oven, with it off then pick up in morning from there?
I’m so sorry for the confusion! Yes, once you’ve shaped the dough into the star bread shape, cover the dough and place it into the fridge to rise overnight. In the morning, set it on the counter at room temperature while the oven preheats. Then bake!
I wish I could share a photo, it was beautiful! Can’t wait to make it again, turned out great! I used spelt flour and worked well.
This is so so wonderful!! So happy to hear the spelt flour worked!