Sourdough Chocolate Star Bread
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Sourdough chocolate star bread is made from a rich sourdough brioche dough and filled with nutella - you won't be able to resist it! It makes a delicious dessert bread.
This impressive looking sourdough star bread is actually really simple to make and bake.
It's a lovely tear and share bread to take to Christmas celebrations or even gift to your neighbours or friends.
You'll be surprised at just how quickly you can make this sourdough chocolate star bread!
How To Make Sourdough Chocolate Star Bread
This sourdough chocolate star bread is really easy to make, particularly if you make the dough using a stand mixer.
This enriched dough is full of eggs, milk and butter which is easily kneaded using a stand mixer.
I have chosen to use sourdough discard and yeast when making this to take to a celebration as it makes the timing a little easier (you'll find a true sourdough brioche dough here).
However, it works just as well as a true sourdough star bread - you'll just need to allow for extended rising/fermentation times (you'll find a suggested timeline for this further down).
- Add milk, sugar and yeast to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix until the sugar dissolves and the yeast is foamy.
- Now add your sourdough starter (or discard), flour and 2 eggs. Mix this into a rough dough. Allow this to sit for around 15 minutes.
- Next, add the butter and salt and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. This shouldn't take too long using the dough hook of your stand mixer. Try not to let the dough get too hot during this time.
- Once the dough is pulling away from the bowl, set it aside to double.
- Once the dough has doubled, divide it into 4 equal pieces and then roll those out into circles.
- Place the first circle onto a piece of parchment paper and spread it with ⅓ of the nutella.
- Place the next disc on top and spread that with nutella. Repeat for the third piece of dough.
- Then place the fourth disc of dough on top creating a stack.
- Press it down gently with a rolling pin and then place a jam jar at the centre of the dough.
- Using a knife, cut the dough into 16 equal pieces.
- Taking two pieces at a time, twist the dough outwards so it spirals around and then join the pieces back together to create a point.
- Repeat this another 7 times to create the points of the star.
- Allow the star to proof before adding an egg wash.
- Bake the sourdough chocolate star bread until golden.
- Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Shaping Sourdough Star Bread
Shaping this sourdough chocolate star bread might look complicated, but it's actually really simple!
You just need a small jar, a sharp knife and some patience!
The best thing about this sourdough star bread is that it really doesn't have to be perfect. You won't see any mistakes because of all the twirls of chocolate!
You can see the steps in the photo below.
- Once you've layered the discs of dough with the nutella spread between, place a small jar in the centre of the dough stack.
- Using a knife, carefully make four cuts to divide the dough into quarters.
- Now make a cut in the centre of those four cuts so you have 8 pieces of dough.
- Now carefully make a cut between each of those so that you end up with 16 pieces.
- Take two pieces of dough and twist them outwards away from each other. They should go around twice and then join them back together to form a point.
- Repeat this 7 more times to create the points of the star.
Tips and Tricks of the Trade
While this recipe is fairly easy, there are a few little tips and tricks that will help you to bake the best star bread possible!
- When making the brioche dough, make sure all of the ingredients are at room temperature. Do not use cold milk or butter.
- The dough might appear quite dry before you add the butter, but don't be tempted to add more liquid, it will soften up once the butter is added (just make sure the butter is at room temp).
- The dough should not be sticky once it's been kneaded. It should be silky and elastic.
- If you are using sourdough discard and commercial yeast, you can let the dough rise in the fridge rather than the counter if you are needing it to rise a little slower. Just allow it to come to room temp before you shape it.
- Once shaped, the star can be placed into the fridge to pause it prior to baking. Make sure your fridge is 4C or colder if you want to do this. If using commercial yeast with your discard, you could leave it in the fridge for around 12 hours. If using sourdough 24 hours would be ok.
Baking Timeline for Sourdough Chocolate Star Bread
If you are making this sourdough star bread as a true sourdough bread (that is without any commercial yeast) you'll need to create a timeline to manage it.
Here's a suggested timeline that works for me when making it. Just remember that your bulk ferment time will depend on the strength of your starter and the temperature of your home.
Enriched dough with butter, milk and eggs will take longer to rise.
| 8.00am | Mix and knead brioche dough for sourdough star bread. |
| 9.00am | Cover dough and allow to bulk ferment. |
| 5.30pm | Roll out dough, spread filling and cut/shape into star. |
| 6.00pm | Allow start to sit for around an hour before covering in plastic wrap and placing into fridge for the night. |
| 6.30am | Take star out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. |
| 8.00am | Bake bread for 25 - 30 mins. |
Alternative Fillings for Sourdough Star Bread
If you're not a fan of nutella, or just don't have any on hand, here are some different ideas for filling your sourdough star bread:
- Your favorite fruit jam (raspberry, apricot, cranberry orange and blueberry work really well). You might also like to try this sourdough brioche braided wreath with fresh raspberries orange glaze. It's made from the same dough as this sourdough star.
- Lemon curd or lemon butter
- Spread the dough with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or you could also use the filling from these sourdough cinnamon rolls.
- You could add the filling from these sourdough gingerbread rolls.
- For an extra decadence, you could sprinkle the baked sourdough star bread with icing sugar and crushed and roasted hazlenuts.
Other Sourdough Chocolate Recipes
If you love this recipe for sourdough chocolate star bread, you might enjoy these chocolate sourdough recipes:
- Baked Sourdough Brioche Chocolate Donut Balls
- Chocolate Sourdough Discard Bread
- Sourdough Chocolate Brownies
- Chocolate sourdough starter
- Walnut and Chocolate Sourdough Bread Recipe
Sourdough Chocolate Star Bread
A beautiful sourdough brioche dough filled with chocolate and shaped into a festive star. Perfect tear and share dessert for your Christmas table.
Ingredients
- 540 g All Purpose Flour
- 100 g Sourdough Starter can use discard
- 7 g Instant Yeast optional
- 200 g Milk Full fat, room temp
- 2 Eggs room temp (approx. 45g each)
- 100 g Butter room temp
- 50 g Sugar
- 10 g Salt
- 200 g Nutella
- 1 Egg + 1 tablespoon water For egg wash
- Icing Sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Add the sugar, yeast and milk together and mix until the sugar has dissolved into the milk. Make sure that the milk is room temp.
- Add the sourdough starter, flour and eggs to the bowl and mix into a rough dough. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes.Don't worry if the mix appears dry, it will soften up once you add the butter.
- Now add the room temperature butter and salt and knead it into the dough until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Once the dough is smooth and pulling away from the sides of the bowl, set it aside to rise. You want the dough to double in size.
- Once the dough has doubled, divide it into four equal pieces. The easiest way to do this is to weigh the dough and divide it by four - weighing will give you a better end result. I divided my dough into 4 equal portions of 270g.
- Form each quarter of dough into a ball. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before rolling each ball out into a disc. If the dough resists at any stage, just let it rest for 10 minutes so the gluten can relax.I found that it is easy to stretch the dough over a dinner plate to shape it. The dough is elastic and should not be sticky so this is possible.Each disc should be around 25 to 30cm across (10 - 11 inches).
- Once you have four discs, lay out a sheet of parchment paper on a round pizza tray or flat cookie sheet and place one of the discs of dough in the middle.It's really important that the tray you use has no lip or it can cause the star to become misshapen.
- Spread this with ⅓ of the nutella.
- Lay the second disc on top and spread that with another ⅓ of nutella.
- Now lay the third disc on top and spread it with the remaining nutella and place the forth disc on top.So you should have 4 layers of dough with 3 layers of nutella in between.
- Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes and then roll it out slightly using a rolling pin to ensure that all of the filling is spread evenly and the dough is cohesive.
- Now, place a small glass jar at the centre of the dough.
- Using a knife, you want to make 16 cuts in the dough to form 16 pieces of dough to twist. To do this easily, use your knife to cut the dough into 4 even quarters, making sure that you only cut up to the jar edge. Now cut make a cut in the middle of each quarter and then a cut between each of those - making 16 cuts in total.I've put a full color pictorial in the blog post above.
- Take two pieces of dough and twist them away from each other, joining the back together at the top. Repeat this 7 more times to create 8 twists of dough revealing the nutella and making a pretty star.
- Allow the star to proof for around 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180C/356F.
- Apply egg wash to the entire star using a pastry brush and bake at 180C/356F for around 25 - 30 minutes. The dough has a lot of butter, milk and sugar so you will need to keep an eye on it as it will burn easily (see cooking notes below as cooking time can vary depending on your oven).
- The star is cooked when the dough is golden brown.
- Take the star out of the oven and allow it to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar. Best eaten warm!
Notes
This recipe has been developed using a Thermomix and can also be mixed using a stand mixer. You can knead the dough by hand, but it is much easier to use a stand mixer, particularly for the butter & salt kneading.
Cooking Time Notes - you will need to adjust the cooking temp/time to suit your oven. My oven burns this if I cook it above 180C so I keep it lower. I find it is generally done at the 25 minute mark. You may find yours needs a little more time. It's ok to leave it in the oven longer if it needs it, just keep an eye on it, as the enriched dough and chocolate filling will burn easily.
The star is baked to perfection when it's golden brown and you can see the bread in the twists is cooked through. I do not use a thermometer to check whether it's done.
Nutrition
Calories: 540kcal Carbohydrates: 77g Protein: 11g Fat: 20g Saturated Fat: 14g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 3g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 70mg Sodium: 612mg Potassium: 234mg Fiber: 3g Sugar: 21g Vitamin A: 413IU Vitamin C: 1mg Calcium: 75mg Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Share your creation with us @ThePantryMama or tag #thepantrymama!
Could this be made ahead of time and frozen raw? To bake when needed? If yes, would you have a timeline for this as well? I’d love to try one day!
Is the temperature listed correct?
This is so beautiful. I'd love to see a video of you preparing this. I'd also be interested in how big your circle is before you start cutting. I think I may have made mine too large as the twirls don't look as nice as yours. My ends - instead of tapering in - were more like a ball. To watch you create - would be great!
Hello! I was wondering if you could fill the star to make it savory? For instance herb and cheese or garlic? Additionally, do you incorporate folds at different intervals? Thank you!!!!
Yes herb cheese and garlic is lovely as is pesto & parmesan cheese 🙂 You really can put anything you like in there 🙂
This dough is absolutely dreamy delicious! I made a homemade chocolate to go inside. Absolutely fabulous!
The sweet versions have all been family hits! If I were to make a savory one, would I still make the dough the same way? Does it need the sugar?
Hello I am Totally new to this and I wanted to ask what is the sourdough starter? And why do we throw it away?? Thank you
Hi! Have you made this as an actual chocolate bread? I made the chocolate sour dough starter and thought this was chocolate bread but it looks more like regular bread with chocolate filling? If I used the chocolate starter should I need to add more cocoa and sugar or anything?
Can you prep everything and then pop in fridge overnight and bake in am?
This was a huge hit in my household…it truly is an amazing dessert. I used your cinnamon roll filling and it was the best tasting and prettiest cinnamon star ever🌟
Mine turned out good and tasty. Though my dough was a bit too moist and was difficult to handle, even after leaving to rest before using. I think I will need to use less liquid next time.
Can I freeze this after it has baked and cooled?
Do you have an approximate of how long the dough takes to double in size when using sourdough discard and instant yeast?
Hello,
This recipe looks amazing! I’m wondering what the approximate size of each rolled out disc is supposed to be, either by rough height of the dough or diameter of the disc?
Thank you 🙂
Can this be frozen before being baked?
Hi
I would like to make this a few days earlier for xmas. Could I freeze the raw dough and thaw to bake xmas day or how long could I keep it in the fridge before baking
Thanks
Absolutely, you can freeze, however I would bake the star first and then freeze. You could keep the star in the fridge overnight and bake the next morning if you want to. TPM x
What are your thoughts on using egg nog (traditional or low fat) instead of milk for a little something extra? I've used it instead of milk for cinnamon rolls and wonder if it would work for this recipe.
I'm not sure how this would work, but it's definitely worthy of an experiment!
How long does it take to defrost and how long to heat and at what temperature?
This recipe is THE BEST!!! I have made 4 of these so far with various sweet fillings. If I want to make a savory filling, would I use less/no sugar?
Thanks, Wiebke
I don't change the dough if I'm using a savory filling. Because it's a brioche style dough, it will be fine with the sugar. It keeps it the right texture. Thank you for your review, it means so much! TPM x
I made this last week and it was delicious!! Wondering if they would be okay for freezing?
Absolutely, you can freeze the Sourdough Chocolate Star Bread. It should be wrapped well (I would wrap in parchment first, then aluminum foil). Allow to defrost at room temp until thawed and then you can pop it in to a warm oven to reheat if you want to. TPM x
Hello,
Would this work with full fat coconut milk ?
Yes it does. I tried it with full fat coconut milk for a vegan version and it worked great. Make sure to warm the coconut milk (I did 30 seconds in the microwave) and whisk it to fully incorporate the milk solids in the liquid before measuring.
Do you leave in the fridge overnight before baking? This is what I usually do with sourdough.
you don't need to do this with the Chocolate Star Bread, but you can if you want to 🙂 - TPM xx
Do these need to be refrigerated after cooking or stored at room temperature?
I've made only sweet versions of this recipe. Its perfect. I want to try a savory version next weekend, I'm thinking basil and goat cheese. Can you cut back the sugar amount in the dough for savory versions?
I made this today using cinnamon and brown sugar as the filling and topped it with icing. It is Absolutely Amazingly Delicious!
😊
I made my dough last night and used my active starter rather than doing yeast. I mixed everything as the instructions say around 5:00 PM yesterday and my dough has barely risen at 8 AM the next day. Any tips on anything I could do to salvage it at this point?
Your recipient was _the thing_ on the sourdough groups on Facebook this past Christmas, and I’ve seen it with every variety of filling you can imagine. But I didn’t have Nutella when I decided to try it, and used a cinnamon filling, and now keep making it that way. This is the most impressive looking bread I’ve made. I make it for my office without twisting two rays together, rather just twisting each ray on its own. Makes a sun, not a star, and is easier to share for a crowd. Also, Ive split the dough into 8 balls, not 4, and made two smaller stars, rolling the dough to 8-inch circles. No matter what I do to this, it works-thank you!!
I've made your star bread many times with different sweet filings, all with great success and rave reviews, thank you so much. Today I'm going to try savory using a crawfish filling for a party. Wish me luck!
This is my new go-to bake for everything! It’s always a hit!
I made this using my homemade spiced peach jam on two layers and brown sugar cinnamon in the middle. OMG The family gobbled it up. Hubby said it looked like something from a bakery. It's a little hard to twist with the slimy jam, but I made it work. Yum
If making this for a work event the following day - what would be the best way to keep it fresh overnight? wrap it in plastic? or parchment? It will be going in a bakery box, but I don't feel like that will keep it super fresh all night long
Thanks!
I love this and make the cinnamon star often. Do you think I could use the same recipe for a cinnamon babka and bake it in a loaf tin?
I would like to make using einkorn AP flour. Would I need to make any adjustments to the recipe? Extend rise timing a bit? Thanks in advance.
If I shaped it and left it in the fridge overnight and baked in a day or two would it give it a sour taste? Or it would be fine?
Yes it would be quite sour. It's much better to bake the star and then freeze 🙂
I've made this several times using yeast. This time I decided to use my starter. It's been 5 hours and it's barely risen. Like I'm not even sure it has. I'm regretting doing it this way now. Should I proceed and hopefully it raises jn the oven? I made a triple batch 😔
How long does it typically take to double?
There's no definitive answer to this as it will depend on the strength of your sourdough starter, temperature of your dough, kitchen, flour & water you used etc. You can read more about bulk fermentation here.
If I want to make these and gift, what size bakery box do I need?
About how big is this star bread?
I noticed that if you refrigerate it overnight and let it come to room temperature it says you only bake it for 15 minutes. However, if not refrigerating it, you bake it for 25-30 minutes. Why the time difference?
This looks incredible! What is the purpose of the instant yeast? If I don’t have any, do you suggest just leaving it out or using active yeast instead? Thanks!
Yes absolutely you can use active starter to make this sourdough Chocolate star bread for sure 🙂
How do I change the recipe to use all starter and no commercial yeast? I cannot remember if I need to decrease the flour and liquid (milk/water) in the recipe, or just increase the amount of starter, or just extra time to rise/BF.
You can just use active starter and no yeast - you don't need to change anything else, just extra bulk fermentation time 🙂
Looks fabulous. Just wondering how you got a star shape in the middle if you are cutting into 16 up to a round glass in the middle.. thought it would end up with a circle in the middle or does it just work.. I will try this weekend. 😀
I guess i am just overthinking it. But the instructions say twist the star ends away from eachother then join. But the picture looks like twist towards eachother and join.
I'm not a baker and yet this project turned out delicious. Did it with my 12yo son. Was a big hit with my family. Thank you!
I just made this recipe for the 1st time. I did not have Nutella so I used Strawberry Rhubarb filling. It came out GREAT. The House smells like heaven. I will definitely make again.
Is there a recipe to make this using commercial yeast and no starter?
You can make this using sourdough discard if you like, just swap the starter for discard and add 7g of yeast 🙂
Can this be made using a gluten free flour mix?
I'm sorry, I haven't tried with a gluten free flour mix.
Making this recipe now. In step 2: my dough is not dry at all. My dough is sticky in this step. When I add the butter it will be very sticky. I wonder if the hydration of my starter is off.
I made this today. My center came out doughy. Any suggestions? Loved it and it was so pretty. Just want to get it right.
Just bake it a bit longer 🙂 It might also be that you haven't let the dough proof long enough 🙂
I am so glad I tried this! It turned out beautifully on my first try! I didn’t have any Nutella so used butter and cinnamon sugar as the filling. I also did three layers instead of two. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
I’ve made this many times but wondering if you’ve ever tried 2 mini versions instead of 1 large one? Not sure if I’m brave enough to try it out and mess up the shape and look but for serving a smaller family would make more sense to just do a half batch size and save second one for another time.
How would you make this recipe vegan. I can substitute margarine for butter, coconut milk for the full fat milk, milk or bean water for the egg wash, but not sure about the best substitution for the eggs in the dough. I made this recipe as written once already, but would like to make it so my vegan daughter can enjoy it with us.
Could you add in ham for example? And make like a ham and cheese star?
Hi! how long should i expect the dough to rise?
This recipe was so easy to mix up and I quite enjoyed making it. I live in a 38' Class A motorhome with a small microwave/convection oven combo. I learned that this is definitely not one I should put in to bake as one large star. It was a disaster! I had to turn the turntable off so one "arm" burned, while two in the front still had raw dough. I did cream cheese and strawberry Jan and the taste with that wonderful dough is amazing! Next time I will split the dough in 8 and make 2 small, perfect stars. Thanks for yet another delicious recipe!
I am really wanting to try and make this recipe but my starter is still really young and not quite active enough yet. If I make this without it, should I substitute anything in its place?
I'm so excited to make this delicious recipe!!! Wondering though, has anyone converted the measurements to metric? I'd love to recruit my kids to help, and measuring instead of weighing would be much easier. Thanks!!
I made this today and it came out great! Based on other comments, I wrapped it in parchment paper and then aluminum foil and put it in the freezer. I am giving this as a gift to a hostess - what are the instructions for reheating?
Thanks.
This was so delicious! My kids loved it! I veganisms it by using soy ‚eggs‘, plant milk and vegan butter. And vegan chocolate cream. It tasted amazing!
Hi Jessi, I have been asked to make a vegan star bread. what do you mean by soy eggs? Thanks.
So I'm about to make this, but was curious.. if I use active sourdough starter is the yeast necessary?
No, if you use active starter you can omit the yeast. It is an enriched dough though so it will take a long time to rise 🙂
I'm so glad I found this recipe as it looks perfect for Christmas! The comments have some great filling suggestions but do you have a suggestion for a chocolate filling that is not Nutella? I am looking for a nut-free chocolate filling.
Hi Tricia, You can try some of these:
Your favorite fruit jam (raspberry, apricot and blueberry work really well).
Lemon curd or lemon butter
Spread the dough with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or you could also use the filling from these sourdough cinnamon rolls.
You could add the filling from these sourdough gingerbread rolls.
I used melted baking chocolate and added in some toffee bits and it turned out great!
This is not only delicious but so so beautiful!
Can you freeze these and then take them out to bake?
I haven't frozen before baking. They do freeze well after baking though and thaw really well. You can even warm up a little before serving. You could hold the star in the fridge overnight though and bake the next day 🙂
So yummy! I've made it several times. My only question, when using cinnamon sugar or jams how do you prevent the bottom from getting wet and slimy? All my filling seems to run out and make it really sticky. Still tastes amazing but it makes for a soggier 2nd day
So glad you love this one! If the bottom is getting too sticky then try to reduce how much filling you put in. You could also try the cinnamon roll filling for this recipe as it's less wet.
The filling for this sourdough brioche braided wreath is also lovely and not wet 🙂
Beautiful😍, but I need a video on how the ends are supposed to be joined together, lol.
Made this using a cinnamon sugar filling. Got lots of compliments. Will make again!
Can this be frozen? I wanna gift them!
Absolutely! It works great. We have freezing tips in this article.
What is icing sugar?
Icing Sugar is the same as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar.
If letting the dough rise in the refrigerator, how long do we keep it in there? I’m confused.
This is a wonderful recipe! Turns out amazing every time! Was wondering if you could make a tree shape out of this? If so, would you still do 4 layers or less? Are there any other adjustments I'd have to make?
My dough was dense and not elastic. I would like to try again…Should I sprinkle the yeast over the milk and let it sit first till it becomes foamy before mixing other ingredients? Also, the recipe stated not to knead too long that it becomes hot,, but also knead until its elastic. I'm curious if I didn't knead long enough. About how long with the dough hook should it take?
Fantastic recipe! Well written and easy to follow. Cant wait to try other flavors!
Came out great and is delicious. I did a cinnamon, brown sugar, white sugar, nutmeg and vanilla filling instead. It was the perfect amount of sweetness.
This looks amazing! Is there a way to veganize the recipe? I am allergic to milk and eggs. I could sub a different milk. Just not positive it would turn out with an egg substitute?
Hi Amanda, Many readers have said they used plant based milk, plant based butter, an egg substitute, and a vegan chocolate cream substitute for the Nutella with great results. 🙂
Incredible!!! I use several Pantry Mama recipes as my baking staples, but this one is insanely good. I tried it last week as written, and wow. My husband asked if I could make it again but with a cinnamon filling. I subbed the Nutella for a cinnamon roll filling and drizzled with vanilla glaze… OMG. Absolutely incredible!!! Best thing I have eaten, I think, truly.
Thank you Pantry Mama for such amazing, fool-proof recipes! 😁🫶
Thanks again for another great recipe, first time baking this, came out perfectly, so pleased, will bake again trying a savoury version.
Kept dough in fridge overnight and brought back to room temperature before shaping etc
So glad you enjoyed this one, Paul! Thank you so much for your review.