Swedish Star Breads Cinnamon Chocolate and Pizza

Two breads.
Each a shining star .
What's for dinner on A rainy day? Something pretty, warm and comforting.
A bowl of soup and some bread.
The soup was a simple onion soup. But the bread was pretty.
For once ,even hubby dear was impressed.
There's this long list of breads that I have pinned to Pinterest,and I need to make them.
This Swedish Cinnamon Chocolate Star bread,I've made before. But hubby dear gets put off by sweets.
Yup he's that guy who doesn't have a sweet tooth.
So there had to be a savoury one for him. What better than a Pizza Star bread for him. I wanted to make a pesto first... but that was voted out.
So torn basil leaves were used.
Loads of Mozarella cheese and some cheese spread and of course my CopyCat Dominos Pizza Seasoning made it a wonderful dinner.
A simple bread dough from my Russian Chrysanthamum Bread that I use very often...
And two simple fillings.
Make the dough first and allow it to proof. For each Star bread we'll divide the dough into 3 parts
Swedish -the sweet breads are made at Midsommar or Midsummers in Sweden traditionally, helping them find a good husband.
For the
Swedish Star Breads


You need
4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup yogurt at room temperature
1 egg
1/3 cup neutral vegetable oil plus some extra to grease the bowl
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast
1/2 cup tepid or luke warm milk
If you are a proud owner of a stand mixer, go ahead and dump all of the above ingredients into the bowl and knead for approximately 10 minutes till the dough is smooth and elastic. Make a dough ball.

Pour some of the extra oil into a large bow, swish the dough ball around and coat that in the oil and cover and leave to proof.
Otherwise, place the flour and make a well in the center. Sprinkle the sugar and yeast over the flour and the salt.  Make sure the yeast doesn't touch the salt.Pour the liquid ingredients in and slowly mix in the liquids. Stretch and fold and knead till the dough comes together and is not sticky. You will be able to roll out the dough without any extra flour and it will never stick.
Allow to proof to double.

Getting ready to weigh

Once the dough has doubled, cut into 6 equal pieces. I'm using my weighing scale. Roll out the dough into a flat round and ensure that at least three have the same size. I used this to measure the size. Two cookie sheets with parchment paper at the ready.

For the cinnamon star bread
Mix 50 gms butter, 3-4 tbsp sugar ,2 tsp cinnamon powder and 50 gms grated chocolate.
Spread half over one circle.
Place the second round over the filing.
Spread the remaining filling over and cover.

Place a small bowl in exactly center of the roled dough.
Using a knife or a pizza cutter make 16 neat cuts.

Hold two pieces and twist in opposite directions twice and join the ends.
Like so. I showed you one because I was taking pictures.

So you haVe an eight pointed star. I wanted to do a 7 pointed Sept... too much Game of Thrones happening in this world.
For the Pizza Star bread
I used Tomato ketchup, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil , Copycat Pizza Seasoning and Cheese spread.
On the first layer I spread tomato ketchup, grated mozzarella cheese,pizza Seasoning.
I covered it with the second dough and spread cheese spread over . Topped with basil, pizza Seasoning and some more cheese.
Same way, bowl in the center cuts at 12 o'clock,3 o'clock,6 o'clock ,9 o'clock and then three cuts in-between.
Again the same way. Pick two. Twist in opposite directions and set on the parchment paper.
Cover lightly and set aside to proof for an hour.
Here the Pizza Star was prettier because of the ketchup and cheese and basil.

After 45 minutes preheat the oven to 180C.
You'll see the star opening a bit, brush with a little milk and pinch to seal the stars.
Brush with milk and pop into the oven one tray at a time.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bread is done.
You should brush the bread with olive oil or butter  when you bring it out
Serve these breads warm...the cheese will be all melty and warm and mellow.
A little more doughy and a little less intense as compared to a pizza...this star bread looks amazing. The folds absorbing the flavours and the cheese oozing out...
The cinnamon butter and chocolate melted together and just went overboard...
Literally, the molten mix cooled under the bread and formed a fourth crust.
Awesome.
Even jaded palettes will rejoice.
Well a thing of beauty is a joy forever...and such joys are relished at the dinner table.
Pick and choose your filling, remember that the dough must be cut. So thats why no protiens within.
Try it out for your family...smiles and appreciation is always worth the cleaning up afterwards.
Pull apart this bread and share...thats what families and friends are all about. Some wonder , some love ,some laughter and some gratitude.

So what are you baking today???