This sweet Orange Cinnamon Bread with a sticky Orange Glaze has a great yeast and buttery flavor (a full ounce of yeast!) and a delicious combination of orange and cinnamon. The shape of this bread is a ‘Christmas Star’ since today is December 24th, I thought it would be fun and appropriate, and best of all easy to share. Just cut off one of the stars points and send it home with your guests so they have something to eat for breakfast the next day!
If you’ve never made shaped bread, here is a question you’re going to want an answer to, why is bread dough so difficult to roll out?
When you knead bread dough, you cause the proteins that form gluten to become very strong and they do not want to change shape. That’s why resting the dough is so important, it relaxes the gluten molecules and allows the dough to be more pliable. Rolling out bread dough can be very challenging, and the dough can be quite stubborn, once it gets to its limit, that’s it, it won’t budge until it rests. Just roll it out a little, let it rest a couple of minutes, then roll it out some more, it may take a couple of resting periods for the dough to get to the size and shape you want.
If the Christmas Star is too intimidating, this recipe will yield two regular loaves of Orange Cinnamon Bread. If you like, you can add a cup of golden raisins to the bread, if you like your Orange Cinnamon Bread toasted, omit the Orange Glaze
This is how to make Orange Cinnamon Bread with Orange Glaze
INGREDIENTS for the bread:
- 3 Tablespoons + 1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Cup Water, warm
- 1 Egg
- 5 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter softened
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Oranges, Zest, and Juice (1 cup Juice)
- 7 ½ Cups Bread Flour
- 1 Recipe Cinnamon Sugar (see below)
- 1 Egg Wash (see below)
- 1 Recipe Orange Glaze (see below)
- 1 Cup Golden Raisins (optional)
PROCESS for a Christmas Star:
-Dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar, let double in size
-Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer with a hook attachment, run the machine on the lowest setting for 5 minutes, or if mixing by hand, knead for 10 minutes
-Lightly oil the inside of a large bowl and place the dough in it, cover loosely and let double in size
-Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces, flatten into 6-inch disks and let rest for 30 minutes
-Roll the dough out to 12-inch circles (if it’s stubborn, let it rest a little)
-Place one circle dough on an oiled sheet of parchment paper, on the tray you will bake it on, I use a pizza stone
-Place half of the cinnamon sugar on the dough and spread evenly
-Place the second circle on top of the first, spread the remaining cinnamon sugar on top and spread evenly
-Place the last circle of dough on top
-Place a small ramekin in the center of the dough circles and make 16 equal ‘pizza’ slices from the center of the dough, out. Leaving the center intact
-Take two of the slices and twist them in opposite directions from one another, twice, bring the ends of the two pieces together and pinch them together and tuck them under the end so they stay together while baking
-Preheat oven to 350°F, let the dough rest and rise at room temperature
-Brush the top of the dough with the egg wash
-Bake until nicely browned, approximately 45-50 minutes, let cool
-Drizzle with Orange Glaze
PROCESS for two loaves:
-Dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar, let double in size
-Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer with a hook attachment, run the machine on the lowest setting for 5 minutes, or if mixing by hand, knead for 10 minutes
-Lightly oil the inside of a large bowl and place the dough in it, cover loosely and let double in size
-Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces
-Roll out the dough into two 20” x 7” rectangles (if it’s stubborn, let it rest a little)
-Spread half of the cinnamon sugar recipe on each
-Roll into a loaf and place each into an oiled bread pan
-Preheat oven to 350°F, let the dough rest and rise at room temperature
-Brush the top with the egg wash
-Bake until nicely browned, approximately 45-50 minutes, let cool
-Drizzle with Orange Glaze
INGREDIENTS Cinnamon Sugar:
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ¼ Cup Melted Butter
- 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
-Mix to combine
INGREDIENTS Egg Wash:
- 1 Egg
- 1 Tablespoon Water
- Pinch of Salt
-Beat until smooth
INGREDIENTS Orange Glaze:
- 1 Orange, Zest, and Juice
- 2-2 ½ Cups of Powdered Sugar (4 Tablespoons Juice)
-Mix to combine
