Overnight Buttermilk Cinnamon Star Bread

The brioche is filled with a delicious, gooey cinnamon filling, shaped into a beautiful star bread, baked, and then topped with a sweet cream cheese frosting! Nothing not to love! 

For more brioche recipes, try Overnight Brioche Bread, Cinnamon Sugar Brioche Donuts, Pesto Brioche Swirl Bread, and Chocolate Filled Brioche Donuts.

How to make this star bread ahead of time

There are few different options to make this star bread ahead time, all of which have slow proof times in the fridge. The first option is written in the recipe card, and is my favorite method. Choose whichever one will be easiest for you!

First Proof Overnight:

1. Make the brioche dough the night before, and allow it to proof overnight in the fridge. 
2. The next morning (ideally before 9am), shape the dough into a star bread and proof for a second time in a warm environment. 
3. Bake and serve! 

Second Proof Overnight:

1. Make the brioche dough the night before, and proof for about 1 hour in a warm environment. 
2. Shape the dough into a star bread, cover loosely with plastic wrap and proof overnight in the fridge. 
3. The next morning (ideally before 9am), take the star bread out to come to room temperature (about 30-45 min) and bake as directed. 

No Overnight Proof:

1. Make the brioche dough the day of, and proof in the fridge for at least three hours, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, you could proof in a warm environment for about one hour, but the warm dough will not be as easy to work with.
2. Shape the dough into a star bread and proof in a warm environment.
3. Bake and serve!

Ingredient Notes

• Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast: If using active dry yeast, combine  with milk and sugar and allow to sit for 15 minutes. If using instant yeast, there is no need to let the yeast sit in the mixture.
• Buttermilk: Warm the buttermilk to about 110 degrees F to activate the yeast.
• Granulated Sugar: The sugar will need to be mixed in with the milk and yeast to help activate the yeast. 
• Vanilla Extract: A good quality vanilla paste or extract will give this star bread a wonderful flavor!
• All-Purpose Flour: The best way to measure your flour, as well as the rest of the ingredients, is by weight. I use this kitchen scale!
• Unsalted Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for best overall flavor.
• Brown Sugar: You can use light and dark brown sugar, or even muscovado! 
• Cinnamon: For optimum cinnamon flavor, use one whole tablespoon!
• Cream Cheese: For frosting, cream cheese mixes best when it is cold, so no need to bring to room temp! 
• Powdered Sugar: I added about two cups of powdered sugar, but you can more or less based on your own preferences. 

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this overnight cinnamon star bread recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Rest and shape dough. After your dough has rested overnight, weigh out your dough into 4 equal pieces, then shape into balls.

STEP 2: Roll and fill. Roll out each dough ball into a circle with a diameter of about 7 inches. Assemble the layers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread a few tablespoons of the filling onto the first layer, leaving a small boarder around the edge.

STEP 3: Assemble. Lay the second piece of dough on top and spread another few tablespoons of the filling evenly around, leaving a boarder. Repeat with the next layer of dough and filling. Lastly, lay the fourth layer of dough on top. Take a round cookie cutter or glass of about 1 ½ inches and gently press into the center of the dough to make a slight indentation.

STEP 4: Start cutting. Use a sharp knife to cut from one point of the indentation all the way through the four layers. Turn the dough around and cut, doing your best to line it up with the other cut.

STEP 5: Turn and cut. Turn the dough 45 degrees and repeat the same process. So you'll cut top, bottom, left, right, and repeat until you have 16 pieces.

STEP 6: Shape and bake. Take two pieces and twist them twice away from each other. Press the ends together and use a little bit of water to make them stick. In the end you'll have eight points and you're ready to proof and bake!

Expert Baking Tips

• I have a few different methods of making this star bread listed in this post!
• Brush the star bread with a little bit of egg white to give it a nice shine and help it become golden.
• Tent the bread with foil about halfway through the bake time to make sure it doesn't get too dark.

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x