A stunning yet nutritious treat well-suited for any banquet table. This star bread completes a hearty soup for a well-rounded dinner. Employing the same base formula and technique as with my whole wheat sandwich loaf, I have been able to achieve a luxurious enriched whole grain dough with less than 20% white flour… But if you’re feeling up to the challenge, go ahead and substitute more whole wheat for the bread flour. Don’t skip on the details. This recipe requires the 2 hour resting time and a food processor to coax a soft crumb from the whole grains. But DO experiment with fillings and flavors. Just be sure not to overfill and cut any additional fillings into small pieces. With a little restraint, however, you can use this basic recipe to create your own signature!
deviations & tips
If you have oat flour on hand, you can sub that for an equal weight of oats and skip milling the oats.
For consistent results every time, weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale.
Because the water and yeast need to be added separately, do NOT sub active dry yeast for the instant yeast because active dry must first be bloomed in warm water.
ingredients
yields 1 star bread
for dough
7.8 oz (2 cups) Whole Wheat Flour, red preferred
2.3 oz (1/2 cup) Bread Flour or Whole Wheat Flour
2.3 oz (1/2 cup plus 2 TB) Whole Oats
4.4 Ounces Milk
3.2 Ounces water
1.75 Ounces (about 1) Whole Egg
1/2 ounce (1 Tablespoon) Brown or White Sugar, brown preferred
1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast (not active dry)
1 Teaspoon/6 grams Table Salt
2 oz (4 tablespoons) Butter, unsalted, softened to about 75F to 85F
filling
2 Ounces (4Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
12 grams/.4 Ounces Sage Leaves, finely sliced
1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Table Salt
5 Ounces of Semi-hard cheese, such as Havarti, Monterey Jack, or Cheddar
topping
1 Egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pine nuts, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or seeds, chopped as needed, optional
the method
Add oats to a food processor or blender and process until finely ground into oat flour (skip if using oat flour). Mix together oat flour, whole wheat flour, bread flour (if using), and water and milk. Dump onto clean work surface and knead until all floury bits are fully incorporated into an uninspired lump of dough. Transfer to a bowl, cover and let sit for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
After initial mixing, dough tears apart.
After 2 hour rest, dough can already be stretched.
While dough is resting, heat butter in a small pan over medium. After it melts, sprinkle in sage and cook for just a few seconds until fragrant. Remove from heat, stir in salt and onion powder. Transfer to small bowl and cool to 75F to 85F so that it’s easily spreadable.
Transfer dough to a 14 cup or larger food processor that is fitted with either a dough or chopping blade. Sprinkle in yeast, sugar, and salt, add egg (straight from the fridge), and process for about a minute. You should be able to carefully stretch the dough into a windowpane. If not, process for another 15 seconds and check again. If the dough starts to get too warm, it may start to ride on the blade’s spindle. If this happens, turn off the machine, gather up the dough, knead into a ball to create some tension and add back to work bowl. If you’re using a chopping blade and have a dough blade, switching to the dough blade may help reduce the heat being generated. When the dough is ready, you should be able to very carefully stretch into a “windowpane” so that you can see light through a stretched piece of dough.
Stretch into a windowpane.
Once you have developed the gluten, add softened butter and process again for just about 15 seconds or until the butter has been fully incorporated and cleaned from the sides of the bowl. Transfer to a clean (unfloured) work surface. With the butter content the dough should not stick, but if you must, brush surface with a little oil; do not flour. If there is some butter left behind in the bowl, scrape it onto the dough and incorporate it while kneading. The dough should be about 80F. Form into a ball. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a lid and allow dough to rise for about 45-60 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
Transfer dough to clean work surface. Divide into 4 equal parts, about 6 oz each. Shape each piece into a ball. Cover with a clean towel or with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll first piece of dough into an 11 inch circle and transfer to parchment paper. When transferring the dough, it will shrink closer to a 10” circle; this is ok. Spread 1/3 of the sage butter (about .75 oz) onto the disc, leaving about 1/4” around the edge. Top with 1/3 of the cheese, about 1.6 oz. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough, stacking it on top of the 1st, and topping it with butter mixture and cheese; then repeat with #3 on top of #2 and topping with last of butter mixture and cheese. Roll the last ball of dough into an 11 inch circle and place on top. Transfer parchment paper and dough to a flat cutting surface. Place a 2” to 3” cookie cutter in the center. Using a sharp knife, cut from the cookie cutter to the edge so that you have 4 quarters. Then, cut each quarter in half so you have eighths. Lastly, cut each eighth in half so that you have 16 wedges. Using 2 hands, pick up a pair of sixteenths and twist them away from each other 2 1/2 times. The outside edges should be parallel to the counter. Pinch those edges together. Repeat with the rest of the pairs.
Cover with plastic and let rest for 45 minutes of until noticeably puffy. Don’t expect it to double in size. You’ll see that those little spaces between each pair will fill-in.
Before rise
After rising and ready to bake.
About 30 minutes into the final rise, pre-heat oven to 375F. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until an instant read thermometer registers 190F to 200F when inserted in the center. Transfer parchment paper and bread to cooling rack. Cool 10 minutes and enjoy warm.
Whole Wheat Sage and Cheese Star Bread topped with pine nuts