Spring has sprung – thank goodness! After a very rocky start to the year, I’m finally feeling a little bit hopeful about the future. With the support of my family, Rookie, close friends and colleagues, I’m getting through a difficult time in my life and growing stronger. The longer days, warmer weather and this star bread with cheese and herbs are helping to lift my spirits, too.
If you love carbs (and garlic sticks, in particular), carve out a few hours to tackle this recipe. It’s a fun weekend baking project – and well worth the effort. Just take a bite of the savory star bread and I’m sure you’ll agree.
Recipe adapted from Food52.
Star Bread with Cheese and Herbs
Makes 1 10" round loaf
Ingredients
Dough:
- ¾ cup + 3 tablespoons milk
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Filling and finish:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ cup grated Asiago cheese with rosemary and olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Summer Smoke Sea Salt (see notes) or sea salt
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In a large bowl, heat milk until warm - about 30 seconds in the microwave should do. Add the yeast and sugar. Whisk together until thoroughly combined and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the rest of the dough ingredients (butter through salt) to the milk mixture, stirring everything until it comes together to form a shaggy ball. Then knead the dough by hand (or with a dough hook attachment) until it’s smooth and elastic - this will take about 10 minutes (or less if using a stand mixer). Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Make the filling:
- While the dough rises, combine the butter, parsley, oregano, garlic powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Shape and bake the loaf:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into 4 equal pieces.
- Using a rolling pin, roll one piece into a circle, about 10 inches in diameter, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the entire surface with the beaten egg, leaving a 1" border around the edges. Spread one-third of the filling in an even layer over the top of the dough and sprinkle on one-third of the cheese. Repeat with remaining portions of dough, leaving the last circle bare.
- Place a 2" round cutter in the center of the stack of dough. Use a sharp knife to cut dough into 16 wedges, leaving the area inside the round cutter intact.
- Using your hands, gently twist two adjacent wedges away from each other a few times and pinch ends to seal. Repeat with remaining wedges of dough.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Let dough rise for 15 minutes and then brush top of loaf with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
This product was featured in a Tasting Box from Hatchery.
You are so immensely creative…your novel ideas of preparing and presenting food are amazing! true inspiration
Thank you so much for the kind words, Arati!
Can you please clarify the cheese ingredients a bit? Is the asiago/rosemary/olive oil supposed to be like a paste or loose? Do you suggest fresh or dried rosemary for this? I’m making this for my dad’s bday bbq in a couple days, I can’t wait! Thanks for your help & the great idea
Hi Becca – The butter and herb mixture is quite thick. After you spread it on the dough, you sprinkle on the cheese; I used a variety of Asiago with rosemary in it, but any hard cheese would work well. The rosemary is optional. Hope this helps – and enjoy!
This looks amazing my nephew and I love to bake together. He is coming for a visit in Sept, this is definitely on our along list. I love the plates used in the picture, any ideas where I can find some just like them?
Hi Joyce – I love that you have a tradition of baking with your nephew, and hope you like the recipe! The plates are from Pottery Barn (but unfortunately no longer available).
When other people want to try this recipe dairy-free or vegan, it still works beautifully. I am in the United States and used Earth Balance brand buttery sticks instead of butter, oat milk instead of dairy milk, and Violife brand parmesan grated from a triangular chunk of cheese instead of asiago. I also omitted the sugar and egg and used dried parsley. This recipe was SUCH a triumph! My girlfriend and I ate it all in one day and looked about for more.
Alison, you have so many fun ideas for other shaped yeasted breads – this one had me thinking about the scallion pancake version, a pizza version, even a half sweet and half savory version?! Thanks again, this one is a keeper and I’m looking forward to making your Pane Bianco.
I love how you customized the recipe to suit your taste, Shweta! So glad it was a success, too! I actually made a pizza star bread – and it was delicious. Enjoy the baking – and thanks so much for stopping by to share the great feedback!
Recipe looks incredible, can you please tell me where you got those newsprint plates?
Thanks, Lana! The plates are from Pottery Barn but unfortunately no longer available. You’re not the first person who has asked. 😉
Can you make the dough ahead and let it rise in the refrigerator?
Hi Lee Ann – I’ve never tried an overnight rise in the refrigerator, but I bet it would work! Let me know how it goes.
Wondering whether the dough can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated until it’s time for assembly?
Hi Doris – I’ve never tried it, but I bet it would work! You may need to let the dough sit at room temperature for a bit before rolling it out.