Gluten-Free Star Bread With Homemade Laminated Puff Pastry

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This is my take on a popular Holiday bread... the star bread. Mine isn't really a bread, more of a star pastry. It's created using a homemade yeasted laminated puff pastry dough, and it contains two layers of maple-cinnamon filling between three layers of pastry, carefully folded in the shape of a star. If you're looking for gluten-free puff pastry recipe ideas, look no further than this gluten-free star bread!

When I first developed this recipe for my cottage bakery, I trialed three different types of gluten-free star breads: a puff pastry base, an enriched brioche base, and a bread dough base. In a blind test, the puff pastry base unanimously won! And so here we are, with a gluten-free star bread pastry that is not only a gorgeous show-stopper, but also absolutely delicious! AND you can make it dairy-free!

a gluten-free star bread pastry on a parchment paper sheet, with cinnamon and maple

Don't be frightened! I know shaping a star may seem daunting, especially with gluten-free dough, but if you follow my puff pastry recipe, you'll see that the dough can handle anything! And I'm including a video to show you how to shape the star, and it's much quicker than you might think.

Working with "dough art" is also super therapeutic for me, and I hope you'll enjoy it too! However, if you're feeling overwhelmed, you could start with more simple shape, as shown in my gluten-free apple turnovers, or my gluten-free cream cheese Danishes.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
Storage
Top tip
FAQ
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Gluten-Free Star Bread

Ingredients

The heart and soul of this recipe is the gluten-free puff pastry of course. If you want to be able to shape it like a star, you have to use my gluten-free puff pastry recipe which makes use of my gluten-free pastry flour (or the blue bag of Cup4Cup). There is a lot of room for customization when making my gluten-free pastry flour, including a tested version that is dairy-free. Yes it's a lot of work to make your own flour and then your own puff pastry, but trust me (I have a background in chemistry and own a bakery!) it is so worth it for the pleasure of rolling and shaping dough into beautiful creations!

Time saving tip: I always make BIG batches of pastry flour, and I also always double up when making puff pastry sheets and freeze one for later use.

Don't be shy, leave a comment if you have any questions regarding ingredient choices.

an overhead shot of labeled ingredients for the gluten-free star bread recipe, on a wooden cutting board

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Once you've made the gluten-free puff pastry, the large sheet should be folded into thirds (as shown in the ingredient picture above), wrapped in plastic and refrigerated.

Then, make the maple-cinnamon filling by mixing together the sugar, cinnamon and maple syrup. Set aside. You should also beat the egg in a small bowl (for the egg wash) and set aside.

Now let's talk about shaping the dough. The overall process is to shape three 10-inch puff pastry dough circles, and to stack them. Between each dough circles is a layer of maple-cinnamon filling. Then, to shape the layers into a star, we make cuts (16 of them), and twist two cuts together to eventually make 8 arms. Let's look at the process stepwise.

Cut the puff pastry in three: two larger pieces, and a smaller one. The third slice is smaller because we will add the dough clippings from the first two circles to it, as shown below.

four process shots showing the gluten-free puff pastry being cut unevenly, shaped into a circle, and the leftover dough used for the last circle.

Lay the first dough circle on a piece of parchment paper, and add half the maple-cinnamon filling on it. You can use a knife or the back of a spoon to spread it evenly.
Lay the second dough circle on top of the filling, and add the second half of the filling on top.
Add the last dough circle on top.
Using a small round object, like a glass jar, press a circle in the middle of the dough.
Using a pizza cutter, make 16 equally spaced cuts around the small dough circle.
Take two pieces of dough and twist them together outwardly once. Pinch the dough together, that's one arm of the star.
Create the remaining 7 arms.
Put the shaped star bread in the refrigerator 10-15 minutes for the butter to harden. This will help the dough keep its shape in the oven.
Preheat the oven to 425F.
Apply egg wash and sprinkle with sugar, then pinch the end of the star's arms together one more time.
Bake ~20 minutes until golden. You will likely need to cover the outer portions of the arms at the ~10 minute mark as they brown more quickly than the middle of the star.
While in the oven, whisk a thick maple glaze.
Fully cool, then apply a maple glaze. Yum!

Okay, now let's watch the video!

This beautiful gluten-free star bread serves 9 people!

Hint: Don't skip the 10-15 minutes refrigeration period prior to baking. Working the dough into a star will soften the butter, which can make the dough spread in the oven. Cooling it first will re-harden the butter and help keep the star's shape.

two gluten-free star bread pictures side by side, one raw and one baked, showing the dough's expansion.

Substitutions

The allergens for this recipe are: milk, eggs.

Dairy-free - milk is in two places in this recipe: in the pastry flour (nonfat milk powder) and in the butter. You'll need to make your own DIY pastry flour and replace the milk powder with a plant-based milk powder. I've done it successfully with coconut milk powder. You can't just omit it, as the milk powder really helps with texture. Next, you'll need to use vegan butter when following the gluten-free puff pastry recipe. I recommend one high in saturated fats, so coconut based is perfect.
Egg-free - there are two eggs in this recipe, one is for the egg wash which you can simply omit (your pastry will be less golden brown though) and the other is in the gluten-free puff pastry dough itself. It could be replaced with a flax egg, though I have not tried. If you try it, please let me know!

If you have other restrictions, leave a comment and I'll help the best I can. Please note that my DIY pastry flour contains several substitution ideas for allergies like rice and corn.

Variations

The beauty of puff pastry is that it's so versatile and you can stuff it with almost anything! Here's some more gluten-free puff pastry recipe ideas:

Nutella - this is a favorite of mine, topped with a little powdered sugar. Pretty!
Favorite jam - raspberry, apricot, yes please!
Cream cheese - like a Danish with jam, but shaped as a star!

Equipment

Although this gluten-free star bread may look intimidating, you don't need anything fancy to succeed!

a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
a pizza cutter

Storage

This recipe is shelf-stable and while it will be perfectly edible for three days stored at room temperature, I would microwave it ~5 seconds to freshen up the dough before eating.

Freeze leftovers wrapped tightly in plastic and stored in an airtight container. You can keep in the freezer for up to a month. Thaw to room temperature when ready.

a closeup of the glazed gluten-free star bread. The arms are golden brown.

Top tip

I like to pinch the edges, or arms, of the star after I've applied egg wash, to make them stick together better.

FAQ

Can I use instant yeast?

Yep! If you use instant yeast, you can skip the blooming step. The yeast works in tandem with the baking powder to provide rise, and is actually present for taste more than rise.

Can I make this ahead of time?

I always have gluten-free homemade puff pastry in my freezer, ready to go! So absolutely! Once the puff pastry has been thawed, it's pretty quick to make. I wouldn't make the whole star bread ahead of time though... simply make the puff pastry as early as one month ahead, and when you're ready, thaw it, and take the 15 minutes it takes to shape the star bread, and 15 minutes to bake. Voila.

Looking for other gluten-free puff pastry recipe ideas? Here!