Finished dish photo of INS Popular Christmas Whole Wheat Cinnamon Snowflake Bread with Brown Sugar (One-Time Fermentation) B83

INS Popular Christmas Whole Wheat Cinnamon Snowflake Bread with Brown Sugar (One-Time Fermentation) B83

Another year of Christmas season has arrived, time always seems to fly by in a blink. This year, we put up the Christmas tree a bit earlier than usual, for the first time at the end of November. It was still the Little Prince and Oppa decorating it together. The little guy busily helped hang the ornaments, with Dad lifting him to reach the higher spots. Eventually, Dad just became a bystander, saying there was no need for him to do any work. Later, the Little Prince noticed a rather big ornament ball and said, 'Why is there such a big ball? It's because of eating and growing tall.' We often tell him he must eat more to grow taller, and he's learned to say it back. Kids' innocent words are so endearing. 'Next year around this time, your little sister will be able to help too. She’ll surely run after her big brother, full of admiration,' I said, happy just thinking about the two kids running around. Oppa said he got exhausted decorating the taller Christmas tree at the office yesterday, and some ornaments with broken strings didn’t even get hung. Over the years, the ornaments on our home tree have always been colorful. Each year, some damaged ones would be discarded. Today, the Little Prince stepped on a whole pack by mistake. The decorations are getting fewer each year, and we’re a bit tired of the look. Perhaps next year, we can switch to the all-gold theme we’ve wanted for so long. To celebrate the occasion, I made a golden snowflake bread. I had wanted to create this design for a long time, but beautiful things always feel more special when reserved for moments of ceremony. This snowflake seemed to belong to Christmas. The original plan was to use red bean paste as the filling, but it felt too plain, so I decided to use brown sugar and cinnamon instead. This was also the first time I used such a large proportion of cinnamon, and the aroma filled the house during baking. The bread was most tempting when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Eating it was like being transported to a snowy wonderland, with a cozy fireplace inside, plates filled with roasted turkey, smoked ham, puddings, cakes, and cinnamon bread. Meanwhile, Santa Claus was already on his way. - Baking Tray Size: 35*28cm; the recipe yields one portion.

Time:More than 1 hour
Difficulty:Easy to Make

Ingredients

# Doughto taste
High-gluten flour280g
Whole wheat flour70g
Milk173g
Egg40g
White sugar30g
High-sugar-tolerant yeast4g
Salt4g
LeHer Organic Butter35g
# Fillingto taste
Cinnamon powder (Kirkland)10g
Brown sugar powder30g
Milk5g
# Othersto taste
Egg wash for brushing10g

Steps

1

Prepare all the ingredients and mix all the filling ingredients into a paste;

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2

Knead all ingredients for the dough, except for butter, into a smooth dough;

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3

Add softened butter and knead until a glove membrane forms. Divide the dough into four equal parts, shape into balls, cover with cling film, and let it rest for 15 minutes;

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4

Roll out each portion into a circle with a diameter of approximately 20cm;

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5

Spread brown sugar cinnamon paste evenly on one side of three dough circles;

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6

Stack the rolled circles, placing the plain one on top;

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7

Using a sharp knife, cut a cross leaving the center 5cm uncut. Then, add four more cuts to form a star;

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8

Cut each section further to create sixteen segments;

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9

Twist each pair of segments outward twice, then pinch the ends together and fold underneath;

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10

Arrange the completed snowflake on a baking tray lined with parchment paper;

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11

Place it in the oven with a tray of hot water underneath and let it proof to 1.5x its size. Bake in a preheated convection oven at 160°C for 16 minutes. Brush with egg wash and flour before baking. Cool and store in an airtight container.

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Final product 1

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Final product 2

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Final product 3

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Final product 7

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Final product 10

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Cooking Tips

△ I used imported cinnamon powder, which is very fragrant. In the past, I found domestic cinnamon's aroma less pure. The ratio of brown sugar to cinnamon is 3:1, but you can adjust the amount to your taste if you prefer a milder flavor. ⚠️ Important: only add 5g of milk to the paste. The brown sugar will slowly dissolve. If it's too runny, you can add a small amount of flour to balance it. △ Alternatively, you can skip mixing the filling into a paste and instead brush melted butter onto the dough before sprinkling the ingredients, but make sure it sticks so the powder doesn’t fall off. It's a bit harder to spread if premixed, so I use my fingers to apply it. △ Different flours and humidity levels may require adjusting the liquid amount in the dough (+/- 10-20g) based on your dough’s condition. △ When cutting the dough for shaping, place it on parchment paper first if you are not confident and transfer it directly onto the tray after cutting and shaping. The brown sugar cinnamon paste may caramelize and stick when baking; even non-stick trays are better with parchment. △ Be mindful of the dough's state during fermentation—avoid over-proofing to prevent impaired appearance. △ For conventional ovens, bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes. Monitor closely and cover with foil if browning too quickly.