It’s World Nutella Day! What a wonderful time of year. It is the seventh anniversary of the event, and my fourth year participating. Thank you Sara of Ms. Adventures In Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso for hosting this event.
With the growing number of bloggers celebrating the day, it’s getting difficult to come up with a unique recipe. I remember a beautiful braided bread on Shawnda’s site last year, with pesto tucked between the twined layers. I thought that substituting nutella for the pesto would be fun. I feared that the nutella would ooze out of the bread and become a sticky mess, but those fears were unfounded.
Still, I ended up making 5 loaves of this bread to get the recipe just right. That’s a lot of flour. And nutella. The first loaf looked beautiful, but was too dense. I baked the following few loaves at too high a temperature. Finally, I got the times and temperatures just right. Then, I made one more just to test the final recipe. Whew! That’s a lot of carbs for one week of recipe development.
original recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast in ¼ c of the water. Let sit for 10 minutes to activate.
- Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast and the remaining water, and mix on low with a dough hook attachment. Turn speed up to medium, and knead dough until satiny smooth, about 7 minutes. Dough should hold its shape but still be a little sticky. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover bowl with a damp towel, set in a warm place, and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to form a rectangle, roughly 12” x 15” in size. Spread nutella in an even layer on the surface, leaving a ½ inch border of dough. Roll tightly and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet that’s been sprinkled with cornmeal. Split the dough down the middle, leaving one end intact. Twist ends around each other, making sure to turn cut side towards the top. Cover dough with a towel and let sit 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush surface of the bread with the egg wash. Bake bread for 20 minutes. Raise temperature to 425°F and bake until lightly browned on top, about 5-7 minutes more. Remove from oven, and let cool before serving.
This bread looks beautiful! Excellent addition to the world of nutella! I’ve got to make this myself, thanks for making 5 loaves to get it right!
Wow, this looks fantastic! I’m so intrigued by braided bread, yours looks absolutely stunning.
This looks awesome and delicious! I totally need to adapt my bread recipe with Nutella now!
Hi Suzanne,
That looks wonderfully creative and impressive!
I’m making this now! Very excited to devour it.
Although, I’m just wondering what to do with egg? It doesn’t seem to be included in the instructions! I assume it’s an egg wash. Thanks!
Christina,
You’re absolutely right about the egg. Hope you like the bread!
Yummy! I have made a similar braided bun with cinnamon filling! Delicious!