Oh hey there, Nutella. It’s been a while.
I’ve had a large jar (like, the really big jar) of Nutella sitting at the back of the pantry untouched (and unloved) for the past few months. It wasn’t until this past weekend I decided that I needed to give that jar of Nutella some love (that’s a good excuse/justification for indulging in this decadent spread, right)?
I was itching to have a pastry with Nutella. I was considering making a bread with Nutella. I was considering making cinnamon rolls with Nutella. I was considering making muffins with Nutella.
But none of them felt right. Then, I finally stumbled upon this Nutella Morning Bun recipe at Lady and Pups. Turns out these flaky, buttery, and slightly sweet morning buns were exactly what I needed.
I immediately busted out all my baking ingredients from the cabinets and set out to make the dough. After all, it was a rainy Saturday afternoon. After chilling the dough overnight and letting the rolls proof the next morning, I was soon able to enjoy a morning bun on Sunday morning.
These morning buns are perfect for those who love pastries but maybe don’t like overly sweet pastries. The sweetness is subtle and mostly comes from the Nutella. For those of use who can handle more sugar, feel free to sprinkle some granulated sugar on the rolls right before baking.
And of course, if you have any questions on the process, you have to check out these instructions.
Without further ado, here are the mouthwatering photos and the full recipe!
Ingredients
- Starter dough:
- - 1 cup of bread flour
- - 1/8 tsp of instant dry yeast
- - 1/2 cup of warm water
- Butter dough:
- - 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, cold
- - 3 tbsp of flour
- The dough:
- - 1 cup of bread flour
- - 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
- - 2 tbsp of natural cocoa powder
- - 1 tsp of instant dry yeast
- - 1/4 tsp of salt
- - 1/3 cup of warm whole milk
- Other ingredients:
- - Nutella, softened at room-temperature
- - Optional: granulated sugar to sprinkle the buns
Instructions
- First we make the starter dough. Mix the bread flour, yeast, and warm water and set aside for 30 minutes. The water should be warm to the touch--almost hot enough to burn your finger but not quite.
- Next, we make the butter dough. Mash together the unsalted butter and flour until smooth. The flour should disappear into the butter.
- Now in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the starter dough along with the ingredients for the dough (bread flour, dark brown sugar, cocoa powder, yeast, salt, and warm milk). Make sure the milk is warmed up the same way the water was before. With the dough hook attached, mix on low speed (my mixer says to not go beyond speed 2!) until the dough has formed (about 4 minutes).
- On a working surface dusted with flour, roll out the dough into a rectangle. Keep the edges as perfect as possible, cutting and removing any scraggly pieces.
- Spread the butter dough evenly across the entire surface of the dough.
- Fold (it'll be more of a rolling action) the dough 4-5 times from left to right, creating a fold about every 3 inches or so. It'll look like a log. Pinch the open edges shut.
- Roll out the dough again into a rectangle. Then repeat the folding procedure. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to overnight.
- Once the dough has been chilled, roll out the dough into a rectangle again. Try to keep the edges even again. Keep the dough relatively thin if possible for easy rolling.
- Spread Nutella all over the rectangle. Roll into log. Cut the log of dough into 6-8 even pieces. Put the pieces into a large-sized muffin tin (or in my case, ramekins) and cover with plastic wrap. Let proof for 2 hours at room temperature or in the fridge overnight.
- Remove any plastic wrap and bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with granulated sugar before baking for an extra sweet taste. Serve warm and enjoy! Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Adapted from Lady and Pups
