Nutella Cinnamon Buns

This recipe has been one of the few that I am particularly proud of in my Epicurious Level 2 career. It combines the traditional aspects of my nana's Paska (Easter) bread recipe, with my love for Nutella.

Growing up, whenever we made bread with my nana using a traditional Slovak recipe, we would save the leftover dough to make cinnamon rolls. This recipe is just a more intentional version of how we would use those ingredients, adding in the signature chocolate hazelnut filling (which, just happens. to be a favorite of mine). Slather on some icing and you've got yourself the softest and most melt in your mouth cinnamon rolls you ever did see!

Nutella Cinnamon Buns

Gabrielle Chappel

Ingredients:

1 cup lukewarm water

½ cup whole milk

1 large egg

¼ cup (4 Tb) unsalted butter at room temp

5 cups unbleached AP flour (King Arthur recommended)

1 Tb instant yeast

2 Tb sugar

2 ½ tsp salt

2 Tb milk (to brush on dough)

½ cup Nutella

2 Tb ground cinnamon

1 Tb melted butter (for brushing)

Sugar (to sprinkle)

1 ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

4 to 5 Tb heavy cream

2 x 9" cake pans, greased with melted butter or oil

(any baking dishes with sides would work too)

1. To make the dough: Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand/mixer — to make a soft, smooth dough.

2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, and let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it's noticeably puffy, almost double in size.

3. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly floured work surface, and pat or roll it into a 16"x12" rectangle (essentially the size of a baking sheet) . Brush the dough lightly with milk.

4. Heat Nutella in the microwave for 15-20 seconds so that it is easier to spread over the dough, spread using a rubber spatula, covering the entire surface of the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

5. Roll the dough into a log the long way; it'll stretch to about 20" long. Using a serrated knife, slice the log into inch thick slices. In order to cut down on drag, it helps to rinse the blade in hot water and wipe it off between slices.

6. Space eight rolls in each of the prepared pans so they're not touching. Flatten them gently. Cover the pans, and let the rolls rise till they're noticeably puffy, about 1 ½ to 2 hours; they should spread out and start to crowd one another. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

9. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the rolls till they're brown around the edges and begin to turn light golden brown across the center, about 20 minutes.

10. Make the icing while the rolls are baking. Using a hand mixer or whisk, combine the sugar, vanilla, and enough cream or milk to make a spreadable icing.

11. Remove the rolls from the oven, and let cool for 15-20 minutes before applying the icing, enjoy immediately!

This Paska Bread recipe is not the original from my nana, but it's based off of the King Arthur flour recipe - so I recommend using King Arthur flour for this recipe and for best results.

To watch the episode that inspired it all, click the link below!