Twisted Nutella Bread
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There’s nothing better than homemade bread fresh from the oven. Except this Twisted Nutella Bread! This is an easy yeast dough that is loaded with Nutella, almonds and cinnamon, then is cut and twisted for a beautiful presentation.
The other day we were making some new sourdough starters and took some with us up to visit family in Portland, Oregon. Keeping the starter alive and feeding it is a lot of work. Its great fun to feed the starter a little flour and let it sit in a warm place and double in size. The bubbly, tangy smell coming off the bowl when revealed is so damn good. We ended up baking sourdough oat muffins, and a few loaves of bread. One of my favorite breakfasts is sourdough pancakes, and it definitely was on the menu for one of the mornings after a hike.
The reason I bring that up is that it started the holiday baking bug. And baking I have been doing. A lot of it. For the past week I have been working on new recipes and also messing up on some, like a new shortbread recipe that burned in half the cooking time (what the hell happened in my oven?). Others have been amazingly good, like this sweet, light and crunchy on the outside Twisted Almond and Nutella Bread Loaf.
As in any baking, which is truly a science where the amounts are to be exact or else… boom, deflate, or too gooey happens, I usually have to tweak something just a little and test again. Not everything makes it on to this blog either. Some seem like great ideas and turn out to be something to scratch off the list as a nice try, but not good enough.
This recipe is a doozy in that it is visually beautiful in presentation and has delicious Nutella melted throughout the twisted, braided bread. Almonds are sprinkled on top of the Nutella, then cinnamon is dusted on the outside of the fresh yeast dough with egg wash and finishing sugar brushed on top for that extra final touch.
Twisted Nutella Bread
Dissolve the active yeast in 1/4 cup of the water. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes to activate.
Combine sifted flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast and the remaining water, and mix on low with the dough hook attachment. Turn speed to medium, and knead dough for 7 minutes. It will come together and dough should hold its shape and 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.
Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to form a 12” x 15” rectangle size.
Microwave the Nutella for 30-40 seconds to make it easier to spread. Using a rubber spatula, spread in an even layer on the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border of dough. Sprinkle the slivered almonds on top of the Nutella and roll tightly and place on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Sprinkle cinnamon on all sides of the rolled dough.
Using a serrated knife, split the dough down the middle, leaving one end intact. Twist ends around each other, making sure to keep cut side facing up. Cover dough with a damp paper towel and let sit 20 minutes.
Just look at that deliciousness!
Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush surface of the bread with the egg wash and sprinkle with finishing sugar. Bake for 24 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool before serving.
The aroma brings back instant memories of fresh Nutella crepes in Paris. Mmmm this is going to be so good!
Just look at all the nooks and crannies filled with melted Nutella, almonds and the finishing sugar for extra crunch on the outside makes this one incredible bread to eat, share or give as a holiday gift. Enjoy!
Twisted Nutella Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water 100°-105°
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tbsp water
- finishing sugar
Instructions
- Dissolve the active yeast in 1/4 cup of the water. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes to activate.
- Combine sifted flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast and the remaining water, and mix on low with the dough hook attachment. Turn speed to medium, and knead dough for 7 minutes. It will come together and dough should hold its shape and 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.
- Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to form a 12” x 15” rectangle size.
- Microwave the Nutella for 30-40 seconds to make it easier to spread. Using a rubber spatula, spread in an even layer on the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border of dough. Sprinkle the slivered almonds on top of the Nutella and roll tightly and place on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Sprinkle cinnamon on all sides of the rolled dough.
- Using a serrated knife, split the dough down the middle, leaving one end intact. Twist ends around each other, making sure to keep cut side facing up. Cover dough with a damp paper towel and let sit 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush surface of the bread with the egg wash and sprinkle with finishing sugar. Bake for 24 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool before serving.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Ok. I have to stand up and say something about this recipe. It’s incredible. It looks impressive to wow guests, and it’s versatile too!!! I made a double of the recipe as is, one for folks to eat and another for the road and they LOVED that. Now for Easter morning, I did two variations of the recipe: a savory one with butter, green chile, crumbled bacon and cheddar, and a different sweet one with butter, mini chocolate chips, slivered almonds, ground dried unsweetened coconut, and turbinado sugar. This recipe has so many options with endless possibilities! It is awesome!!!
Whitney thanks so much for the feedback and kind words. I love your creativity with this one!
Beautiful! This would make a great Christmas morning treat.
Thanks Jaden, I am definitely making it again for Christmas morning!
Not only is this incredibly beautiful but it tastes even better than it looks. All I can say is wow.
Just make sure to save me one last slice!
Kevin! I just gained an immense amount of baking respect for you! Not that I didn’t have respect for your awesome recipes already…but this twist looks like it’s straight out of a bakery. Now I have this strange urge to go down and make twisted awesome bread like this in my kitchen. Love it! (I also love sourdough bread…just saying.) #WolfpackEats
Thanks David, I really appreciate the kind words although this slice and twist technique makes me look really good 😉 ‘Tis the season for baking and my neighbors and co-workers are enjoying it. I feel like a Keebler elf over here baking away. #WolfpackEats!
I just had lunch, and yet, I drool. 🙂 This twisted bread is gorgeous – and, you’re right, what a lovely holiday gift!?
Thanks Marissa, it’s also a lot of fun to make.