Add Nutella Brioche to Your Holiday Table

Name: Nutella Brioche
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Ingredients: 4 tsp. active dry yeast; 1 tsp. sugar; 1/2 cup water; 3 -1/2 to 4cups 00 or AP flour; 1/3 cup sugar (you can use 1/2 cup if you like things sweeter); 1 pinch salt; 2 envelopes Paneangeli vanillina (or 2 tsp. vanilla extract).; 2 eggs, room temperature, whisked with a fork; 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature softened, cut into small pieces; 1/2 cup milk, warmed; 2 cups Nutella

A simple, delicious brioche enhanced by creamy Nutella is a great way to bake your way into the holiday season.

By Chiara Montalto Giannini

9:00 AM EST on December 23, 2024

I absolutely LOVE holiday baking. And by holiday baking, I usually make my own panettone, pandoro, cookies, and struffoli. My husband says our apartment becomes a pasticceria. I do get a little carried away…What can I say?

I find baking to be the best antidote for the cold, dark, wintery days. I also find that a good baking project, really takes my mind off of everything. There is something meditative, therapeutic even, about creating a beautiful, delicious baked treat and giving it away.

While baking panettone and pandora are fulfilling and fun, they are more complicated and require a few days. Brioche, on the other hand, is far easier and less time consuming.

Brioche is a light and airy sweetened bread, flavored with a slight hint of citrus. Growing up, we would often have it while visiting relatives in Sicily, served with granita, as breakfast.

I created this Nutella brioche for my niece. She was coming to stay with me on short notice, and I didn’t have the time to bake her an actual panettone with Nutella. So I took my method for brioche, modified it slightly by removing the hint of citrus and adding in some vanilla, and swirled Nutella through.

Don’t be intimidated by working with yeast. It is easier than you think. Just trust the process and have fun with it. This dough will come together in one day. I like to start this dough early in the morning and bake it off later the same night.

I am giving you instructions on how to shape it into a star. If you prefer not to do this, you can simply use this same recipe to make two loaves.

Either way, this makes a gorgeous addition to any holiday table!

Nutella Brioche

Recipe by Chiara Montalto Gianinni

0.0 from 0 votes

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

Ingredients

For the Brioche
4 tsp. 4 active dry yeast
1 tsp. 1 sugar
1/2 cup 1/2 water
3 3 -1/2 to 4cups 00 or AP flour
1/3 cup 1/3 sugar (you can use 1/2 cup if you like things sweeter)
1 pinch 1 salt
2 envelopes 2 Paneangeli vanillina (or 2 tsp. vanilla extract).
2 2 eggs, room temperature, whisked with a fork
1 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature softened, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup 1/2 milk, warmed
For the Filling
2 cups 2 Nutella

Directions

To Make the Dough
Proof the yeast in warm water (100-110°F), adding 1 tsp. sugar.
Set aside for 10-12 minutes (your yeast should be puffed up; this is how you know it is active).
Add dry ingredients to mixer bowl and stir with paddle attachment.
Add butter in small pieces.
Add in eggs and warm milk (gradually the dough will form; however, you may need to add some more flour).
Once a ball of dough has formed, switch to dough hook and knead about 5-7 minutes (or turn it out onto a floured surface and knead by hand about 7-10 minutes, until dough is silky and supple).
Place your dough in a large pot or bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rise at least 3-4 hours, or longer, till doubled in size.
To Fill and Shape
Once dough is doubled in size, turn it out onto a floured surface, punch it down, and knead just for a few seconds.
To Shape into a Star
Grease the bottom only of a ten-inch spring-form pan (you can also use a pizza pan).
Cut dough into 4 equal sized pieces.
Roll each of those 4 pieces into a circle (don’t worry about perfection; you want four circles of the same size).
Place one circle on your pan and cover the top with Nutella.
Place another dough circle on top of the Nutella covered dough circle and cover that second circle with Nutella.
Place the third dough circle on top of the second, and cover that with the remaining Nutella.
Place 4th circle on top.
Place a small glass or a cookie cutter in the center (uou are not actually cutting anything, just marking a circle).
Using a scissor, cut triangles around the dough (I usually get 12).
Twist each triangle, so you see the Nutella.
Let the formed dough rise for another 30 minutes or so.
Preheat over to 400°F.
Bake about 30 minutes, till done.