Nutella Buns (Tangzhong Method) Recipe
My lovely daughter is a big fan of Nutella. When I spotted the big sale of Nutella at our nearby supermarket, I grabbed three large jars back home, without any plans of what to do with them at that moment. I knew she would simply enjoy spreading Nutella on a white toast for tea time or any time throughout the day. It’s no harm to keep more Nutella at home just in case.
Over the past few days, it’s been raining non-stop and cleared away the scorching heat in our summer time. It reminded me that it’s a good time to make some tangzhong breads again. When these nicely curled Nutella buns were out from our oven, I couldn’t wait to taste. Oh my goodness, it’s so delicious and soft. Then I kept some in an air-tight plastic box, chilled in fridge for my daughter to try. Even though the leftovers, wrapped in foil, reheated in a low-temperature oven after two days, were still good as those straight from the oven. It’s all because of the amazing charm made by tangzhong (aka water roux), that’s cooked certain amount of flour with water, then added into other ingredients. It’s absolutely natural and healthy. The bread will be kept soft for a few days. That’s why I’m a die-hard fan of tangzhong breads.
- By Christine's Recipes Prep time: 10 mins
- Cook time: 180 mins
- Yield: 9 buns, each about 60 grams
- Ingredients:
- 30 gm whisked egg
- 80 ml water
- 85 gm tangzhong (refer this recipe)
- ½ tsp salt
- 40 gm caster sugar
- 20 gm milk powder
- 200 gm bread flour
- 55 gm cake flour
- 6 gm instant yeast
- 20 gm butter, melted
Fillings:
200 gm Nutella
50 gm hazelnuts, slightly roasted, peeled and roughly chopped
Method:
To make the tangzhong, follow this recipe and measure out 85 grams of it for later use. (The remaining tangzhong can be used to make other tangzhong breads. See the links below. Tangzhong can be kept in fridge up to 5 to 7 days in an air-tight container.)
To prepare the fillings: Mix two-thirds of the hazelnuts with Nutella. Keep the rest for garnish.
To make the buns: Put all the ingredients (except the butter) into a bread machine, wet ingredients followed by dry ingredients. (I use to make a well in the middle of flour and place yeast in it.)
Select the “dough” setting. Knead until all ingredients come together. Add the butter. Let the machine finish kneading. The dough should be smooth and elastic and can be stretched to form a thin “membrane”. Let the dough sit inside the machine and finish the 1st round of proofing, until doubled in size.
Transfer to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide the dough into 9 equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.
Lightly press and flatten each portion. Wrap a heaped spoon of fillings. Tightly pinch the edges. With the seal upward, roll into an oval shape. Fold into half and make 3 to 4 cuts in the middle but don’t cut to the end. Unfold the dough. Hold one end and rotate the other end towards one direction while stretching into a longer tube carefully. Curl it into a round shape tucking the ends under. Place in a mould. Repeat this step with the remaining dough portions and fillings. Cover with a plastic wrap or clean towel. Let proof for 40 minutes, until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Brush the dough with whisked egg on top. Sprinkle some hazelnuts. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the surface turns golden brown. Remove from the oven. Let cool on a wire rack. Enjoy !
Notes：
You might knead the dough by hand or with a stand mixer instead.
It’s a bit challenging to wrap Nutella fillings. If the weather is too warm, just chill it to a workable condition, yet not too hard to roll it out.
Cake flour is a kind of low-protein flour, available at Asian grocers.
Other tangzhong bread recipes: