A delicious Nutella sweet brioche, inspired by our Nutella chocolate chip brioche that all of you loved! A super fluffy and pillowy dough filled with Nutella and covered with a sprinkle of sugar for a nice crunch.

If you love Nutella desserts and Nutella brioches, you will LOVE this recipe. We are using the same dough recipe as our Nutella knots, and we are changing the shape.

Hello! We are posting a recipe every day for the rest of the year, and today we bring a special one for any Nutella and chocolate lovers.

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This recipe doesn’t call for any difficult-to-find ingredients; most of them you will find in your house or in your local grocery store. You can choose to use another chocolate spread instead of Nutella.

Granulated sugar: Sugar is amazing for any dough.It will sweeten the dough and also help feed the yeast. Adding sugar to your dough gives it a beautiful golden-brown color. You can substitute with honey.
Active dry yeast: always make sure it’s fresh and not old. We don’t want to use any expired or old yeast, as it will affect the texture and result.
Flour: We are using all-purpose flour for this recipe
Milk: we need it warm but not hot, as it can kill the yeast.
Eggs: use room temperature eggs. Remove them from the fridge one hour before you start with this recipe.
Salt: it enhances the flavor of the dough. If you use too much salt, the dough will not rise properly and will also be salty.
Butter: This is the last ingredient we add to the dough. In the last 10 minutes, we add it and continue kneading. This helps the bread to keep its structure.
Nutella: we will add it to each one of the doughs.

Key points for this Nutella sweet brioche

Proper kneading. Make sure you knead the dough for enough time without rushing it. Add the butter in the last 10 minutes of kneading. Most of the doughs that are not kneaded enough are tough and too dense.
Proofing. One of the most important steps without proofing the dough for enough time and at the right temperature, or it will turn out hard and dense.
Baking. Make sure you are baking the brioche thoroughly; you don’t want to eat raw dough, as it’s very uncomfortable to eat.

How to make the brioche dough

We start by preparing our sponge or yeast mixture. This step is very important, as if you use a yeast that is old or expired, it will show here. You want the mixture to have a foamy look on top, like a sponge.

The temperature of the milk is very important; if you touch it and it hurts, it burns, it is probably too hot and will kill the yeast.

The Ideal milk temperature to activate the yeast: 110F-115F (43C-46C). At this temperature, the yeast will be activated. It will feel warm to the touch, but it doesn’t burn at all.
If the milk is too cold: under 100F (38 °C), the yeast won’t be activated; it’s sleeping, and it won’t do anything.
When the milk is too hot: at 120F (49 °C) the yeast will be killed. You will need to start from zero, as the yeast is not going to be activated at all at this point.

We knead the dough for 15 minutes; it’s ideal to use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment (speed: medium-low). The dough is sticky, and you should not add any extra flour.

After 15 minutes, you can add the soft butter and knead for 10 more minutes; the dough will become less sticky and easier to handle.

It’s important not to add more flour, as it will be less fluffy and will become denser.

How to proof brioche dough

If the temperature in the environment is too cold, the dough will not proof or will take longer than expected, that’s because it needs to be in a warm environment to work. Proofing in the cold sometimes works if you want to leave it in the fridge overnight to prepare it the next day.

If the temperature is too hot, be careful, the dough will grow too fast and have a funny, sour smell/taste. It’s so easy to go from properly proofed to OVER proofed. That can happen, for example, in summer, if you normally leave the dough outside to proof. Also, it attracts ants like craaazy.

This recipe needs the dough to be proofed twice, once after kneading the dough, which is the longest proofing (1 hour and 30 minutes), and then another one after it’s been shaped and you have added the Nutella inside. This one is only 30 minutes. Both proofs are very important, and skipping any of them will make your dough not grow in the oven and become hard.

Best tips to make Nutella sweet brioche

Add the butter at the right time, don’t rush it. It’s best to add it in the last 10 minutes of kneading. We used to add it at the beginning with everything, as we didn’t think it would make much of a difference, but it’s a big difference in the final result.
You can use a piping bag to add the Nutella, as I feel like it’s way cleaner and easier than a spoon. Another option would be to use an offset spatula to spread it. Make sure you seal the brioche properly.
Egg wash is ideal to help the dough have a nice golden-brown color.
After a brioche is baked, ideally, you would brush butter on it so it has a shiny look. That’s how you always see the breads in the pictures looking so shiny and beautiful. Keep in mind the brioche will turn matte after a couple of minutes.
Don’t rush the proofing times. This dough needs to be proofed twice, once after we knead the dough, which is the longest time, it takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes, and another time after we shape it, which takes about 30 minutes. When we proof the dough, we want to see the dough growing in size; it will become soft to the touch and airy.
Proofing temperature matters. I proof my doughs always from 26° C (78.8F) to 30 °C (86F), depending on what I am making. The dough grows beautifully every time

Grab the right tools!

This sweet brioche recipe calls for a stand mixer, but you can knead the dough by hand if you don’t have one. The dough will be slightly sticky, so try not to add any extra flour besides a little bit for the work surface.

Mixing bowl or the stand mixer bowl: this is where you will prepare the dough and the yeast mixture. You can use the same stand mixer bowl to avoid washing more dishes. Use a mixing bowl if you don’t have a stand mixer, and then switch to a clean, lightly floured surface
Rolling pin: we will need it to roll out the dough.
Scale: weigh the total weight of the dough and then divide it into 8 equal pieces so that all of the sweet Nutella brioche is the same size.
Piping bag: I recommend it so we can add the Nutella into the dough.
A baking tray: any tray or baking dish you have for the oven will work.
Parchment paper: makes cleaning much easier and faster, and it prevents the dough from sticking to the pan. You can use a Silpat if you want.
Brush: for the egg wash. You will need it to brush each one of the brioche.
Dough proofer: optional but very helpful.

How to shape a brioche

Start by separating the dough into 8 equal-sized portions, shape it into a round ball, and then roll out each one of the individual pieces. This is very helpful so we can have a smooth dough instead of wrinkly. Also useful so the dough is even.

Spread Nutella all over the middle. Fold the right side towards the center, but don’t reach it; do the same with the left. There should be a space in the middle; if you put both sides together, the brioche will be too small and thick. Now, starting from the bottom, the one closest to you, and pulling carefully to make sure the Nutella stays inside, roll it. Close the end to make sure the Nutella doesn’t escape.

How to store a sweet Nutella brioche and enjoy

We all know homemade enriched doughs are not the same as the days go by. The first day, they’re sooo super soft and pillowy. The next day, it’s drier and just not soft. If you reheat it properly, you can have it taste fresh every day.

I personally recommend you freeze it. Any leftover brioche rolls you have, freeze them and then microwave them from frozen to defrost. This is my favorite way of reheating any doughy dessert, brioche, donuts, rolls, or breads. It always tastes just like fresh.

If you choose to store it in the fridge, it’s good to enjoy it for up to 4 days. Make sure to reheat them every time before you eat the Nutella roll so it has the best flavor and texture.

*Any food you freeze needs to have a date and a name added to the container or freezer-safe bag. Make sure you are storing it in a bag or container made to go to the freezer so it can stay safe.

How to freeze brioche properly

You can freeze the brioche individually, so it makes it perfect to grab one when needed. They’re already portioned, so that’s something you don’t have to do again.

Place them in a tray lined with parchment paper. freeze for 2-4 hours until it’s slightly hard.

The reason why we do this is so they don’t get stuck in the freezer bag. We don’t want them broken or just so impossible to separate that you need to defrost all of them at the same time when you want one!

Place them in a freezer-safe bag or inside a freezer-safe container. I like to do both at the same time, the bag inside the container, only to be extra careful. You want to add the name of the food and the date of the day you made it. For example, Nutella sweet brioche. Day/month/year or month/day/year.

They’re safe in the freezer for 2-3 months. After that, they might get freezer-burnt or have a weird freezer taste, which we all hate. I can immediately taste a food that has not been stored properly.

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