first post! brioche rolls with nutella

i made this for the first time two weekends ago, but hubby didn't appreciate the rolls.
hubby doesn't really like sweets, and he doesn't like nutella (yes, i knew this all before we wed). so i e-mailed our good friend, A., who does like sweets and was coming back from a 4-wk work trip from Japan. i thought, if anyone would like these rolls, it's A., and he's probably craving something like nutella brioche rolls after 4 wks in Japan. so i made them again.  

also made some cinnamon sugar ones too

i made a few modifications the second time around and the adjusted recipe is posted below. the dough is almost like batter and must be chilled to work with. no passing the window-pane test.


Recipe is from http://stickygooeycreamychewy.blogspot.com/ and I believe she got it from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I halved the recipe and made some minor adjustments.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/4 vital wheat gluten*
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
2 cups regular ol' AP flour

3 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 13 oz. jar of Nutella

if you'd like to make cinnamon sugar rolls:
1/2 cup sugar (mix of brown and white)
1 tsp cinnamon (or more, if you'd like)

This will make enough dough/batter for two 9 inch round pans of rolls

Equipment: stand mixer with dough hook or large bowl and wooden spoon
Rolling pin
9 inch round pan (2)

*vital wheat gluten not necessary, just sub with regular flour. vital wheat gluten is nice to have though, it gives a nice chewiness to the dough

in a large bowl (preferably attached to a lovely stand mixer), add the water, melted butter and honey. swirl around a little to dissolve the honey a bit.
add the yeast. after a few minutes, it should be foamy and frothy. if not, your yeast may be no good, so throw it out, buy some more and start over.
lightly beat eggs and add into the bowl.

add flour one cup at a time until it's just incorporated. you may have to turn the mixer off the scrap down the sides, no big deal. no need to mix vigorously, lumps are fine.

leave it alone for about 2 hrs to let it rise and double in size. after it's risen, it should sort of plateau on top. then it's ready for the fridge. cover, but not airtight.

When it is completely cold, about 4 hrs in my fridge for this amount of dough, then you can take it out and start making whatever you want.

For rolls, continue on . . . .

Liberally flour a flat surface.

Dump out all the dough. Cut it in half. Put one half to the side (on a floured surface). Flour the top of the piece of dough you are going to work with. Flour your rolling pin. Roll it out into a rectangle. Mine wasn’t very symmetrical, which caused issues later when rolling. So go symmetrical if you can. The thickness of the dough should be about ¼ inch.

I had two kinds of filling I wanted to use: nutella and cinnamon sugar. Nutella first.

Use a whole jar of Nutella (13 oz). Spread evenly. Leave a border of about 1 inch.

Melt the 3 tbsp butter and mix in vanilla.

Roll it from the longer side. And I always find it easier to roll it towards myself. Pinch the ends. To seal the roll on the long side, I usually take the vanilla butter, dab a little bit along the edge and then seal.

Grease or spray your 9 inch round pan.

If you like things to be equally portioned, then cut the log it in half, and half and half, etc. I used a kitchen scissor instead of a knife. Less Nutella oozing out this way. I ended up with 8 rolls. I arranged 7 in a circle around the pan and put one in the middle. Then I left it all alone for about 45 min.

Preheat oven to 350

Brush on more vanilla butter (may need to reheat this). Stick it in the oven for about 30 min or until golden brown.  mmm, vanilla butter.