NUTELLA BRAIDED BREAD

Nutella Braided Bread is soft, tasty and gorgeous looking, and one of the best bread recipes that I have tried.This is very easy to make and will be loved by all. A perfect bread for holidays.

I love the aroma of freshly baked bread in my kitchen. I always thought that fancy looking breads in my local bakery were difficult to prepare at home. I realized I was absolutely wrong when I finally took a plunge to bake one myself. Homemade breads are always tasty and healthy as we seldom use preservatives while baking them. I have decided to bake breads often, and I will try to post bread recipes on Wednesdays so that you guys can plan to bake for your family during the weekend.

Do try this recipe and let me know how it came out. Don't forget to share the pictures of your bread.

Preparation time : 2 ½ hours

Serves : 8 portions

Ingredients for Nutella Braided Bread

All purpose Flour -  3 ⅔ cup

Active Dry Yeast - 1 packet ( 2 ¼ teaspoon / 7g)

Sugar - ⅓ cup + 2 tsp

Salt -  ½ tsp

Melted Butter - 2 tbsp

Warm Milk -  1 ¼ cup

Egg Yolks - 2

Egg Whites to glaze

Vegetable Oil - 1 tablespoon ( to coat the dough)

Nutella - 1 cup

Steps to prepare Nutella Braided Bread

• In a large mixing bowl add lukewarm milk, 2 teaspoon of sugar and sprinkle a package of active dry yeast into it. Cover, and let the yeast activate. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
• To this add egg yolks, sugar, melted butter, salt, all purpose flour and knead for about 8 to 10 minutes to form smooth dough.
• Coat a bowl with oil. Place the dough in it, cover with plastic wrap/warm towel and set it in warm place for about 1 hour or until its doubled in size.
• Transfer the dough onto a well floured working surface and divide it into 4 equal parts.
• Meanwhile melt the nutella in microwave oven for 30 seconds or place melt the nutella using a double boiler.
• Now roll a portion of the dough into a 10-12 inch circle. Take a round plate for reference and create an impression on this first layer.
• Using spoon or knife, spread a thin layer of nutella within the marked impression.
• Roll the second portion of the dough into a circle as above. Place it on the previous layer and create a impression once again using the round plate. Again spread the nutella within the marked impression. Repeat the procedure for the third portion of the dough.
• Then cover it with last or fourth layer, place the round plate and cut the excess dough with a sharp knife. (we can bake this excess dough separately)
• Place a small glass at the center of the dough as a reference.
• Leaving the center intact (portion covered by the glass), use a sharp knife and divide the layered dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into half and repeat until you have 16 equal parts.
• Take 2 neighboring parts at a time and twist them twice in opposite direction of each other and then pinch the ends together. Repeat this for all 16 parts. At the end you will have 8 beautiful flower petals.
• Transfer this to baking sheet and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
• While the dough is resting, pre-heat the oven to 350 degree F.
• After 20 minutes, brush the dough with egg whites and bake the bread for about 20 minutes or until its done.
• Nutella Braided Bread is ready. Let it cool down for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy.

For the excess dough, I have wound it into concentric circles and sprinkled mixture of sugar and cinnamon powder and baked it along with the braided bread.