This Nutella Twist Bread combines soft and fluffy homemade bread with sweet, rich Nutella for a positively delicious breakfast treat. It’s as tasty as it is beautiful, but also surprisingly simple to make.
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Homemade Nutella Swirl Bread
If you are a Nutella fan, this recipe is calling your name. The chocolatey, nutty spread isn’t just for dipping - it tastes amazing in baked goods, too! We love how it turns an otherwise simple sweet dough into the stunning braided beauty that she is.
You can serve Nutella Twist Bread warm out of the oven, toasted with a smear of jam or even use for making French toast! No matter what you do with it, it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
We also did you a favor and automatically scaled this recipe to make 2 loaves, so that you can eat one now and freeze one for later!
How to Bake With Yeast
If you don’t have a lot of experience baking with yeast, never fear!
There are two main types of dry yeast that you will find at the grocery store - instant yeast (or quick rise) and active dry yeast.
Without getting into too much of the science, instant yeast is specially manufactured so that it can just be dumped into your dries and mixed. Active dry yeast, on the other hand, needs to be woken up, or “proofed.”
Don’t be scared! Proofing yeast really couldn’t be more simple. All you need to do is combine your active dry yeast with warm water or milk and a touch of sugar (or honey), and let it sit for 5-10 minutes at room temperature until it starts to get nice and bubbly.
That’s it - now your yeast is awake and happy and you can use as directed in your recipe. To make sure you have all of the info you need, here are a couple more tips:
- If the yeast never bubbles and foams, it’s likely “dead” and you will want to start over with new yeast. You’ll be happier to find that out now, rather than later!
- You always want to let your yeasted dough rise in a warm place (not HOT… just warm).
- Make sure and use warm water with your yeast (between 95-105 degrees F). If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
Ingredients in Nutella Twist Bread
- Water - you want your water to be between 95-105 degrees F. This helps to activate the yeast.
- Sugar - you can also substitute honey if you would like.
- Yeast - we use active dry yeast in this recipe, which needs to be “proofed.”
- Olive Oil - you can also substitute any other cooking oil.
- Salt - sea salt is best.
- Flour - we use all-purpose flour in this recipe, but you can also substitute bread flour.
- Nutella - you can find this at the grocery store in the same aisle as peanut butter.
How to Make Nutella Swirl Bread
Mix the Bread Dough:
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add warm water (between 95-105 degrees Fahrenheit), sugar, and yeast. Stir, and let sit for 5-10, or until frothy.
- Add the oil, salt and about 3 cups of flour. Using the dough hook, mix on low for 1-2 minutes, or until the flour has all mixed in. Continue to add another 2 ½-3 cups of flour, mixing on low until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Mix for another 2 minutes on low, and add a little more flour if the dough feels sticky.
- Once mixed, cover the bowl with a towel, and let the dough rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes.
Swirl the Dough:
- Once your dough has rested, transfer onto a lightly floured work surface and separate into 2 equal pieces.
- Using a rolling pin, gently roll each piece of dough into a rectangle that is roughly 14" x 10". Spread ¼ cup of Nutella evenly over each rectangle (Note: you may need to warm the Nutella for a few seconds in the microwave to make it easier to spread). Make sure to spread it all the way to the edges of the dough.
- Roll each log up starting at the longer end so you have 2 long rolls. Use a sharp knife and cut down the center of each roll so you have four long halves total. Take 2 halves and pinch the ends on one side together, then twist the dough together loosely. Gently lay the Nutella twist seam side down into your prepared 9”x5” loaf pan, tucking both ends under. Repeat with the other two halves.
Bake the Dough:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cover both loaf pans with a kitchen towel, and let the dough rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes, or until the dough has doubled.
- Once they have doubled in size, bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and baked through. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before removing from the loaf pans. Serve warm, or let the bread cool on a wire rack before slicing. Enjoy!
Can You Freeze Nutella Twist Bread?
You can absolutely freeze the baked Nutella Twist loaves (however, we don’t recommend freezing unbaked loaves). Simply wrap well in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, then toss in a freezer bag and store for up to 2 months.
To serve, you can thaw at room temperature, or in the fridge overnight. If you want to eat your Nutella Twist Bread warm, you can microwave for 10-20 seconds.
Other Twist Bread Variations
The base dough in this recipe can be used to make all sorts of twisted breads, so have at it! We highly recommend the following variation:
- Berry Nutella Twist Bread: after you spread the Nutella, add ½ cup of mixed berries (raspberries and blackberries are our favorites) over the top of each rectangle of dough. Gently press the berries into the dough and proceed as usual.
- Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Bread: check out our recipe for Cinnamon Twist Bread for a different sweet variation. It’s made the same way as this Nutella Twist Bread, except with a cinnamon sugar mixture, made with brown sugar, instead of Nutella.
- Garlic Herb Twist Bread: for a more savory version, try our Garlic Herb Twist Bread recipe. It’s a great substitute for garlic bread at any dinner.
- Wheat Twist- You can use our Honey Wheat Bread Recipe to make this Nutella Twist Bread.
Nutella Twist Bread
Ingredients
French Bread Ingredients
- 2 ½ Cups Water warm (95-105 degrees F)
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar or honey
- 1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil or any cooking oil
- ¾ Tablespoon Salt
- 5 ½-6 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- ½ Cup Nutella warmed slightly
Instructions
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add warm water (between 95-105 degrees Fahrenheit), sugar, and yeast. Stir, and let sit for 5-10, or until frothy.
- Add the oil, salt and about 3 cups of flour. Using the dough hook, mix on low for 1-2 minutes, or until the flour has all mixed in. Continue to add another 2 ½-3 cups of flour, mixing on low until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Mix for another 2 minutes on low, and add a little more flour if the dough feels sticky.
- Once mixed, cover the bowl with a towel, and let the dough rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes.
- Once your dough has rested, transfer onto a lightly floured surface and separate into 2 equal pieces.
- Using a rolling pin, gently roll each piece of dough into a rectangle that is roughly 14" x 10". Spread ¼ cup of Nutella evenly over each rectangle (Note: you may need to warm the Nutella for a few seconds in the microwave to make it easier to spread). Make sure to spread it all the way to the edges of the dough.
- Roll each log up starting at the longer end so you have 2 long rolls. Use a sharp knife and cut down the center of each roll so you have four long halves total. Take 2 halves and pinch the ends on one side together, then twist the dough together loosely. Gently lay the Nutella twist into your prepared 9”x5” loaf pan, tucking both ends under. Repeat with the other two halves.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Cover both loaf pans with a kitchen towel, and let the dough rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes, or until the dough has doubled.
- Once they have doubled in size, bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and baked through. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before removing from the loaf pans. Serve warm, or let the bread cool before slicing. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Here are some other recipes with Nutella that we love!
- No-Bake Nutella Cookies
- Nutella Hot Chocolate
- No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake
- Nutella Balls
- Nutella Cornflake Cookies
- More Dessert Recipes
- More Bread Recipes
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This Nutella Twist Bread is as tasty as it is beautiful, but also surprisingly simple to make. Serve it warm out of the oven, toasted with a smear of jam or even slice thick and use for French toast!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
My family is going to love this! The flavors are perfect and I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Gina
This is literally the bread of my dreams. So soft, pillowy and just the perfect amount of sweetness!