Twisted hazelnut cinnamon buns
These twisted hazelnut buns are perfect for autumn – soft, fluffy and wonderfully fragrant, with a delicious filling made from ground hazelnuts, cinnamon, chocolate and cocoa powder. They’re some of the best sweet buns I’ve had recently, and my family agrees :). The filling is intensely nutty, with lovely hints of cinnamon and chocolate, and the aroma that fills the house as they bake is simply wonderful. The buns are soft, delicate and moist, and taste best while still slightly warm… They’re also surprisingly easy to shape. I hope my detailed instructions and the step-by-step illustration below will help you. Highly recommended!
Makes 12 buns.
Ingredients for the yeast dough:
- 540 g strong white bread flour
- 80 g caster sugar
- ¾ tsp salt
- 10 g dried yeast or 20 g fresh yeast
- 80 g butter, melted
- 250 ml milk
- 2 large eggs
Mix the flour with the dried yeast (if using fresh yeast, first make a yeast starter). Add the remaining ingredients and knead, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead the dough for long enough until it is soft and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1½ hours).
Once risen, roll the dough out into a large rectangle measuring approximately 50 × 36 cm, lightly dusting the work surface and rolling pin with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Spread the hazelnut filling (recipe below) over the rectangle, covering two-thirds of the rolled-out dough. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter, dividing the longer side (50 cm) into three. You should end up with a rectangle measuring approximately 36 × 17 cm.
Position the dough so that the longer side (36 cm) is closest to you. Gently roll the dough out again, increasing the length of the shorter side to approximately 23 cm. Using a sharp knife, cut across the longer side into strips approximately 3 cm wide (you should have 12 equal strips); a pizza cutter works particularly well for this. Twist each strip into a spiral, then roll it into a bun, tucking the end underneath.
Arrange the buns on two baking trays lined with baking paper. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise again for approximately 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Brush the risen buns with the additional beaten egg and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for approximately 23–25 minutes, preferably using conventional top and bottom heat. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly. You can dust them with icing sugar if you like.
Ingredients for the hazelnut filling:
- 200 g ground hazelnuts
- 150 ml double cream
- 100 g light muscovado sugar
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 20 g dark or plain chocolate, grated
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
All ingredients should be at room temperature.
Place all the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined.
Additionally:
- 1 egg, beaten, for brushing
- a handful of chopped hazelnuts, for sprinkling
Method for bread machine users:
Place all the yeast dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead it lightly, and continue according to the main recipe above.
Enjoy!