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–+ servings

sugarsalted.com

Coconut Nutella cinnamon rolls

Made with an overnight dough, to make the process easier. Super soft and stay that way for days. 
Prep 1 hour 40 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 16

Ingredients 
US | M

Dough
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
  • 3 cups all purpose flour plus more for kneading
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
  • 2 large eggs whisked
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • sunflower or vegetable oil for greasing the bowl
Filling
  • 2/3 - 1 cup Nutella a 13 oz (400g) jar will suffice
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon more to taste
Glaze
  • 7 oz white chocolate finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil

Instructions

Make the dough
  • Warm up milk in a small bowl until it’s warm but not hot to the touch. Stir in a teaspoon of sugar, then add the yeast and let it dissolve and bubble up. 
  • Combine flour, the rest of sugar and salt in your stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment). Stir in the yeast mixture, then butter, eggs and vanilla. Beat on low for a few minutes, the dough will be sticky, but should clump together into a ball. 
  • Scrape dough from the sides of the bowl and transfer it to a floured work surface. Knead it for a few minutes, adding more flour if it’s too sticky until the dough goes from sticky to smooth, elastic and you can easily shape it into a ball.
  • Lightly oil a large bowl with oil. Transfer dough to the bowl, turn it around until it’s completely coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Keep dough in the refrigerator for overnight rolls. For same-day baking, let dough rise in a warm area until doubled, about 1-2 hours.
Make the rolls
  • When you’re ready to bake rolls, punch down the dough and transfer it to a floured surface. Roll it out to a 16x16 inch (40x40 cm) square. 
  • Spread a generous amount of Nutella all over, leaving a 1/2 inch (1-cm) border on top side. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Next, sprinkle with shredded coconut, just until the whole area is covered but coconut isn’t piled on (you should still see Nutella underneath). 
  • Starting at the side opposite to the 1/2 inch border of bare dough, roll the dough into a log.  Brush away any excess flour on the bottom side and dampen the “seam” with water. Pinch dough together, to keep it rolled up.
  • With seam side down, cut dough crosswise into 16 equal slices (14 pretty and 2 ends), using dental floss or or a very sharp thin knife.
  • Lightly grease a large baking dish (I used 2 medium ones). Place in the rolls, cut side up, leaving some space in between. Cover baking dish with a kitchen towel and let rolls rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 30-40 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Bake rolls in the center of oven until tops are light brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let them cool in the baking dish for 10-15 minutes before serving. 
  • Meanwhile make the white chocolate glaze:
    Place chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water.  Make sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl. As chocolate starts to melt, gently stir it with a spoon. When most of it is melted, remove bowl from the stove and place it on a kitchen towel. Stir in coconut oil until the mixture is completely smooth. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then stir again and spread over rolls. As the chocolate cools completely, it will harden.
  • You can store rolls in the refrigerator or at room temperature (if it's not too hot where you live), covered, for up to 3 days. You can freeze unglazed rolls, wrapped tightly, for up to 3 months. 

Notes

  • Both instant yeast and active dry yeast work in this recipe and are interchangeable. One thing that can happen with different types of yeast is that the rising time of dough can change. Active dry yeast can be a bit slower to rise, whereas instant or quick rise types of yeast act faster. 
  • To be on the safe side, don’t just keep an eye on the time listed in the recipe, watch your dough as well. If you see it has doubled already, before my recipe says it would, continue with the process. On the other hand, if the time I gave in the recipe is already up and your dough hasn’t risen entirely yet, keep it covered and let it rise until it’s ready. 
  • If you don’t like Nutella, you can use any other chocolate spread of your choice. 
  • For an extra twist, you can try toasting coconut before using. 
  • Leftover rolls freeze pretty great. It’s ideal if you double wrap them, for example in plastic wrap first, then put them in a bag and freeze. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or in a microwave (using the “defrost” function).