These Crunchy Cocoa Nutella Brioche Muffins are really a cross between a soft yeast pastry, a chocolate swirl bun, and a bakery-style brioche muffin. A rich vanilla dough is layered with buttery cocoa-Nutella filling, folded to create thin chocolate layers, cut into strips, and rolled into spirals before baking in a muffin tin.
Fresh from the oven, the tops are brushed with a light vanilla sugar syrup for shine and moisture. Once cooled, each pastry gets a hidden spoonful of Nutella in the center.
The original ingredient list contains several repeated sections, so this version cleans it up into one complete, workable recipe while keeping the intended cocoa-Nutella laminated swirl technique.
Ingredients
For the Brioche Dough
- 4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (10g) active dry yeast
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (200ml) whole milk, warm
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 7 tablespoons (100g) unsalted butter, very soft but not melted
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
For the Cocoa-Nutella Filling
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (200g) unsalted butter, very soft
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (45–50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon Nutella
- 1–2 tablespoons whole milk, only if needed to loosen the filling
For Brushing
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
For the Vanilla Sugar Syrup
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (200ml) water
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
For the Nutella Centers
- About ½ cup (150g) Nutella, or as needed