Nutella Day! A better- than- cinnamon buns challenge!

First of all let me tell you about my new friend, Beatriz and about her excellent blog. Like me, Beatriz is an expat, and like me, she is Colombian, she's passionate as heck about her family and she's into the arts. She found me through one of my recipes (arepas) and boy am I glad she did! When I started to read her blog, I was absolutely hooked! She has a way with words, a sincerity and a beautiful simplicity which just gets you hooked! Although I've never met Beatriz, I feel a connection towards her just by reading her blog. Do check it out!
Well, yesterday Miss Beatriz challenged me to take part in World Nutella Day 2008 and because I am not one to disappoint, I took the challenge head on and immediately began brainstorming. I thought about Nutella breakfast bars, Nutella cheesecake, Nutella and pear tart (there I go again with my pears!), Nutella waffles! So many ideas! And then it hit me this morning- Nutella buns!
I adore cinnamon buns and could actually live off of them. The thing is that they're so darn addictive! And yes, I know, a smoothie is a much better option first thing in the morning. But seeing that it's weekend, and that I was challenged, I went ahead and made the most sinful buns ever! No, not cinnamon buns- much bettter than that! I present to you my Nutty Nutella Buns with Tia Maria Glaze!
I'm telling you, I almost burnt my fingers and lips tearing into these while they were still steaming! Even though my instructions say to let them cool slightly before glazing!
Here's the recipe:

Nutty Nutella Buns with Tia Maria Glaze
Approximately 12 buns

For the dough:
250 ml full- fat milk
100g butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
550g flour, plus extra for the kneading and rolling
2 packets (7g each) active dry yeast
80g caster sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

or the filling:
350g Nutella
75g chopped hazelnuts
110g chopped walnuts

For the egg wash:
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsps milk

For the glaze: 150g icing sugar
3 tbsps Tia Maria

1. In a small pan, heat the milk and the butter until the butter is melted. Take the pan off the heat, add the vanilla and let cool to lukewarm. Whisk in the beaten eggs.

2. In a big bowl, mix the flour, yeast, sugar, cinnamon and salt.

3. Add the cooled milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well with a floured wooden spoon. Flour your hands and dig into the bowl, kneading the dough inside the bowl. The dough will be sticky, so keep your hands well- floured!

4. Transfer the dough to a well- floured surface and knead it there for a further five minutes, sprinkling with more flour if necessary. Form the dough into a ball.

5. Wash out your bowl with hot water, dry it and sprinkle some flour both in the bowl and on your dough. Return the dough to the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea cloth. Set the bowl in a warm place. I usually put mine in a sunny window next to the heater, and I even place the bowl on top of a cushion! Dough needs to be loved, you see. Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.

6. Punch down your dough and knead it for about a minute. Roll it out on a well- floured surface to a rectangle of about 27 X 45cm. It should be about 1cm thick.

7. Spread the Nutella evenly over the dough and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. It takes quite a bit of effort to spread the Nutella! I did this with a the help of a knife, and with my fingers!

8. Roll the dough from the long side and slice it into pieces of 4cm.

9. Line a 26 X 37 rectangular baking pan with baking paper and place the buns in the pan leaving enough space for the dough to rise (about 1/2 cm apart). Cover the pan with plastic wrap and the tea towel. Allow the buns to rise an additional 30 minutes.

10. Preheat the oven to 200C.

11. Make an egg wash by whisking the egg with the milk. Brush this over the rolls and pop them in the oven for 30 minutes. Check half way through to see if they are not getting too brown. Cover wth foil if necessary!

12. Remove the rolls from the baking pan by lifting them up with the baking paper. Set them on a rack (baking paper and all) to cool slightly.

13. Make the glaze by whisking the sugar with the Tia Maria.

14. Drizzle the glaze over the buns.

15. Try to stop yourself from eating the whole lot!