Banana Nut Nutella Cinnamon Rolls

By CruelK8E

Ingredients

• Dough:
• 1 + 1/4 cup banana puree
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup lukewarm water*
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose, not whole wheat)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, light or dark
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons yeast (1 packet)
• Filling (I doubled this):
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
• Topping:
• a heaping 1/2 cup Nutella
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-3 tablespoons milk – add until it makes a thin spreadable glaze

Details

Adapted from eatrunread.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients together by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until you've made a soft, fairly smooth dough.

2. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow the dough to rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until it's almost doubled in bulk.

3. In a small bowl whisk sugars, cocoa, cinnamon and nuts to make the filling. Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll into a 16" x 22" rectangle. Drizzle butter over top and spread evenly with a pastry brush, sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top leaving about a half an inch of a short edge free on the end.

4. Starting with the short end that's covered with filling, carefully roll the dough into a log.

5. Cut the log into ten 1 ½"-thick rolls. I rolled them out very thin (about ¼ inch), which meant more filling and more swirls to peel away, and a lot more smaller cinnamon rolls (I ended up with about 18). But if you’d prefer a more bread-y and bigger/thicker cinnamon roll, roll the dough out thicker.

6. Place the rolls into a lightly greased 9" x 9" pan that's at least 2" deep (if you make more smaller rolls, you will need 2 pans). Set aside, covered, to rise for 1 hour, or until the rolls look puffy.

7. Bake the rolls in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're lightly browned and feel set. Remove them from the oven.

8. Combine all of the topping ingredients with a wisk or hand mixer and drizzle over cinnamon rolls.

*Adjust the amount of water by the time of year or your climate. For summer, or in a humid environment, use the lesser amount of water. In winter, or in a dry climate, use the greater amount. It's always best to start with the lesser amount; you can add more as needed.