Back when Disney announced they were making a new animated movie about Rapunzel, I was immediately excited. I grew up watching the Disney princess movies and had been wanting more. Once I saw it, I loved it. The animation style, the storytelling, the humor, the music, everything! It was exactly what I was looking for and it’s still my favorite recent Disney princess movie. To celebrate my love of Tangled, I’m excited to share this braided bread with you!

Cross section of nutella bread, showing the inside layers of nutella and bread.

Rapunzel’s hair is legendary and I loved how it looked when it was braided and full of flowers. I knew it would be the perfect inspiration for this delicious braided bread. I was a bit nervous since I hadn’t made a braided bread before but it was pretty straightforward and turned out great!

unbaked braided bread proofing before being baked.

To make my braided bread, I decided to start with a Challah bread, since it’s sweeter and traditionally braided. I love Nutella and I thought it would be a perfect addition to this bread. For my braid, I used four strands, but you can use any number you’d like. I watched this great video but there are tons of others on YouTube. If you’re braiding more than three strands, I definitely recommend watching a video since it can be a bit hard to visualize. For my flower decorations, I used two kinds of Wilton Icing Decorations, which are pre-made dried fondant. They have a lot of different flowers so you can choose whatever kind you’d like or even make your own.

Enjoy!

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Rapunzel’s Tangled Nutella Bread

A delicious braided Nutella bread!

Course Dessert
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Inactive 2 hours 25 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 25 minutes
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

Bread

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1 cup hot water (¼ cup boiling water, ¾ cup cold water)
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ½ cup neutral oil (canola, grapeseed, etc.)
  • 2 eggs
  • Nutella

Egg Wash

  • 1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water

Instructions

  1. In a medium size bowl, whisk one cup of the flour with the yeast and stir in the hot water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let rise about 45 minutes or until puffy and bubbly.
  2. Directly into the bowl, add the salt, honey, oil, and eggs. Stir with a spatula until well mixed, then add the remaining three cups of flour. Stir until dough forms a sticky mass. Place dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a few minutes, until dough becomes smooth. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let it rise until doubled in size, one to two hours.
  3. Punch down and place dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out until it is medium thick.
  4. Using a spatula, spread an even layer of nutella on the dough, leaving some space around the edges.
  5. With a sharp knife, cut dough into four sections and roll each piece into a long strand.
  6. Attach strands at one end and braid into one long loaf (see video above).
  7. Brush with egg wash.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Let the loaf rise on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, about 30 minutes.
  9. Brush one more time with egg wash. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, checking after 40 minutes. Once baked, transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
  10. Once cooled, place flower decorations throughout the loaf.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from Alexandra Cooks