These buns tick all of my boxes. Soft and pillowy, not too sweet and visually very, very beautiful. They also happen to contain chocolate and hazelnut – one of my all time favourite combinations. With Easter coming up, and Hot Cross Buns front and centre in all the bakeries, there is no better time to make these gorgeous chocolate hazelnut buns. It can take a little practice to get the twisting and knotting right, but even when it’s not perfect, it’s still certainly delicious.

Other nuts like walnuts and almonds are great here, and these buns are also lovely with a butter cinnamon filling instead, for those who prefer a more traditional spiced filling. The pearl sugar is available from most baking supply shops, but can be left out or swapped for some chopped nuts.

Julia’s slightly savoury scrumptious sweet buns with chocolate and hazelnut. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

Julia in her beloved Fitzroy pad, the last time we’ll see her in this iconic kitchen (she’s moving this week)! Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

Rolling out the dough. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

Folded the chocolate and blitzed hazelnuts into the rolled dough. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

Slice the folded pastry lengthways. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

Twist the lengths of dough from each end and slowly wind them around your hand. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

A close-up of the hard part! Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

Wash with egg and spring with pearl sugar before putting in the oven. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

And voilà! Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

The perfectly portioned Easter treat! Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

Very munch-able. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

Yuki loves them! Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.