Pastry Pockets with Nutella Filling

It feels like a long time since I last posted here.... Been pretty busy this past month... spent the first part of the holidays decluttering the house, which has not been an easy task especially since we have lived in this house for 20 years now.... We also spent a week in UAE for a family getaway.... that, was truly awesome since we had not gone for a holiday outside SE Asia for the longest time! It was also an eye-opening experience for the family as this is our first (except for my husband) visit to the Middle East. Now we are back to continue with the decluttering  before the school term starts in two week's time. Oh no!!

So today's recipe is inspired after I tasted some addictive pastry pockets from Tim Hortons when we were in Dubai. They are basically doughnuts, cut in rectangles & filled with Nutella... but they taste so good, especially when I had them with the hot cardamon chai. Just talking about it makes me want to have it right now! Haha.. 

If you had made doughnuts before, this would not be too difficult... the only messy part was when I tried to pipe the filling..... but believe me, the mess is all worth it! For the dough, I used the potato doughnut recipe which I shared before as I just love its soft & fluffy texture. Do try making these gems.... I know it's not something out of the ordinary but anybody who tries them would definitely have only good things to say.... just don't let them talk about the calories. :D

I went overboard with the filling for this piece... hehe..

Pastry Pockets with Nutella Filling

Ingredients:
250g high protein flour (bread flour)
25g milk powder
5g instant yeast (1 tsp)
50g sugar
100g potato
50 ml cold water (I added 3 tsp more water. See note no. 1)
2 egg yolk
40g butter
1/4 tsp salt

vegetable oil for deep frying
Nutella spread (for filling)
icing sugar for coating the pockets

Method:

1. Steam, microwave or roast the potato. Leave to cool slightly. Remove the skin and blend with the cold water until it becomes a smooth puree. Leave to cool. (I peeled & cut the potato into big pieces & roasted them until cooked & soft. I roasted them because I was also roasting some potatoes for my roasted-potato bread.)
2. Combine flour, milk powder, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the blended potato and egg yolk and mix using the dough hook for about 2 minutes. 
3. Add in butter and continue mixing for about 2 minutes. Finally, add in salt and mix for another 3 minutes until the dough is smooth & elastic.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a ball and place it in a clean & greased bowl. Cover the dough with a cloth & leave it to prove for about 45 minutes.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for 4 minutes or until the bubbles are out of the bread. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
6. Roll out the dough evenly into about 1 cm thickness. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into rectangle or diamond-shaped pieces. Place the cut pieces onto a floured tray. Cover with tea towel & leave to proof for about 35 minutes.
7. Deep fry in medium hot oil till golden brown.
8. Fill up a piping bag with Nutella spread. Using a small plain nozzle, make a hole on one side of the fried pastry & pipe the filling. Finally coat  with fine sugar.

Notes & modifications:

1. The mixture will look very dry at first, just carry on mixing until a soft dough is formed. If the mixture is still dry, add some more water, one teaspoon at a time until it forms a smooth & soft dough. I think the amount of water needed will depend on the type of potato used. Previously when using this recipe, I did not have to add more water but this time, I added 3 teaspoons.
2. I started mixing the dough late at night. So after step 3, I placed the dough in an air-tight bowl & left it in the fridge. The next morning, I took the bowl out of the fridge & left it in room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then I continued with step 5.
3. The above recipe is half the original recipe & it yields quite a lot of pastry pockets. So for small serving, you may want to start with half the above recipe. But I must warn you, these pockets are quite addictive!