Homemade chocolate buns

Nothing is better than waking up to the smell of sweet chocolate buns on a sunday morning. Aaah, childhood memories: the smell of sugar, freshly baked rolls and chocolate in the air, tired but happy kids in the kitchen around the breakfast table. I can’t wake up to their smell anymore, but at least I can make them for myself. These are super-easy to make, require no mixer and just a morning of free time. But it’s super relaxing to stand in the kitchen without stress simply watching the dough rise (I mean you could also write that paper in between, just suggestin…).  The dough is like my Hefezopf (Sweet easter braided bread), but it’s way easier to make because you don’t need the braiding. Serve warm with some butter or eat cold in the afternoon for a snack. They’re also great to take to class as a sweet breakfast treat or to serve to your friends when working on that group project (because, who does not  like chocolate?)

Simply knead all the ingredients (except chocolate drops) into a yeast dough. Don’t worry, it’s super easy. When the dough has been kneaded for 10 minutes, put a handfull of chocolate drops onto the counter, roll the dough in them and knead a little, put more on the counter, roll the dough in them and knead a little… until all the drops are incorporated.

————–I am sorry for the bad pictures, my camera is still broken————

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl lightly dusted with flour and cover it with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise for approximately 2 hrs or until doubled in size.

After it has risen enough, take the dough out of the bowl and punch it down with your hands. Knead the dough a little, then seperate it into 14 equal balls (I made a long roll and then cut it into equal pieces).
Transfer the pieces onto two baking sheets, be careful to space them out enough. Let them rise for another 15 minutes, then lightly brush them with the egg wash. This will give them their nice brown shiny color
What kind of rolls do you like for breakfast? Or are you more of a cereal eater?

With love from the student kitchen,
Johanna

 

• Servings: 14 medium sized buns
• Time: 55 mins (+ 2:15 rising time)
• Print

This is what you need:
500 g flour
1 pckg yeast
75 g sugar
1 pinch salt
200 ml milk (non-dairy also works really well), at room temperature
75 g Butter (melted)
1 large egg, at room temperature
125 g chocolate druppels or small chocolate chips (baking-resistant)
Aluminium foil for covering the buns with if they get too brown

For the egg wash: 1 egg and 2 ts water, throughoutly mixed with a fork

And this is how we do it:
1. Melt the butter in the mikrowave until it’s liquid, but only hand warm (too hot will choc the yeast)
2. Mix flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
3. Add milk, butter and egg, stir the mixture with a spoon until roughly incorporated.
4. First knead the dough in the bowl with your hands, once everything is well mixed, transfer it onto a floured surface and knead for another 10 minutes to get in as much air as possible.
5. Put a handfull of chocolate drops onto the counter, roll the dough in them and knead a little, put more on the counter, roll the dough in them and knead a little… until all the drops are incorporated
6. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl sprinkled with flour, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm place for 2 hrs or until it’s twice its size.
7. Once risen enough, take the dough out of the bowl and transfer it to your floured workspace. Punch down the dough with your hands and knead for a few minutes.
8. Make one long dough roll and cut into 14 equal pieces. Transfer the pieces onto 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper and let them rise for another 15 minutes,
9. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F. (170°C(325°F when using an oven with air circulation). Cover the buns with the egg wash (either with a brush or the backside of a spoon) and put them into the oven.
10. Bake for 30 minutes. Check them after 10 minutes, once they get too brown cover the baking sheets with aluminium foil. You might also want to rotate the two baking sheets after half the time to ensure that they both bake equally.

Let them cool down after the baking time has elapsed and enjoy. Best still slightly warm with butter.

This is my own recipe. Please do not use it commercially without my permission. When using it on your blog, please re-write it in your own words and link it to the source to give proper credit 🙂 Thanks!