Chocolate Breakfast Rolls

Happy Saturday morning.

Anyone can make cinnamon rolls. Recipes for that are plentiful, plus the lazy can "bake" them out of a whack-a-can (what I call those Pillsbury refrigerator tubes). This is way more impressive.

It doesn't mean you have to get up at 3am on a weekend, either. Most of the work can be done the night before. Pull them out of the fridge in the morning, go back to bed for an hour, and finish baking at a decent hour.

Dough

2/3 C milk
1/4 C butter
1/3 C sugar
2 tsp yeast
2-3 C flour
dash salt

1. Warm milk, butter, and sugar to 100º. Butter does not need to melt. Stir in yeast and let sit 5 min to activate.

2. In stand mixer, stir together 1 C flour and the salt. Stir in milk mixture and beat with paddle into a smooth batter, about 2 minutes. Add another cup of flour and beat again. Transfer to kneading board and knead in as little flour as possible until dough is smooth. The dough should seem silky and fragile. Place in oiled bowl and let rise 1 hr.

3. Punch down dough and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll into 16" x 10" rectangle.

Filling

2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cocoa powder
*1/4 C chocolate chips
*1/4 C crushed walnuts
1 Tb butter

1. Stir together sugar and cocoa powder. Add nuts and chips.

back to the rolls:

4. Melt butter and brush evenly over surface of dough, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle filling evenly over rectangle, leaving 1" of a long side clean.



5. Starting on filled long side, roll up into a log. Seal with clean side. Slice into 9 equal pieces and place, cut side up, in buttered 8" x 8" square pan. Rolls will not touch. This is the point where you can cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge up to 12 hours.

6. Let rise in a warm place for 1hr. Bake at 400º for about 20 minutes, until golden. Let cool slightly before adding glaze.

Cream Cheese Glaze

2 oz (1/4 C) cream cheese
1 Tb butter
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 C powdered sugar

1. With an electric beater, cream together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.

2. Add powdered sugar and beat until creamy. Spread on rolls immediately.

Makes 9 rolls. I'll let you decide how many that serves.

Difficulty rating  :-0

Variations

Cinnamon rolls: Substitute cinnamon for cocoa powder and golden raisins for chocolate chips.

Apple rolls: Substitute cinnamon for cocoa and one small, petit diced apple for chocolate chips.