Chocolate Swirl Buns #BreadBakers

Wendy chose chocolate as this month's Bread Bakers theme. Pretty much the best theme ever if you ask me. I've wanted to do cinnamon rolls in this style for a while so it was an easy switch to add chocolate instead. The only problem is that I made these on the evening before I needed to do a fasting blood test. I planned on eating one during one of my class breaks but I was caught up doing rosters and looking up other stuff and completely forgot about them. When class wrapped up at around 10:40, I was STARVING and couldn't eat anything - not even one of these buns. I honestly contemplated putting off my bloodwork just so I could try one of these. I was hungry, man. I had to WAIT until the next day to try these. TORTURE. Don't be like me. Plan ahead. 

Scroll down to see what other chocolate yumminess is coming your way today.

Cinnamon Swirl Buns

Ingredients

300 grams flour 

30 grams sugar

2 tablespoons dry milk 

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt 

100 ml milk 

1 egg

60 grams butter

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Filling 

5 tablespoons sugar (see note)

4 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons cocoa 

1 tablespoon flour 

a pinch of salt 

Egg wash

1 egg

a splash of water

Directions

Whisk together flour, sugar, dry milk, yeast and salt. Add in the remaining dough ingredients and knead for approximately 7 minutes or until you have a smooth tack dough that pulls away from the mixing bowl. 

Place in a greased bowl and allow to bulk ferment at room temperature for about 2 hours until doubled or overnight in the fridge. I used the fridge option. 

Mix all the filling ingredients together. 

Grease a 12 cup capacity muffin tin. 

When the dough is ready, roll out to approximately 32 cm x 36 cm.  

Spread the filling on thinly. 

With a short side facing you, fold the dough in thirds. You should now have a 32 cm x 12 cm rectangle. 

You can chill the dough at this step or wait until after you cut into strips. Chilling makes it easier to work with. 

Cut the dough into 8 strips (4 cm x 12 cm). 

Next, use a sharp knife to cut twice down the length of each strip to make three strands. Plait the three strands together. 

Roll the plait along its length into a ball and place in the greased muffin tin.

Cover and allow to proof for an hour. 

When the buns are almost ready, preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Just before baking, brush the buns with the egg mixed with water. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. 

Remove from the pan as soon as you can or they might stick to the pan.

Notes

• This is not very sweet. Feel free to taste the filling and add more sugar as needed. Next time I might use powdered sugar so that I can skip the flour and have a smoother filling. 

• Chocolate Chip Breadsticks from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves from Food Lust People Love 
• Chocolate Crepes from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Fudge Sauce Star Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Chocolate Protein Oat Banana Waffles from Cook with Renu
• Chocolate Swirl Buns from Passion Kneaded
• Double Chocolate Chip Bread from Palatable Pastime
• Lemon and Ginger Scented White Chocolate Sourdough from A Messy Kitchen
• Milk and Chocolate Rolls from Magical Ingredients

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Matcha Chocolate Chip Muffins #MuffinMonday

I'm not big on making New Year's resolutions but I did make a hesitant plan to try to bake more. Work took over last year but I need to make time for ME. And a big part of that is baking. I wasn't even able to bake my birthday cake last year. That's how crazy things were. But so far so good. I did Bread Baker's and now it's Muffin Monday. Let's hope I can keep this up  - theme permitting.

So matcha muffins. I was making a drink a couple Fridays ago when the idea popped into my head. A very delicious idea! I love spices in my chocolate chip muffins so I added them here. If you leave them out, you will have a lighter-coloured muffin - more matcha-green. 

Be sure to scroll down to see what fun muffins the other bakers made!

Matcha Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yield: approximately 8 muffins

Ingredients

180 grams flour

100 grams sugar

1 tablespoon matcha

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

1 egg

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk

1/3 cup oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup chocolate chips 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Whisk flour, sugar, matcha, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 

In another bowl, whisk egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. 

Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. The batter is thick. Next, told in the chocolate chips. 

Divide into muffin cups. 

Bake 5 minutes at 425 F then lower oven to 350F. Bake another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. 

• Banana Crumb Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Blueberry Banana Muffins (Small Batch) from Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Cranberry Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Matcha Chocolate Chip Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Orange and Strawberry Whole Wheat Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sourdough Banana Carrot Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Pita #BreadBakers

When Stacy suggested Mediterranean bread for our January Bread Bakers, I pictured myself making something I'd never heard of before. I did some googling but kept coming back to pita bread. The "simple" pita. Truth is, pita has been on my bread bucket list for years. But I have mixed success with flatbreads, in general, and for some reason, pita just seemed complicated - could I really get the puff?  It was time to try. And I'm pleased to report that they puffed! I was completely surprised. This turned out to be easier than I expected so I can't wait to do it again. 

Scroll down to see what the other bread bakers are offering up from the Mediterranean. 

Pita 

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon instant yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 cup water

2 tablespoons oil 

Directions

Whisk flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Add in the water and oil and stir until shaggy. Knead until smooth then place in an oiled and covered bowl to proof for an hour or until puffy. It won't necessarily double. I proofed overnight as I prefer doughs proofed overnight. 

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll out about 3 or 4 into 6-inch circles. They will rest while the oven preheats. Cover the unrolled-out dough. 

Place a baking sheet or pizza stone on the lowest rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 500 F. 

When the oven is ready, place as many dough circles as you can in the oven. Bake for a total of 7 minutes turning about halfway through the bake time. 

Remove from the oven and wrap in a clean towel so that they will stay soft. 

 

• Bazluma from Magical Ingredients
• Cheese Fatayer from Sneha's Recipe
• Egyptian Mahlab Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Halloumi Cheese, Olive, and Mint Bread from Cook with Renu
• Ka'ak Asfar from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Olive Oil Blueberry Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pita from Passion Kneaded
• Scones with Za'atar and Feta from Palatable Pastime
• Sourdough Man'oushe (Za'atar Flatbread) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Vasilopita from A Messy Kitchen

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.