Easy Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

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Ever since I have started posts this month, I haven’t shared anything much personal. Maybe because there hasn’t been anything interesting… 🙂 One thing I started doing this month is journaling a statement every day. It is basically one question, that needs to be answered in a couple of statements, depending on your state of the day. Even though I haven’t been regular with it, I have stuck to it 80% of the time and can feel how relaxed that jotting down a couple of sentences is making me. I am trying to stick to it and do it on a daily basis from now on. I am seriously thinking of doing a statement and sticking it next to my bed, so that each time I go to bed, I check it and ensure that everything is done. Just trying to emphasis a bit more on my mental health… 🙂

On Saturday, my parents and my sister-in-law landed. They will be around for three months, Alhamdulillah… I have been under a lot of stress the past couple of months, so their coming is such a relief. It doesn’t mean the stress just goes off, but it will leave me with lesser time to actually dwell around it. I feel the lesser time we have to think about things that worry us, the easier it becomes for us to manage it well. Somehow, overthinking always makes things worse and clogs up your thought process. I have been there, and done it, so I know how it feels. I am just excited about the days coming, InShaAllah. My girls are just so relieved that they have their grandparents and maami to spend their winter holidays, and after that, they can come home after school… Somehow, we aren’t in a situation to give them that pleasure, but I am sure as they grow up, they understand why it is so… 🙂

Coming back to business for this month… 🙂 When I was putting up the list of bakes to be made for the Bakeathon this year, one bake was definitely going to be including yeast. How can I ignore something that is considered to be a backbone of baking! Anybody who loves to bake always has their jitters while trying their hand on yeast. But once it gets friendly with you, it surely makes your life easier. Do agree to me on this point… 🙂 I wish I would bake more with this ingredient, hopefully I will! Here are the yeast bakes and makes on the blog already, if interested…

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Last year, I had posted the Coffee Cinnamon Rolls for the Bakeathon, and this time I am posting a chocolate version! Rasha loves cinnamon rolls and her constant demand is to bake them. But consider this – I am really lazy to go with yeast bakes, since it means some waiting time, before you can finally finish it off. I must soon try a quick version that will get cinnamon rolls done in an hour or so. Hehe… So this bake was also the result of a continuous “eating of ummi’s head” process that happened at home for a long month. I had pinned up the recipe on the cork board in the kitchen and each time she would pass it, she would retort, “Ummi, why have you put it up when you have no intention to bake it?” :/

So on a Thursday, I did the dough, the proofing and the filling, and left it in the fridge to have its leisurely second proofing. The mistake I did was I chose a very small pan to fit in the rolls. I should have taken an 8 inch brownie pan instead. I felt so lazy to change them, so I just kept them all snuggling to each other. 😀 I woke up a little early, and that too with an alarm on Friday (who does that on a weekend???) and pulled out the rolls to come at room temperature. I baked them and they were ready, fresh and hot, just in time while the HD and the girls woke up. Rasha finished half the pan, I must say. She loved it so much! HD was like, “Don’t give her so much sweet!” But then I hardly bake these days, so I allowed her to enjoy the rolls by herself.

There is one thing with baking with cocoa powder and yeast. The rolls weren’t as fluffy as a purely all-purpose flour baked rolls would be. I was reading that the alkaline nature of cocoa powder slows down the action of the yeast, making the bake slightly denser than usual. It explains the way the rolls ended up looking at the end. But whatever said and done, I didn’t have even a piece remaining from that bowl, so I guess it’s an awesome bake. 🙂 Off to the recipe…

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And if you remember the board that I used in the Batata Vada post, this is the flip side. Isn’t it pretty? <3

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5 from 5 votes

Easy Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 cups all purpose flour plus more - refer recipe
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 40 gm butter melted
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• FOR FILLING:
• 25 gm butter softened
• 1 heaped tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• FOR TOPPING:
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp corn flour
• 2 tbsp milk

Instructions

• Whisk the sugar and yeast into the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes till frothy.
• In a large bowl, add in all the remaining ingredients for the dough.
• Pour in the frothed yeast mixture. Using a beater with dough hook, bring the dough together. It will be sticky.
• Take some additional flour on the side. Add a tablespoon at a time and lightly knead the dough. I used an additional 2 tbsp into the dough. Just knead till smooth - it will still be sticky.
• Cover and keep aside for an hour to double.
• Grease an 8 inch pan well with butter (I used a smaller pan and hence it was all congested).
• Take out the dough. Sprinkle some cocoa powder on the work surface and pat the dough into a rectangle. I just used my finger.
• Spread the softened butter, sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar all over it. Roll the dough tightly and tap the sides.
• Slice into equal 8-12 rolls. Arrange into the greased pan. Set aside to double. (refer notes)
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool the buns slightly.
• For the drizzle, powder the sugar and corn flour. Add the milk and blitz again. Drizzle over the rolls and serve immediately.

Notes

After shaping the buns, I loosely covered with foil and left them in the fridge to proof overnight. I kept them out for 10 minutes in the morning and baked them for 30 minutes.

Linking this up to Valli’s Bake-a-Thon 2018 event…

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