If regular homemade cinnamon rolls were married to semisweet chocolate, you'd get these gooey and over-the-top pastries with chocolate in the filling and topping. A double dose, just in case. The dough can be made ahead, and the baked rolls can be frozen; another reason to make these often.
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Rich and gooey
The smell in your kitchen makes it impossible to resist them.
It's a classic cinnamon roll dough filled with cocoa and chocolate chips and drizzled with a chocolate glaze. A lot, I know, but worth it.
I strongly feel pastries, in general, should be eaten within a few hours of baking them, just like muffins. They will never be as good if you ask me. That said, warming them up will revive a day old pastry and make them worth eating.
I'm all about the little things and these chocolate rolls can brighten up a dull day.
Testing Notes
These have an intense chocolate flavor. So, if you want a lighter dose, use less glaze or less cocoa powder in the filling. For sweeter rolls, use milk chocolate chips instead of semisweet.
Achieving a gooey texture: Don't skimp on the butter and sugar in the filling, and make sure you don't overbake the rolls. The center must be cooked (no wet dough) but still soft and doughy.
Flat or dense rolls: Check the yeast first to avoid throwing the whole thing into the trash. Second, allow the dough to rise sufficiently in a warm environment. If your kitchen is cool, it might take longer. The dough should roughly double in size.
Ingredient Notes
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Chocolate: Use your favorite semisweet chocolate for this recipe.
- Cocoa powder: Always use unsweetened. In my experience, the dark ones are the best (this does not apply to the super dark used for making homemade Oreo cookies known as dark or black cocoa powder).
- Yeast: I use active dry yeast, which needs to be hydrated before. You can use instant yeast (¾ of the amount given for active dry) and add it directly to the flour, then add the liquid; no need to foam it first. If using fresh yeast, the ratio is 3:1 to dry, and it is used the same way as the active-dry, where you need to hydrate it first and let it foam.
- Milk: I like whole milk for its richness, but reduced-fat and lactose-free milk also work.
- Flour: We use both all-purpose and cake flour. I find that a mix renders softer rolls. You can use only all-purpose flour if that's all you have.
- Brown sugar: we use light, but dark also works.
- Powdered sugar: also known as icing sugar or confectioners' sugar.
Variations & substitutions
- Orange zest: add a sprinkle to the chocolate filling. The combo of chocolate and orange is fantastic.
- Nuts or raisins: sprinkling chopped nuts for crunch or raisins for chewiness and sweetness onto the chocolate filling.
- Cream cheese frosting: go the traditional route with a non-chocolate finish. It will be less intense, but still excellent rolls!
How to Make Sure Yeast Works
- Check expiration date: Replace if expired.
- Visual check: Should be beige to light brown and granular/powdery. Avoid if grayish, clumpy, or discolored.
- Smell test: Should have a mild, slightly sweet smell. Strong or unpleasant odors indicate it's bad.
Proofing test: Mix ½ teaspoon sugar in ¼ cup warm water (comfortable to touch). Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of dry yeast on top and stir gently. Wait 5-10 minutes until you start to see some activity. Fresh yeast will foam and bubble more while instant yeast bubbles less than active dry yeast.
Golden Rule: When in doubt, buy new! It's better to be safe than to have your baked goods fall flat and be inedible. You'll have to throw it out and start again.
Steps to make chocolate rolls
There is something about working with yeast that is irresistible to me. But I know it's not everyone's favorite subject. It takes a bit of work and organization. You have to adapt to its rhythm.
This dough is straightforward and quite easy to work with.
Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, utensils and equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Sweet dough before rising for the first time: Use a large bowl and cover it loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel.
- The dough will double, and that's your cue to know it's ready. It will feel much softer and easier to work with.
- I like to use parchment paper to guide me with the size and shape of the rectangle. But you can use a marble countertop. Be careful when spreading the soft butter so you don't tear the dough.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon-chocolate mixture on top of the butter. Roll tightly from the long side.
- Cut the dough into 12 pieces and use a buttered baking pan or tray that holds them comfortably before rising and a bit snugly after they puff for the last time.
- The rolls must rise again before baking and will bump into each other.
Chocolate glaze
We forgo the traditional cream cheese frosting and use a dark chocolate ganache icing. The result is sweet and gooey. Plain irresistible.
Let the glaze cool down slightly and thicken before pouring it on room-temperature rolls. Don't pour it while the rolls are hot or warm, or it will melt too much.
Overnight rolls
Once you know how yeast works and get some practice, you can pop the dough into the fridge until the next day or freeze the unbaked rolls in the pans and give them their last rise after returning to room temperature.
Important: do it in stages, first transfer the pan to the fridge and when it's thawed, transfer it to the counter so it comes to room temperature and starts its final rise.
This last step might take a few hours, depending on the room's temperature and how cold the rolls are.
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Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose or bread flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup milk, at room temperature
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and lukewarm
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips, regular or mini chocolate chips
For the chocolate glaze:
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the dough:
- Combine 2 ¼ cups cake flour, 2 ¼ cups all-purpose or bread flour, ½ cup sugar and 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. If making them by hand, use a large mixing bowl.
- Add ¾ cup milk, 3 eggs, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, and 1 teaspoon salt.
- Attach the dough hook and knead at medium-low speed for 1 or 2 minutes. Increase to medium speed and knead for 7-8 minutes more or until a dough forms. It will not separate completely from the bowl, and it will be barely sticky. If it's too sticky add a few tablespoons of flour, one at a time, but not too many, kneading for about 30 seconds before deciding if it needs more. The dough will become supple after the first rise, so be careful with the extra flour.
- Transfer this dough to an oiled bowl, turn it over to coat it fully, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let rise in a draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Have the filling ingredients ready before rolling the dough.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) about half an hour before baking.
- Gently turn the dough onto a clean counter and pat into a rectangle, about 16x12 inches (30x40cm), the long side parallel to the counter.
For the filling:
- Pat mounds with 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, all over the dough. Gently spread it to cover the entire surface. Be careful not to tear the dough.
- Mix 1 cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder in a small bowl. Sprinkle it on top of the butter. Sprinkle ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips.
- Lift the longest edge closer to you, from one end to the other, and keep rolling, trying to tighten it as you do.
- Use a large kitchen knife to cut it into 12 pieces. Start by cutting the dough in half, then each piece in thirds to make six pieces, and each piece in half again.
- Place in a greased or buttered 9x13-inch baking dish, cover with a clean towel, and let it rise for 1 hour or until puffed.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden, puffed, and baked through.
Prepare the glaze:
- Mix 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder with ½ cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth.
- Drizzle over warm rolls and let dry before eating.
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