Yes, I’m posting something sweet. Usually I leave the sweet treats to Chelsea since she’s got the sweet-tooth on our team (I’m the designated fat-tooth), but all that has changed in the last few months…
I haven’t experienced many pregnancy cravings in these last 6 months but every once in a while… every once in a blue moon… OH MY GOD FEED ME SUGAR.
It’s the weirdest thing for someone not using to craving sugar at all. If anything, I’m usually cheese, carbs and hot sauce all the way.
NAH. Little girl in utero loves her sweets. Often, I’ll be able to sate a craving with something vaguely healthy like a kiwi or an orange (little girl also loves fruit), but there are times when all I can think of is…
Chocolate mousse. Belgian liege waffles, with sweet caramelized sugar at the edges. Häagen-Dazs tiramisu gelato with chewy ladyfinger bits sprinkles throughout. A fresh éclair, filled with sweet cream and doused in chocolate.
Sour. Gummy. Candies.
Since I’ve never been much for sweets (or flowers), Valentine’s Day has always meant two things for Colin and I: wine and homemade pizza (consumed at home while in our pajamas because we’re excellent at romance).
Well… guess I won’t be having any wine this year, good thing I have this curious sweet tooth to make up for it! Since it’s my first (and perhaps only) Valentine’s Day where I’m fully on the sweet train, I decided to go full-on traditional. Chocolate. Something red. If I was a craftier person I would have drawn big ol’ hearts on these buns but alas, I was far too excited to eat them and so I just slathered that glaze on like a monster in a hurry.
Ah well, I might have a sweet tooth but I guess I’ll never win an episode of Cake Wars. C’est la vie.
Lightly sweet dough, perfectly soft and easy to pull apart. Tart, jammy raspberry. That sweet spot between sinfully dark chocolate and gooey Nutella you want to eat straight from the jar.
Phew, now if that isn’t a sexy bun, I don’t know what is.
And yes, I put chocolate IN the buns and ON the buns. My first attempt involved just glazing the chocolate on top and it was not quiiiite chocolatey enough (and this is coming from someone who isn’t a huge chocolate fan to start with- crazy, I know).
The trickiest part is not destroying all of these in one sitting. You know that old adage about ‘eating for two’? Yeah, sadly, that’s not true. Still, a little treat every once in a while is a great idea. 😉
| Chocolate Raspberry Sweet Rolls | | Print |
- Dough:
- 2¼ tsp active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm milk
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- .
- Filling:
- 3 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen and slightly thawed)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 cup small, dark chocolate chips
- .
- Drizzle:
- ¼ cup nutella
- 25 g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), combine the warm milk and active yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes or so, until foamy. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour and mix well until a dough forms (if you are using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment for this). Knead dough until soft and supple. Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for roughly 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine raspberries, granulated sugar, vanilla and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper.
- Roll the dough out on to a lightly floured surface. The dough should be rolled until ¼ inch thick and form a rectangle roughly 12 inches by 18 inches. Using a spatula, spread the raspberry mixture over the dough in an even layer. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the raspberry filling. Tightly roll the dough from the long edge in, creating one long ~18 inch jelly roll. Using a sharp knife, slice the roll into 1.5 inch pieces. Lay pieces in the lined baking sheet, cover with a towel and let rise for an additional 30 minutes or so. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake rolls for 30 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before drizzling with the glaze.
- To make the glaze, heat the dark chocolate in a microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir slightly then return to the microwave to heat for an additional 30 second. Stir again and repeat this process until the chocolate is soft and melted. Add nutella and mix well to combine. Drizzle chocolate mixture over the baked rolls. Enjoy!
Please excuse me while I wipe the drool off my face, keyboard, desk, floor….
These look completely amazing! And for someone with a lifelong sweet tooth these are tortuously tempting! My Mum, who is a massive sweet tooth, totally lost her love for treats while she was pregnant with me, so maybe I should repay her for those lost months all these years later and bring her a tray of these gorgeous rolls. Delicious breakfast and daughter brownie points – now that’s sweet!
Have a happy Valentine’s Day!
Bawwww, I hope my daughter is as sweet as you and bring ME treats one day! 🙂 Have a very Happy Valentine’s, Amy!
Oh goodness. These look like the perfect breakfast treat to bake for your Valentine! And I agree, chocolate IN and ON TOP of the buns is a must 🙂 You can never have too much chocolate!
Thanks, London! More chocolate is definitely better! I can’t get enough of these sweet little rolls 🙂
Can I use semi sweet chocolate chips in the filling?
would recommend using a different dough recipe and probably half the amount of raspberries, impossible to roll and keep the filling. the tighter you roll the more it acts as a squeegee.