So in my last post I said something about posting a recipe every week. And that was 100% going to be the case, but that was before. I have started a new, VERY time consuming project. And really this summer is the only time I have to work on it, so I’m having to devote a lot of my time to it. This means less time for blog posts, but I promise you will still be getting plenty of new and delicious recipes!
This project kind of snuck up on me, so I didn’t have time to do any planning beforehand. I am a big planning, organizing, and scheduling person, but with this I’m having to just jump into it. Plus, I am on a pretty big time crunch which makes me even more stressed out. But I’m trying to keep in mind that it’s called summer BREAK for a reason, and I’m trying to build in time to relax.
Anyway, Fathers Day is on Sunday! Every year I make my Pistachio Cardamom Cake, so that would be my number one recommendation. But these rolls would actually work well too. You could even serve them after breakfast.
Now, it is no secret that I love the combination of chocolate and orange. Last month I posted a recipe for some chocolate orange bars, and one of the first recipes I’ve ever published was a chocolate orange cake. So yeah, I really like the combo.
I feel like chocolate goes well with a lot of things, but especially well with fruits. Chocolate strawberry, banana, cherry, raspberry, there are so many options. But orange will always be my favorite. So let’s get into the details.
Describe these Rolls to me
Taste: The bittersweet and rich chocolate compliments the sweet and slightly acidic orange perfectly in these rolls. The dough adds this sweet butteriness to the mix, making these perfectly balanced.
Texture: The dough is soft and fluffy, and the inside filling is perfectly gooey like a cinnamon roll. Plus, that orange glaze seeps down inside it to add an extra punch of moisture and citrus flavor.
Ease These are no more complicated to make than a cinnamon roll. It’s a pretty classic sweet roll dough, with the addition of some orange zest. The filling is a quick mix, and then you just roll, cut, and bake. But like all sweet rolls, these need plenty of time to rise, a grand total of 3 hours.
The Dough
As I said earlier, this is a very classic dough for sweet rolls. Milk, yeast, sugar, butter, flour, eggs, and salt. The only addition here is a little orange zest for flavor. In order to get soft and fluffy rolls, make sure to let the dough rise. It will rise twice, once before shaping, and once after.
The Filling
The filling here is simple, but delicious. Butter, brown sugar, cocoa powder, orange zest, vanilla, and salt. Spread that over your rolled out dough and top it with some chopped bittersweet chocolate and your ready to roll. The butter in the filling will get all melty and infuse the dough with flavor, and the chopped chocolate will melt to, keeping these gooey and soft.
The Final Touches
There is a simple orange glaze to top these off, made from only orange juice, powdered sugar, and a little salt. It’s the perfect finishing touch to make sure these stay moist and flavorful.
Chocolate Orange Sweet Rolls
Ingredients
Method
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the warm milk, 2 Tablespoons of the sugar, and the yeast. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let sit for 5 minutes. It should puff up and look foamy on top. If not, your yeast is most likely dead and you should start over with new yeast.
- Add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of sugar, melted butter, orange zest, eggs, salt, and one cup of bread flour. Whisk until smooth. Then, add the remaining 3 cups of bread flour and using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, beat on medium low speed until a soft dough forms and it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a floured work surface. Knead the dough for 6 minutes or until you have a soft and smooth ball of dough that bounces back when you poke it. If it gets too sticky, add a little more flour one Tablespoon at a time.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and rotate the dough so all sides are greased. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or cling wrap and place in a warm, humid place to rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size. In the summer I put mine outside, but the counter is fine as well.
- In a bowl, stir up the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar, cocoa powder, orange zest, and vanilla extract and stir until smooth and combined.
- Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with butter. Set aside
- Punch down the dough. Place it on a floured work surface and, using a floured rolling pin, roll it out into a 10×16 inch rectangle. Spread the chocolate filling evenly over it, and sprinkle the chopped chocolate on top. Roll the dough lengthwise into a 16 inch log. Using a serrated knife, cut the dough into 12 even rolls, each one being roughly 1 inch wide. Arrange the rolls in the prepared baking pan. Cover with cling wrap and let the shaped rolls rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Bake the rolls for 25-28 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top. At 15 minutes, check on them and if they are rising too quickly, carefully tent them with foil and continue baking to prevent them from getting too brown on top.
- Allow rolls to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before icing and eating.
- In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, orange juice, and salt. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more orange juice. If too thin, add more sugar. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the slightly cooled rolls.
- Rolls are best warm, but will keep for up to 4 days covered in the refrigerator.
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