Happy weekend! Although, to be honest, this weekend is not really much of a break. I have a crazy busy weekend ahead of me, but I’m not too terribly stressed because it’s just a bunch of really fun performances. The one thing I am worried about is I am not baking anything this weekend. In order to have time to get all my homework done in between performances, I have to cut out baking time this weekend so that’s sorta stressing me out. But I’m just trying to remind myself that I have a schedule and if I stick to it, everything should be ok.
One thing I really want to knock out this weekend though is order all of my Christmas gifts. I have a few things picked out from amazon, but a lot of my gifts I need to actually go out shopping for. It’s hard though because my school doesn’t get out for another two weeks which is cutting it pretty close to Christmas. But it’s ok, I can’t change that so I just have to focus on what I can do.
But the real thing I want to focus on is these rolls. I have to admit these are my favorite recipe of the month. I love all of the recipes, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be posting them, but I feel this one is superior. Maybe it’s because I’m a big fan of chocolate, or maybe I just love a good cozy sweet roll. In either case, these are really good and perfectly festive.
Describe These Cookies to Me
Taste: Well, they taste like a mug of hot cocoa. Because there’s both hot cocoa mix and cocoa powder, these are perfectly sweet and decadent, and the marshmallow really helps to balance it all out. They’re rich and perfectly cozy.
Texture: These might just be the softest and fluffiest sweet rolls to date. I have made a lot of sweet rolls, and there are a lot more to come, but these have a soft and melt in your mouth gooey texture that is undeniably delicious.
Ease: These have a few more steps than, say, a cinnamon roll. But I think that makes them a good choice for the holidays. The dough comes together pretty quickly, and so does the filling and shaping. The challenging part is making the meringue, but it really isn’t as daunting as it sounds.
The Dough
I took my classic sweet roll dough and modified it for this recipe. It’s a brioche so it’s perfectly buttery and soft. This version uses sweet hot cocoa mix in the dough to really infuse it with those cozy flavors. Buttermilk, honey, and 3 whole eggs make the dough so tender, but still sturdy enough to hold together the filling.
The Filling
Like all good things in the baking world, this filling starts off with brown butter. This really adds to the coziness of the rolls, and makes them have an even deeper flavor. From there, we stir in plenty of hot cocoa mix, cocoa powder, brown sugar, chocolate, and vanilla. The filling looks very thick and crumbly, but when baked up it gets the most melt in your mouth texture and flavor.
The Marshmallow Meringue
This is a super classic meringue recipe which means it likely looks very daunting to some. I myself have avoided meringue whenever possible because it can be quite finicky. But if you follow the directions and stay organized, it’s a perfectly manageable process. You start off by cooking some egg whites and sugar over a double broiler until the sugar is dissolved. From there, add the egg whites to a mixer and whip on high until fluffy, glossy, and marshmallowy. The tricky part is making sure you cook your eggs for the correct amount of time to get the texture right. But it’s all worth it in the end because the marshmallow makes a perfect sweet topping for these rolls.
Hot Cocoa Sweet Rolls
Ingredients
Method
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, hot cocoa mix, cinnamon, salt, and yeast. Add the milk, eggs, honey, and butter and use a wooden spoon or a sturdy spatula to mix until a sticky dough forms. Place the dough ball on a floured surface and knead it for 3 minutes, just to help bring it all together. The dough should be a little sticky but if it's super sticky and hard to manage, add a little more flour. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise in a warm environment for 2 hours, or until close to doubled in size.
- Melt ¼ cup of salted butter over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan. Once melted the butter will begin to sizzle and foam and then you will start to see brown specks. Once the butter is lightly browned remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder, brown sugar, hot cocoa mix, and vanilla extract. The mixture should be gritty and clumpy, while it's still hot fold in the chopped chocolate and the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter until melted.
- Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan with butter and set aside.
- On a floured work surface, roll the dough into a 10×16 inch rectangle. Spread the cooled chocolate filling in an even layer on top. Slowly and carefully, roll the dough into a 16 inch log. Slice the log into 12 rolls. Arrange the rolls in the previously prepared baking pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or cling wrap and let the rolls rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and hollow sounding when you tap on them. While the rolls cool, make the meringue topping.
- Fill the bottom half of a double broiler with roughly 2 inches of water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. In the top half of the double broiler, whisk together the egg whites and sugar. Place over the simmering water and cook, whisking frequently until the sugar has dissolved into the egg whites. You can tell it's dissolved by rubbing a little bit of the mixture between your fingers, and you shouldn't be able to feel any sugar granules. Pour the mixer into the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl to cool for 5 minutes.
- Using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the egg white mixer on high speed until it reaches stiff peaks. The mixture should have a glossy, marshmallowy texture.
- Spread/pipe the meringue on top of each slightly cooled roll. I like to toast the meringue using a kitchen torch, and sprinkle with crushed candy canes if desired.
- Rolls are best served warm while the filling is gooey and soft. Leftover rolls last up to 4 days sealed in the refrigerator. To reheat them I just bake the rolls at 350℉ for around 5 minutes.