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Hot Cocoa Sweet Rolls

A soft and tender brioche dough is infused with sweet hot cocoa mix, filled with a brown butter chocolate filling, and topped with homemade marshmallow cream. This decadent and festive treat is a tad more advanced than your classic cinnamon roll, but in all the best ways. It's the perfect festive recipe to try while you're on break, and even better to munch on while you decorate the tree.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Rising Time 3 hours
Servings: 12 rolls
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Dough
  • 4 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup hot cocoa mix
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
  • ¾ cup buttermilk warmed to 110℉
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs beaten
  • ½ cup salted butter melted
Chocolate Filling
  • ¼ cup +2 Tablespoons salted butter divided
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup hot cocoa mix
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
Meringue Topping
  • 6 large egg whites
  • 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
  • crushed peppermint for topping

Method
 

Make the dough
  1. 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. 
In the last thirty minutes of rising time, make the filling
  1. 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.
Shape the rolls
  1. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with butter and set aside.
  2. On a floured work surface, roll the dough into a 10x16 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.
Bake
  1. 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.
Make the meringue
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.