Cocoa bread buns are a traditional favorite for afternoon tea and they have additional chocolate which makes them even more delicious. To make this cocoa and chocolate chips buns, we will need to make a bread dough. If you’ve never made bread dough before, here are a few tips and tricks you will need to learn to make it rises well. Just set aside an afternoon and you will be so pleased with what you’ve created. In a small saucepan, measure your butter and place it over medium heat to melt, alternatively, you can melt it in the microwave if that is easier. For these cocoa and chocolate chip buns, we are making an enriched dough which basically means it has extra ingredients added, butter, milk, and eggs to make the bread richer than a standard white loaf. While the butter is melting in a large mixing bowl, measure out the milk and crack in your eggs.

Make sure your milk and eggs are both at room temperature as this mixture is what is going to wake up the yeast and it needs to be warm to work. Youll need to add half the sugar a this gives the yeast something to feed off. One of the most important tips to remember when making this dough is that yeats are alive so if you become too rough with its condition it won’t survive. So make sure you don’t place it in ht boiling butter. Pour the hot melted butter in a bowl, the milk will cool it down so it won’t cook the eggs, and add a teaspoon of active dry yeast. Use a whisk to combine the ingredient and set aside until bubbly and frothy. When the yeast had been activated, start to add the remaining ingredients and form it into the dough. Measure in your flour followed by cocoa powder to of course make the dough chocolate flavored.

Add the remaining sugar and a pinch of salt to round up all the flavors. Start mixing the ingredienst together until they begin to form a dough then flour your working surface and begin to knead the dough. Use the palm of your hands to knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes or until elastic and smooth in appearance. A few things to note here if you want the dough to be sticky but not too sticky, add just enough flour so the dough feels sticky but doesn’t stick to your hands. Once the dough has come together, become elastic and looks smooth, that’s when the gluten has developed. Shape your dough into a ball, it should look smooth and place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover with a damp towel and leave it in a warm place to double in size for about an hour or two. When the dough has doubled, punch it back and turn it onto your floured surface.

Press the chocolate dough into a disc and pour over your chocolate chips. You can use your favorite chocolate cut down into pieces th bring the sides of the dough into the center and knead for about a minute or until the chocolate chips is evenly distributed in the dough. Use a table knife or a dough scraper to divide the chocolate dough into equal pieces. Roll each dough into a smooth ball then place them in a baking sheet lined with a baking paper. Cover them with a damp towel and let them rise once more for an hour. Place your cocoa and chocolate chips bread buns into a 180 degrees Celsius oven for about 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and serve them fresh or toasted with a little bit of butter and enjoy.

Ingredients;

  • ¼ Cup | 50g Butter
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 Cup | 250ml Milk
  • ¼ Cup | 50g Sugar
  • 1 tsp | 7g Dried Active Yeast
  • 3¼ Cup | 400g Bread Flour
  • ½ Cup | 60g Cocoa Powder
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 125g Chocolate Chips
  • 2 Tbsp Flour
  • 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
  • 2 Tbsp Water
  • ¼ Cup | 50g Sugar
  • ¼ Cup | 60ml Water

Instructions;

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave.
  2. Mix the milk, egg, half of the sugar, melted butter and yeast together and set aside for 10-15 minutes until bubbly and frothy.
  3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, remaining sugar and salt to the bowl with the yeast mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
  4. Turn out the dough on a floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until elastic and smooth.
  5. Place the dough back into the mixing bowl and cover with a damp tea towel.
  6. Leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.
  7. Punch back the dough and turn out on a floured surface, press into a disc and top with the chocolate
  8. Knead for a minute until the chocolate is evenly distributed.
  9. Divide the dough up into 10 pieces and roll each into a smooth ball, place on a lined baking sheet leaving a 1-inch space in between.
  10. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
  11. Place the chocolate chips bread buns into a 180C|350F oven for 20 minutes.
  12. Mix the sugar and water together and boil until the sugar has dissolved, brush the syrup over the bread buns when they have just come out of the oven.
  13. Serve fresh or toasted with butter.