Chocolate Walnut Cinnamon Rolls
These chocolate walnut cinnamon rolls are baked in a muffin tin for easy portioning. Since these rolls are packed with so much flavor from the chocolate walnut filling, any additional icing or glaze is unnecessary.
Servings: 12 rolls
Ingredients
- ¼ cup warm water, about 110 ℉
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (6 g)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup whole milk (113 g) room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 g)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 large egg, whisked
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil (30 g)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (390 g)
Chocolate Walnut Filling:
- ½ cup unsalted butter (113 g), softened, room temp
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup toasted walnuts, (170 g) roughly ground/finely chopped
- 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar (75 g)
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (10 g)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips (90 g), or chopped chocolate of choice
Instructions
- Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Add 1 tsp sugar and stir to combine. Let sit for 5-7 minutes to allow mixture to bubble and activate.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add dissolved yeast mixture, milk, remaining sugar, salt and egg. Once combined, add 1 cup of flour. Use the hook attachment to mix together. Add another cup of flour, follow with coconut oil. Add last cup of flour. Knead until dough is smooth and cleans the sides of the bowl. If dough is too sticky, add flour 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
- Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest at room temperature for 60 minutes.
- Chocolate Walnut Filling: Meanwhile, combine softened butter and vanilla paste. Stir together. It should resemble the consistency of mayonnaise. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix together ground walnuts, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured working surface. Roll dough into a 18 x 12-inch rectangle. Spread softened vanilla butter over dough, leaving a ¼-inch border around all sides. Sprinkle ground walnut mixture over butter. Top with mini chocolate chips. Gently press filling into dough.
- Roll dough into a tight log, starting with the long side. Slice log into 12 equal slices. Place cut slices into a lightly greased muffin tin. Cover with plastic wrap and let roll rest for 30-45 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Remove plastic wrap and bake rolls for 28-30 minutes until golden brown and internal temperature of rolls hit 185℉. Let rolls sit in pan for 5 minutes before unmolding. Serve warm.
Notes
Ingredients:
- Milk: Use any milk of your choice including non-dairy milk alternatives. Or, sub in water.
- Coconut Oil: This recipes uses coconut oil instead of the standard softened butter. Room temperature coconut oil easily incorporates into the dough. It adds fat to the dough without adding additional water (like butter).
- Unrefined or virgin coconut oil will have a mild coconut flavor and coconut aroma.
- Refined coconut oil is almost flavorless.
- All-Purpose Flour: All recipes on this site were tested and created using King Arthur Baking Company all-purpose flour.
- Walnuts: Chocolate, walnuts, and cinnamon work well together. Alternatively, use your choice of nuts. Almonds, pecans, and peanuts are great alternatives.
- Cocoa Powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder. Recommended brands- Ghirardelli, Valrhona, or Trader Joe’s.
- Mini Chocolate Chips: Mini chips are easiest to roll into the dough. However, you may use chopped chocolate bars, standard chocolate morsels, or other flavor chips (peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips).
- Reheat leftovers in the microwave. Place one roll on a microwave safe plate along with a cup of water. Heat for 30-45 seconds. The water helps to ensure the bread doesn’t get rubbery.
- Or, reheat in a toaster oven.