Soft and pillowy brioche buns with melting chocolate filling. These chocolate brioche buns are worth all the effort in the heat of your kitchen this summer.
I first made these buns during the not-so-hot month of Ramadan for Suhoor – the meal before dawn – start of fasting for the day.
Our Suhoor tends to be a sweet one. We like to eat foods such as dates, watermelon, Ramadan sweets such as Qalb el Louz and a variety of Brioches.
This year it was slightly different because the bakeries wouldn’t always be open due to the Coronavirus lockdown. I baked a lot more than I wanted to, but it means I came across recipe gems like this one which I’ve adapted.
I like the fact these chocolate brioches aren’t overly sweet. Partly due to there not being a large amount of sugar in the dough and also choosing dark chocolate as the filling. You can use milk chocolate if you prefer.
Mix it up and a little orange zest along with the chocolate or, in winter a pinch of cinnamon/ginger.
The shape of the buns reminds me of Iced Fingers. Whilst I do rather enjoy a sticky iced bun, these Chocolate Brioche Buns are more plain and simple which makes them good for everyday breakfast / brunch / snack food. They are only unusual in the fact they are made with oil, not butter like a typical French Brioche.
Try them and let me know what you know think in the comments below, or on social media.
Chocolate Brioche Buns
Soft and pillowy brioche buns with melted chocolate filling
Dough:
- 500 g Flour (plain, all-purpose or strong bread)
- 90 g Sugar (granulated)
- 7 g Yeast (fast-action)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Egg (medium or large, beaten)
- 90 ml Oil (vegetable or sunflower)
- As desired Vanilla
- 1 Citrus Fruit (zest of)
- 100 ml Milk (lukewarm (semi-skimmed))
- As needed Water (lukewarm)
Filling:
- 12 heaped tsps Chocolate (dark with minimum 70% cocoa solids, grated)
Glaze:
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 tsp Coffee (cold)
Make Dough:
- In a medium-large bowl add flour, add the other dry ingredients – keeping yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl and with your hands or stand mixer, mix them together thoroughly. Make a well in the centre add the egg and oil and any flavourings you like to add, such as vanilla and citrus zest. Using a butter knife, stand mixer or your hands mix these into the dry ingredients before mixing in the warm milk and enough warm water to make a soft, slightly-sticky dough.
Knead & First Rise:
- Knead for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky and when prodded with a finger springs back. Cover bowl and allow dough to rise for 1 hour or, until doubled in size
Shape & Fill:
- Knock back the dough. Divide into 12 *equal-size* pieces – weigh dough and divide by 12, approximately 78g each. Shape into balls and cover.
- Working with one ball of dough at time and on a lightly floured work surface: flatten and roll out into a rough oval shape, scatter grated chocolate in a line running through the middle. Pull dough on either side of chocolate up and over, pinch together to seal. Turn over so that the seal is underneath and with both hands on either side of the bun, starting from the middle and tapering out towards the ends, gently roll – to strengthen the seal and lengthen the bun slightly. Buns should be approx 5 inch in length.
Second Rise:
- Place on a large baking sheet covered with baking paper, leaving a slight gap between the buns. Loosely cover baking sheet with lightly oiled clingfilm and allow to rise for a second time, around 30mins. Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.
Glaze & Bake:
- Uncover and brush tops of buns with glaze mixture. Bake on middle shelf for approximately 12 minutes or, until buns are deeply golden brown on top. Remove from oven and allow buns to cool a while on the sheet before placing on a cooling rack. Allow to almost completely cool before eating these soft pillowy buns with chocolate filling.
- Depending on your oven, you may need to place the buns under the broiler / grill towards the end of the allocated cooking time for even colouring.
- Buns are best eaten within the first 24 hours after baking. Once completely cool, store in a clean bread bag in an airtight container. They can be re-heated in a medium-warm oven for a minute or two or, in a microwave for about 20-30 seconds.
