I think it’s time for indulgence! I know Mother’s Day was a couple weeks ago, but I’m just now getting around to posting my treat for my special day! And yes, I insisted on making it myself. I’m a bit of a control freak in the kitchen and my husband will definitely attest to that! I would describe these beauties as a cinnamon roll, except chocolate and almonds, instead of cinnamon and raisins. I do love a good cinnamon roll, but I also like to change things up a lot. 🙂 I know this one’s a little more work, but I promise that it’s worth it! And it makes enough that you can invite the neighbors over to wow them, or you can freeze half for later. Or let’s be honest, you will just eat it all like I do because you’re an impulsive eater when delicious treats are around. 🙂
We will start with the dough. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 C warm water (not too hot, maybe around 95-100 degrees or so), 1 1/2 T dry yeast, and 1/2 t white sugar. I just let my hot water run for a minute or two, and feel it with my finger. If you can’t keep holding your finger under the warm water, then it’s too hot. Let that sit for about 5 minutes until it’s bubbly.
In another bowl, combine warm milk (same rule as above), 1/4 C melted butter, 1/2 C sugar, and 1 t salt. Now in the bowl of your mixer, lightly beat 3 eggs and 1 t almond extract. Add in milk mixture, and yeast mixture when it’s ready and mix for a minute. At this point I’m still using the whisk attachment. Add in 2 cups of flour and give it a good mix with the whisk. Take the whisk attachment off and put on the dough hook. Add in 2 more cups of flour and turn on low the start mixing. Then add in the other 2 cups of flour about 1/2 cup at a time until it’s all mixed in. The dough will still be kind of sticky but that’s ok. Take the dough hook off, scraping all the dough off of it, and scraping down the sides of the bowl so that the dough is in a ball at the bottom of the bowl.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until it’s doubled in size (about 45-60 min).
While the dough is rising, you can combine the dry ingredients for the filling (the flour, sugar, coco powder, and pinch of salt). When the dough is ready, punch it down and scrape it back down into a ball. Sprinkle plenty of flour onto a clean dry surface and scrape dough out into the center of the floured surface.
Sprinkle the top with more flour and roll dough out to a big rectangle. I would say about 1 foot high by about 2 feet wide. Spread the dough completely with 1 stick of room temperature butter.
Sprinkle the dry filling mixture evenly over entire surface leaving about 1 inch along the top edge.
Starting at the bottom of the long edge, roll dough fairly tightly all the way to the top and pinch the bare edge to the rest of the roll to seal it up. It will look like a long snake.
Using dental floss, slide it under the roll to about 1 and 1/2 half inches in. Bring the sides of the floss up around the roll, cross the string on top, and then pull it tight and it will cut all the way through the dough. Repeat this step until you have cut the whole roll into about 18-20 circles.
Let these rise in a warm place for another 30-45 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
When rolls have risen again, bake in the oven for 15-16 minutes until edges are just golden brown. While rolls are cooling slightly, mix up all the frosting ingredients in a mixing bowl. I like to make the frosting a little more runny than normal cake frosting, but not as runny as a glaze. You can play around with how you like it by adjusting how much milk you put in it. You can also toast a few sliced almonds in a pan with some sugar and cinnamon if you would like for a topping. I would say about 1/2 C almonds, 1 T sugar, and 1/2 t cinnamon. Just heat pan to medium and keep tossing around until sugar is melted and almonds are golden brown. Enjoy!!!!
- 1/2 C warm water
- 1 1/2 T yeast
- 1/2 t sugar
- 1 C warm milk
- 1/4 C melted butter
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 t almond extract
- 5-6 C flour
- 1/2 C softened butter
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1/4 C coco powder
- 3 T flour
- pinch of salt
- 3 C powder sugar
- 1/4 C milk
- 1/8 t salt
- 1/4 C melted butter
- 1 t almond extract
- 2 T coco powder
- Toasted almonds (optional)
- We will start with the dough. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 C warm water (not too hot, maybe around 95-100 degrees or so), 1 1/2 T dry yeast, and 1/2 t white sugar. I just let my hot water run for a minute or two, and feel it with my finger. If you can't keep holding your finger under the warm water, then it's too hot. Let that sit for about 5 minutes until it's bubbly.
- In another bowl, combine warm milk (same rule as above), 1/4 C melted butter, 1/2 C sugar, and 1 t salt. Now in the bowl of your mixer, lightly beat 3 eggs and 1 t almond extract. Add in milk mixture, and yeast mixture when it's ready and mix for a minute. At this point I'm still using the whisk attachment. Add in 2 cups of flour and give it a good mix with the whisk. Take the whisk attachment off and put on the dough hook. Add in 2 more cups of flour and turn on low and start mixing. Then add in the other 2 cups of flour about 1/2 cup at a time until it's all mixed in. The dough will still be kind of sticky but that's ok. Take the dough hook off, scraping all the dough off of it, and scraping down the sides of the bowl so that the dough is in a ball at the bottom of the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until it's doubled in size (about 45-60 min).
- While the dough is rising, you can combine the dry ingredients for the filling (the flour, sugar, coco powder, and pinch of salt). When the dough is ready, punch it down and scrape it back down into a ball. Sprinkle plenty of flour onto a clean dry surface and scrape dough out into the center of the floured surface.
- Sprinkle the top with more flour and roll dough out to a big rectangle. I would say about 1 foot high by about 2 feet wide. Spread the dough completely with 1 stick of room temperature butter.
- Sprinkle the dry filling mixture evenly over entire surface leaving about 1 inch along the top edge.
- Starting at the bottom of the long edge, roll dough fairly tightly all the way to the top and pinch the bare edge to the rest of the roll to seal it up. It will look like a long snake.
- Using dental floss, slide it under the roll to about 1 and 1/2 half inches in. Bring the sides of the floss up around the roll, cross the string on top, and then pull it tight and it will cut all the way through the dough. Repeat this step until you have cut the whole roll into about 18-20 circles and place them on a greased baking sheet.
- Let these rise in a warm place for another 30-45 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When rolls have risen again, bake in the oven for 15-16 minutes until edges are just golden brown. While rolls are cooling slightly, mix up all the frosting ingredients in a mixing bowl. I like to make the frosting a little more runny than normal cake frosting, but not as runny as a glaze. You can play around with how you like it by adjusting how much milk you put in it. You can also toast a few sliced almonds in a pan with some sugar and cinnamon if you would like for a topping. I would say about 1/2 C almonds, 1 T sugar, and 1/2 t cinnamon. Just heat pan to medium and keep tossing around until sugar is melted and almonds are golden brown.
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