Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls |Cooking With Amanda

Every day when my son gets home from school, he goes to the kitchen to see what I've made that day. I'm no fool — he's clearly scoping out the snacking situation. Sometimes he reaps the rewards, and sometimes I get a polite "no thanks", and most often he gets a "Not yet," thanks to cooking times, photography, and my hopes of not spoiling his dinner.

Of course, it's hard not to let dinner be spoiled when there is a big pan of chocolate cinnamon rolls cooling on the counter. Sure it's meant to be breakfast food, but I won't mind if you serve these up for dessert.

I love baking up cinnamon rolls and cinnamon swirl breads, so of course I'm always looking for new ways to change up the recipe. My apple cinnamon swirl bread remains a favorite, but when I've got the hankering for something extra sweet, I turn to cinnamon rolls.

This is one of those "sorry-not-sorry" recipes. I mean, it's hard enough to resist a warm and gooey cinnamon roll, but then I go and throw chocolate in there? Come on. You can only stay upset with me for baking this up for about five seconds before you dive right in.

The dough here is made rich thanks to the addition of eggs, ensuring a wonderfully supple dough, a good rise, and great texture and flavor in the final product. Cocoa powder gives a subtle chocolate flavor while the chocolate chips create pockets of sweet richness as you dig into the rolls. You could go even further with the chocolate by creating a chocolate glaze, but even I have certain limits when it comes to breakfast foods!

These are of course best the day of, but they also store well in the refrigerator. Simply cover the pan with plastic wrap and reheat individual rolls as needed. The chocolate cinnamon rolls are so rich and sweet you only need a little bit to get you through your day!

Got a hankering for more cinnamon rolls? Try Heather's sweet potato cinnamon rolls or David's skillet cinnamon rolls!

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Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Dough:

1 cup milk, warmed
2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups all-purpose flour

For the Filling:

2 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Topping:

2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Stir in granulated sugar, eggs, 6 tablespoons softened butter, and salt.
Mix in cocoa powder and 3 cups of the flour, mixing and adding more flour as needed until mixture forms a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth, about 6 minutes. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
Mix together 2 tablespoons softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
When dough has risen turn onto floured surface and roll out to a large rectangle. Sprinkle sugar mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Top sugar mixture with mini chocolate chips.
Roll up, starting with a long side, and pinch seams together to seal. Cut into 12 slices. (Keep a towel handy to clean knife after cuts, if needed.) Place rolls in a greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until puffy, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
As the rolls cool, whisk together powdered sugar and milk to create icing. Add more milk or sugar to get the consistency you prefer. Pour over the tops of the cinnamon rolls and serve.

Notes

You can mix these up the night before and pop them into the fridge after their first rise. When ready to bake, remove the rolls from the fridge, preheat the oven, and bake for 30 minutes.