Yesterday I baked the most amazing chocolate buns. 

I had to ask my boyfriend not to eat them all as I wanted to make a recipe post about them.

The morning only 3 were left from the 24 batch.

By the time I took the photos none were left.

They are without a doubt the most decadent, moist, delicious chocolate buns ever.

Scroll down for the recipe!

Tips and tricks

1.Use a Mixer

One thing I realized from my numerous attempts on these sweet buns is that you absolutely need a mixer in order to make them as airy as they need to be.

I have a lovely Bodum hand mixer that works just as well so it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a stand mixer.

2.Knead with melted butter

Another important step is to knead the dough with your hands adding some extra melted butter as you go after you are done with the mixing portion. Like the Greek tsoureki ( a sweet buttery bread traditionally made during Easter ) that my mom is an expert in making, the dough needs 

to maintain a lukewarm temperature all the way while they are knead.

3.The perfect glaze

You want to achieve the perfect glaze?

Instead of using the whole egg just use the yolk.

Add a tablespoon of water and mix, then apply on top of the buns.

Another trade secret from my mom. You’re welcome.

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Ingredients

500ml  milk

2 tsp active dry yeast

170 gr butter (plus 30grams for the kneading ) 

½ cup sugar

800 gr all-purpose flour

1 egg yolk

a pinch of salt

A bag of chocolate drops

Preparation

Dissolve the yeast as per the satchels instructions in the lukewarm milk.

( Alternatively you can use normal yeast. Look below the recipe for the conversion)

Melt the butter and add 170gr to the milk.

Add the flour and the salt and let the mixer mix them until you have an almost glistening dough.

If it’s too sticky add a little bit of flour. 

A little sticky is ok and it is what you need. 

Butter up the part of the counter where you are going to knead the dough.

Rinse your hands with more of the extra melted butter and start kneading the dough on the counter 

for 5 to 10min.

Keep adding butter on the counter when the dough starts to stick to it and to your hands

 about every 1min of kneading.

Once you are done divide the dough to two equal parts and knead it into two long logs.

Let it rest for 10min.

Once the dough has risen a little bit divide the log into 12 parts using a sharp knife.

Open a hole in each one with your fingers and add a tablespoon of chocolate drops. 

Knead each one into a ball and arrange them in lines on a parchment covered oven pan.

I use two pans for a batch of 24.

Let them rest for about an hour or until they are almost double the size.

Separate the egg white from the egg yolk.

Add a tablespoon of water in the egg yolk and mix. Use the the mixture to glaze the buns.

Bake for 8 to 10min in 225°C.

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Yeast conversion

The rule of thumb is dividing or multiplying by 3:

from fresh yeast to dry – divide amount by 3, eg. instead of 30 grams of fresh yeast use 10 grams of dry

from dry yeast to fresh – multiply by 3, meaning 7 grams or dry yeast becomes 21 grams of fresh.

Another easy way to remember yeast conversion is:

10g of fresh yeast = 1 teaspoon of dry yeast

10 : 3 = 3.33 g

As you can see above, this is close to 3.5 g – the average weight of one level teaspoon of dry yeast. Teaspoon volume varies depending on the manufacturer and the shape. However, a few grams more or less of yeast won’t make a huge difference in your recipe.

( As taken from MakeBread .So many great tips for baking)

Enjoy your homemade buns and when you nail the recipe remember to always make 2 batches.

One is just never enough.

Happy baking!

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Photographs taken by Katerina Dima unless otherwise stated.