Short cut chocolate filled rolls are one of the most delightful little treats there ever could be. Soft, yeasty dough baked around melted chocolate will make you swoon. Plus there’s a simple trick to making them.
The bakery around the corner from my apartment (you may have heard of it, a little place called Levain…they sell quarter pound cookies to die for), has soft white rolls filled with raspberry jam, and dusted with confectioners’ sugar. If I’m not indulging in one of their cookies, I always go for the white roll pasty. It’s so tasty! They also have chocolate-filled brioche, but that brioche is sometimes a little rich, and I go for the light, airy white roll.
I made my own version with deep, dark chocolate. It’s pretty heavenly. And guess what, if you really want to, you can add your own raspberry jam to each bite!
My chocolate filled rolls have a secret short cut, that’s not so secret anymore. Frozen bread dough! Yes, the generic loaves of bread dough you purchase in packs of three in the freezer section. It’s the most genius ingredient!
I let it thaw, cut one loaf into small pieces, fill the pieces with chocolate, rise and bake. Most of that time is non-work time where you can be doing other lovely things. The rolls are fantastic for breakfast of course, but a great little snack as well. A really great after-school snack the kids with love.
There are a few tricks to using the short cut frozen dough.
- You want to make sure the dough is completely thawed before working with it. Frozen spots make it really hard to roll, form and work with.
- Before baking it you’ll want it to be fully risen. It takes a while because it starts out so cold (frozen, in fact LOL). But you’ll know it’s fully risen when it has doubled in size.
Feel free to use semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate inside. Of course you can use milk chocolate, but note that it won’t have the melty texture the darker chocolates do, due to the milk solids. You may also be wondering if you can just use chocolate chips. Sure! I recommend a high quality brand like Ghiradelli. The other brands often have more stabilizers and extra ingredients that are best for cookie use!
Enjoy these luscious treats, and tell me what other amazing things you make with frozen bread dough!
Short cut chocolate filled rolls are one of the most delightful little treats there ever could be. Soft, yeasty dough baked around melted chocolate will make you swoon.
- 1 loaf frozen bread dough thawed
- 2½ oz semisweet chocolate cut into 10 pieces
- Confectioners' sugar
- Cut dough into 10 pieces and press a piece of chocolate in the center of each. Pinch dough tightly around the chocolate and roll into a ball. Place on greased baking sheet, seam side down, loosely cover and let rise, about 1 hr.
- Bake at 375°F until cooked through, 15 to 18 min. Dust rolls lightly with confectioners' sugar
Look for frozen dough (usually in 1-pound loaves) in the freezer section of your supermarket
Allow plenty of time for the dough to thaw. Even a few slightly frozen spots will make it difficult to shape.
If the dough becomes too tight to roll, cover it for 5 to 10 min to let it relax
You'll know the dough is ready to bake when it's twice its original size. Still not sure? Test it by gently poking it with your finger - if the dent remains, the dough is ready to bake.
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Recipe Tara Bench
Originally published in Ladies’ Home Journal Feb 2010
Photography Paula Hible
Food styling Susan Vajaranant
Prop styling Kim Field
Vickie says
November 17, 2016 at 10:33 amI was wondering if you could use frozen rolls and get the same results
Tara says
November 18, 2016 at 12:33 amVickie I haven’t tried it, but I’ve used frozen rolls before. I think you’d get very similar results and that’s a great idea!
Mary Bench says
July 17, 2018 at 2:53 pmChocolate and warm bread! Can’t go wrong!
Brittany Smart says
July 19, 2018 at 3:02 pmThe little pocket of chocolate makes these so yummy!