Chocolate Chelsea Buns

After my post last week about making rolls with chocolate milk instead of regular milk, a friend emailed me a recipe she recommends for chocolate cinnamon rolls, or, as the recipe calls them, Chocolate Chelsea Buns.

I couldn't resist, so tried them out on Sunday to take as my dessert offering for Sunday dinner. They were mmm-mmm-good! Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Chelsea Buns

1 cup Milk
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry Yeast
1 Egg
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla
3 cups (approx) All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa powder, sifted

Filling:
1 cup Chocolate Chips (I used half semi-sweet, half milk choc)
1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup chopped Pecans (optional)(I did some both ways and liked both)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (I will put in a bit more next time)

Scald the milk, let it sit for a few moments, then remove the skin off the top. Allow it to cool a bit before proceeding (at this point is it too hot for the yeast)

Dissolve 1 tsp of sugar into the warm milk. Sprinkle with yeast and stir. Let stand until frothy.

Whisk in egg, butter, remaining sugar, salt and vanilla. Gradually whisk in 1 cup of the flour. With a wooden spoon, beat in the cocoa and enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn dough out onto floured surface and kneed about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. (Umm...I did this all in my Bosch)

Place in greased bowl turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in bulk (about an hour).

Melt chocolate chips. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Punch the dough down, turn out onto lightly floured surface. Roll out to 14 x 12 inch rectangle.

Spread the melted chocolate on the dough, leaving a 1-inch border uncovered. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over chocolate. Starting at the long side, roll up tightly, pinching seam to seal. Cut into 16 slices. Place in a greased 9x13" pan, like you would cinnamon rolls (swirly side up). Let rise until double in bulk again.

Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes until firm to the touch.

Option: If you don't want to melt the chocolate chips, spread 1/4 softened butter on dough before sprinkling with brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Spread sugar over, then chips, then roll up.

Drizzle with a glaze icing if you like... eat them warm.

That's it!

My friend and I IM'd about these today, and tossed around some possible variations. She thinks white chocolate chips would be good. I tossed in the suggestions of a mixture of chocolate and butterscotch or chocolate and peanut butter chips. My friend also brought up the possibility of a peanut butter glaze or frosting. Last night when they were served up in Lehi, my dinner hosts tried Hersey's chocolate syrup and caramel sauce on some of them (not both on the same bun, but I suppose you could). In the end, we decided that this is a good base recipe that will be fun to play with.

If you try it, let me know! I think I might have to make these the next time I take fund-raising treats to KBYU-FM. Maybe I'll even remember to take a picture of them. :-)

One of the nicest things anyone has ever wished for me

Years ago, as I was out running errands with Yevi's wife and daughters, the older one, (who was probably only 5 or 6 at the time) commented from the back of the van, "Aunt Holly, I wish you would get married". When I asked why she wanted me to get married, her answer tickled me from head to toe.

"Because then you would always have someone to play games with".

Isn't that a lovely wish?

BTW, she meant BOARD and CARD games, not MIND games. (I qualified that because I KNOW some of you will go down that path)

Just to tease my brother...

Yevi -- yesterday snow was predicted with an expected accumulation of 1-3". Guess what we really got? About 9 inches! I came home from work and shoveled the first six inches, then went out early this morning to get the three that had come down since then. It's a lovely winter wonderland out there -- too bad my favorite snow fanatic isn't here to enjoy it!

Love,
your sister
:-)

P.S. while I was typing this and getting ready for work, another inch came down...

Update: several inches came down while I was at work -- now it is the wet stuff that is heavy. A neighbor had already done my drive and sidewalk with his snow blower just before I got home, but I bet I will need to go out and shovel again before I go to bed tonight!

Baking experiment

On Sunday while my mind was wandering during church, I started thinking about making rolls when I got home. The recipe I wanted to use calls for milk for the liquid, and thinking about that, I remembered I had some chocolate milk in the fridge. Hmmm...what would rolls made with chocolate milk be like?

I've never seen a roll recipe that calls for chocolate milk, but decided not to let that stop me. So, when I got home, I made a regular batch for dinner and a chocolate batch for fun.

The color was only little darker than normal, similar to what you might see if some whole wheat was added. I decided I would experiment further...so I rolled out the dough and spread nutella on it, then rolled it up cinnamon-roll style.

mmmm...I was pleased with the results. The bread itself doesn't taste very chocolate-y, but the nutella takes care of that. I think this could lead to a pretty good breakfast roll and I might have to experiment again in the future.

Why I haven't moved

My address has not changed in nearly 9 years, which is an amazing length of time for me to live in one place. I've lived in the same town for several years, but not ever this long in one house.

Want to know why I stay? Because I love watching the kids grow up. Tonight I attended an Eagle Court of Honor for a young man who lives one street over. I've watched him grow from a young boy to a young man as I worked with him in Primary (our church's organization for children). Once, while I was a cub scout leader, I called this young man to see if he would organize a Color Guard for the flag ceremony at our Blue & Gold Banquet. It only took one call and it was done. That was impressive. It was so much fun to see him receive his Eagle tonight!

A young lady who lives across the cul-de-sac from me once told me "You are like the neighborhood aunt!". I like that. (Thank goodness she didn't say "neighborhood grandma" -- I am NOT ready for that yet.) This is the first time I've lived anywhere long enough to watch the kids grow up, and I LOVE it!

Want to know why else I stay? Because I have fantastic neighbors. They watch out for me and my house and bless my life continually with their many kindnesses. They have winterized the swamp cooler in the Fall, gotten it going in the Spring, tilled my garden, figured out I have bugs in my lawn, removed a live bird from my furnace, replaced a cabinet door hinge, replaced a disposal, shoveled snow, cut down and hauled away two massive trees (and a few small ones) and more. When I am sick, they take excellent care of me. When I am here for a holiday, I have more invitations to join family celebrations that I can possibly accept. When I am hungry, I can drop in at dinner time at any one of several households and a place will be set for me at the table. When I am tired of my own company, I can wander to any of several homes and find companionship.

I used to worry about the fact that I seem to need so much help, but then a friend pointed out that we each help out in the ways we can by sharing our talents. This has taught me to watch for ways I can help others so that I can try to pull my share of the load.

Hopefully it all balances out in the end!

Update on Monday -- I thought of another one. One of my kind neighbors convinced a fledgling robin to vacate my garage last June. The bird had taken refuge while I had the garage door open as I finished my outdoor chores before leaving for a 10-day choir tour. I noticed him in there, and thought "Oh...you do NOT want to be in here my friend -- my garage won't be opened again for a long time". So, I called across the street and got some help from a pro. He poked and prodded and slowly shooed the bird out of the garage. Success! I closed the garage door and the back door and did not open them again until I returned from my trip.

Saturday Surprise

Just a few minutes after I got up this lovely Saturday morning, my phone rang -- it was a friend from the Netherlands calling to say she was in town! She and her 4-year old daughter and I went to breakfast and had a great visit. Here is a picture:



What a lovely way to start my day!

It's been a great week here -- I spent New Year's Eve with neighbors (we had a wonderful dinner and played lots of games and watched some old home movies). The next day I had lunch and played games with friends a couple of town north of me, and then had dinner with friends in my neighborhood. But wait, we're not done yet! Last night a neighbor served up a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings and I was lucky to be on the guest list. While my friend's husband and his brother watched the Sugar Bowl game, we played a couple of board games AND watched the Sugar Bowl. (I think that kind of multi-tasking comes easier to women)

It was snowing when I left to walk home -- big, fat, fluffy flakes -- the ones that seem magical.

Here are some views from my back door today. I LOVE it when the sun comes out after a fresh snowfall!