These simple chocolate raspberry sweet rolls are soft, buttery and chocolatey, with a pop of raspberry flavor. The perfect make-ahead treat for holiday breakfasts and brunches.
I love hosting brunch around the holidays. There's something so festive and cozy about a morning spent with friends and family around the table. I also love that if you do brunch properly you can prepare almost everything in advance, so you can still sleep in!
For me, an essential component of any brunch table is some kind of sweet bread. Muffins, scones, or quick breads are great, but for something extra special and impressive, these chocolate raspberry sweet rolls are my go-to.
As long as you give yourself some time to let the dough rise, you'll find they're really simple to make, and a really fun baking project! If you've ever made cinnamon rolls, then the process will be pretty familiar. That said, here are some important things to keep in mind for making the best chocolate raspberry sweet rolls.
Tips for Making Chocolate Raspberry Sweet Rolls
Use room temperature ingredients
Since this is a yeasted dough, it's important that ingredients like butter and eggs are not fridge-cold when you incorporate them. A warm dough allows the yeast to do it's job and your dough to rise.
Don't scorch the milk
The milk should be nice and warm, almost hot when you add it to the dough, but be careful not to overheat or burn it. Remove from the heat as soon as you see tiny bubbles appearing.
The dough is supposed to be soft and sticky
After you've mixed the dough, you'll notice that the dough is VERY soft and sticky and you'll probably be tempted to add more flour. If you want soft buttery rolls, resist! Just scrape it out of the mixing bowl and transfer to a heavily buttered bowl to rise. After the first rise, the dough will still be very soft, but is actually quite easy to roll out and work with.
Make them ahead of time
While you can definitely make these in one day, if you plan to serve them for breakfast or brunch, I would start the process the day before. After filling and forming the rolls, put them into the muffin tin, cover them loosely with plastic wrap and let them rise overnight in the fridge. The next morning, just let them come to room temperature and bake. They'll be soft and fresh and perfect for your guests!
Wishing you a beautiful holiday season filled with lots of friends, family and food!
Chocolate Raspberry Sweet Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons quick-rise (bread machine) yeast (1 package)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
Filling
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 ounces dark chocolate chopped
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup seedless raspberry jam
Instructions
Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast and salt.
- In a small saucepan (or in the microwave), heat the milk until just barely hot to the touch. Be careful not to overheat it. Stir the milk into the flour mixture. Add the eggs, and stir to combine.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, knead the dough on low speed, adding the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue kneading for 5 minutes, until a smooth dough forms. The dough will be very soft and sticky, which is fine.
- Butter a large bowl generously and transfer the dough to it. You will probably need to scrape it out of the mixing bowl with a dough scraper or rubber spatula.
- Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and let it rise in a warm spot for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size. This will take closer to 2 hours if the room is cooler.
Filling
- While the dough is rising, make the filling. Place chocolate, sugar, and butter in a food processor and pulse a few times until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.
Assembling and Baking the Rolls
- Once the dough is doubled in size, deflate it and turn it out onto a well-floured surface with plenty of space for rolling. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the dough with flour and roll out into a rectangle 12 inches wide and about 24 inches long.
- With the back of a spoon, evenly spread the raspberry jam over the entire surface of the dough. Sprinkle the chocolate mixture evenly over it.
- From the shorter end, roll the dough tightly around the filling so you end up with a 12 inch log.
- With a sharp knife, cut the log evenly into 1 inch pieces. Generously butter a 12 cup standard muffin tin, and place a roll into each cup.
- If you are baking the rolls right away, cover them loosely with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes to an hour, until they are puffing up slightly above the rim of the muffin tin. If you are baking the next day, cover loosely with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to rise slowly overnight. Bring to room temperature before baking.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes until they are deep golden brown. Allow the rolls to cool completely in the pan before unmolding them.
Hi! I'm Ann and I blog at Our Happy Mess. I'm all about fast, fresh, and family-friendly recipes. I believe cooking from scratch can not only be doable but FUN, no matter how busy life gets!
You can find more of my recipes at Our Happy Mess.
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