Hey foodies! With October coming to an end, what better way to warm your family’s heart than to continue baking? Today we have a recipe that is a classic fall treat’s cousin and takes much less time/energy. I’m talking chocolate pretzel buns!
You’ve been craving cinnamon buns but ain’t got no time for that?
Chocolate Pretzel Buns to the rescue!
Made in no time
These babies are a treat as dessert or with your morning coffee … or just ’cause.
The chocolate is the sweetest part so sweeten to taste and dietary preference!
Why chocolate pretzel? Have you ever had chocolate covered pretzels? It’s life. Even better: dark chocolate with sea salt. A thing dreams are made of: Salted caramel and chocolate. Now THAT is a Fall treat, folks. Have fun with this recipe!
They are not actual pretzles, and do not taste like Mr. Pretzels’ pretzels, but they are epic in their own buntastic way. They are not completely soft and have some texture of their own which makes it a really fun bun.
My tip to you
If you have guests coming over or you are bringing over dessert, I highly suggest whipping up a batch of these – you can serve them with caramel drizzle on top, whipped cream and some fruit for a simple and beautiful dessert.
We cook to impress after all, am I right? Joking joking. We cook because we want to eat ALL OF THE FOOD!
For the chocolate, you have two options:
1) You can buy unsweetened chocolate (such as Baker’s) and add sweetness to taste
2) You can buy 70% or milk chocolate
If you choose to sweeten yourself, make sure you completely dissolve whichever sweetener you are using, to avoid clumps of caramelized sugar within the chocolate after baking. Brown sugar would be a good choice if you happen to have it on hand, for a depth in flavour and to compliment the pretzel taste.
How-to pretzel you ask?
Simple.
Alkaline bath: For 3 Cups of water, you use 1 Tbsp of baking soda.
Boil first, bake second.
I hope you give these a try and let us know what you think! Do these look tasty to you? Give us a shout below and share with your friends! (Maybe one of them will make the recipe and share it with you hehe)
Mind blowing Dark Chocolate Pretzel Buns
Ingredients
Dough ingredients
- 1 tbsp cane sugar.
- 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract.
- 2¼ tsp of yeast.
- 2 cups of all purpose flour.
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp melted butter and if you are vegan use the same quantity of vegan butter.
- ¾ cup warm water.
For the alkaline bath:
- 2 tbsp baking soda
- 6 cups water in a pot for the alkaline bath.
Chocolate filling:
- 3/4 cup of dark chocolate chips.
- 2 Tbsp of melted butter. You can also use vegan butter.
Instructions
- Start by proofing your yeast. Using only ¼ cup of your water, add your yeast and sugar in it. Stir lightly to dissolve. Give it 5-10 minutes to foam up.
- In a stand mixer bowl, add your flour, salt, your proofed yeast, melted butter, and the rest of your water (1/2 Cup).
- Attach your dough hook to your stand mixer, and mix on low speed for about 4 minutes and then on high speed for about 10 minutes.
- Take out your dough, and shape it into a ball. Brush a clean bowl with some canola oil and place your dough ball in there. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place, either on top of your fridge or in the oven with the light turned on. Let it rise for at least 45 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
- Bring your water to a boil.
- While your water is warming up, roll your dough on a lightly floured surface and shape it into a rectangle. The thickness you are looking for here is 1/4 inch. Brush your dough with some melted butter and sprinkle your chocolate chips all over it. Starting with the outer edge farthest from you, start rolling the dough into a log towards you. Using a very sharp knife, cut your dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Now that your water has reached the boiling point, add your baking soda and let it dissolve. Lower the heat to medium high, and boil your buns 2 at a time. Once they puff up take your 2 buns out and place them in an oiled baking dish. I used an 8x8 non-stick brownie pan. Repeat until all your buns are ready to bake.
- Sprinkle some coarse salt on top of your buns and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.
- Let cool and enjoy.
Notes
These look yummy. A caramel drizzle sounds like the way to go for me. What do you think about freezing these bad boys?
Caramel drizzle sounds awesome Ron ! Yes you can totally freeze them 🙂
Your style is very unique in comparison to other people I have read stuff
from. Thank you for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this blog.
Thank you so much Anderson, sorry I just got around to reading your comment! You’re welcome to subscribe to our Newsletter to stay up to date with our blog posts.
hi!!
what yeast is that? I only know brewer’s yeast 🙁
It’s just good old Dry Yeast. You can get it from amazon : https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=yeast
Thank you very much, gonna make a batch to try to convert my non vegan family 😀
Have fun !
Is it possible to do this without the alkaline bath?
Would it just make a bun instead of pretzels? 🙂
You can! However, they will not be pretzels like you said 🙂
Can you boil the whole sheet then form the buns?