Mexican chocolate cinnamon buns!

I know I didn't post anything yesterday and I'm really sorry about that. Honestly, it's just about the food, well there's only two of us as I always keep saying and it's hard to finish the food. I hardly eat anything I cook because for some reason the act of cooking fills my stomach up. I don't know if that makes much sense but it gets very hard for me to eat a lot when I cook by myself. It's difficult for me to eat because I'm cooking it and the process of cooking and creating something happens to fill me up and I feel like I've eaten the entire batch of cinnamon buns.

As of now I am thankful that so many of you visit my blog; it really makes me the happiest person on earth. Most people I know have jobs or they're studying, but I on the other hand have my blog and that's my job. I believe I'm the luckiest because I get to do what I love every single day, and that's a great thing. If you've noticed I now have ads on the top right corner of my blog. Every time someone clicks it I get a little something in my piggy bank; it's not much but I like to think that I'm earning some kind of money. Feel free to click them whenever you read my blog. Thanks a ton!

You don't need ice-cream to make good milkshakes; you need a nice blender! I used non-fat milk and honey and just blended it together. Even thin non-fat milk becomes so thick and luxurious once you have blended it. It tastes creamy and thick just like whole milk.


Today I made Mexican chocolate cinnamon buns. I was introduced to cinnamon buns when I was here two years back. I'm a huge fan of chocolate and when we were dating, Sandeep would send me Zingerman's Mexican chocolate bars once in a while. These chocolate bars are so different from the regular ones in the store because they were as hard as a rock but the flavour was mind-blowing! It's basically cocoa powder ground up with cinnamon and sugar to create this amazing symphony of flavours. I think cinnamon brings out the flavour of chocolate and adds this imperial power to it! So, I combined a cinnamon bun with the idea of Mexican chocolate and I made Mexican chocolate cinnamon buns! You can use the same dough stated below to make pizza rolls; just switch the chocolate cinnamon filling with pizza sauce and instead of adding nuts on top add the cheese or you can make Iyengar bakery style masala buns by adding onions fried in turmeric, coriander powder and chilli powder and put that in the center instead of the chocolate cinnamon filing, but the choice is yours. I prefer the sweet variety because I love how they melt in your mouth and the sugar just adds to that quality.

Ingredients:
For the dough

• 1/2 cup of warm milk
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 and a 1/2 tsps of active dry yeast
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 and a 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 cup of butter

For the filling

• 1 cup of chocolate
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 2 tbsps of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 3 tbsps of condensed milk or thick whole milk
  

For the glaze

• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp of warm water

Directions:

• Combine warm milk and sugar in a bowl.
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• Sprinkle the yeast over the top.
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• Whisk by hand to blend and let this mixture stand for 5-10 minutes till the yeast is activated, foamy or bubbling.
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• Add the egg and yolk and whisk by hand till well blended.
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• Stir in the flour and salt and mix till it all combines.
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• Knead the dough for about 2-3 minutes (I used the stand mixer as I have learned that it distributes the air in the dough evenly and stretches it out better than when done by hand)
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• Melt the butter and add it to the dough.
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• This might take a while till the butter is absorbed fully by the lump of dough; but have patience!
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• Once you have kneaded in the butter well, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 1-1 and a half hours till the dough doubles in size.
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• Pull the dough out of the bowl and press it firmly with the heel of your palm to let out any air bubbles.
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• Do not knead the dough further, instead begin to roll the dough till you get a 11 by 15 inch rectangle.
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• For the filling mix all the ingredients together and place in a microwave for 30 seconds to a minute till the chocolate has melted completely. Mix well till all the ingredients have blended in uniformly.
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• Leaving at least 1 inch on all sides the rectangle (the dough) gently spread the mixture over the dough.
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• Begin to roll the dough from the top tucking in the dough at the seams.
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• Make sure you wet your fingers as you do this step so that the dough does not spring back.
• Once you reach the end pinch the seams so that the ends do not come undone. You can use a bit of water at your fingertips for this step. The water acts as a glue helping you to pinch the seams.
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• Cut the edges of the dough and cut the roll into small 1 and a 1/2 inch sections. Do not cut the dough all the way to the bottom until you have prepared your baking sheet.
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• Line your baking tray with a wax paper and now cut the rolls completely and place each one leaving at least a 2 inch gap in between.
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• Let the dough rise one more time.
• Cover the rolls with a plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 60 minutes till the buns look like they have taken a deep breath.
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• You can sprinkle nuts over the top if you want.
  
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• Bake the buns at 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Do keep a check on the buns as they tend to brown easily, but don't be alarmed by the dark filling as it's just the chocolate doing its thing.
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• Once the buns have cooled for about 15 minutes you can add the glaze.
  
• The glaze consists of just mixing the sugar and water together till you get a thick paste that you can drizzle over the buns.
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• Done!