Chocolate Sweet Rolls

Chocolate sweet rolls are the chocolate-lovers' cinnamon rolls.  They are fluffy and have a rich deep flavored chocolate filling. 

These chocolate sweet rolls are cinnamon rolls and chocolate babka/rugelach's  love child. 

They have the same fluffy dough as my dairy free cinnamon rolls, but with the rich chocolate filling used in my chocolate babka and Israeli chocolate rugelach.

My brother Ari loves cinnamon rolls, cinnamon babka, cinnamon rugelach, and really anything with cinnamon filling.  My brother Aaron, on the other hand, takes after our mom and loves chocolate.

One day while making cinnamon rolls, I got the idea to fill them with chocolate instead of cinnamon.  So, the next time I made cinnamon rolls for Ari, I made a double batch of dough. 

While I worked on the cinnamon rolls, Aaron stood beside me rolling out the remaining dough.

While I love to do anything in the kitchen, Aaron loves to bake.  It started out with boxed brownies with our mom, but nowadays he's taken to helping me with desserts he wants to eat.

I decided to fill the chocolate sweet rolls with chocolate rugelach and chocolate babka filling.  Seriously, does chocolate filling get better than that?  I think not.

Needless to say, the chocolate sweet rolls were a huge hit.  The one downside is that Aaron now asks me to make them all the time.  

In fact, he insists that whenever things go wrong in my baking that making these chocolate sweet rolls will break the curse.  He hasn't been wrong yet…

You may also like to try one of my many other dairy free desserts.

Jump to:

• How to Measure Flour and Other Dry Ingredients
• Which Type of Cocoa Should I Use?
• Why Does This Recipe Use Oil?
• Do Eggs Need to Be at Room Temperature?
• What kind of sugar should I use?
• Can I use honey instead of sugar?
• Recipe Tip
• how to store
• How to freeze
• Other Recipes You May Like:
• Chocolate Sweet Rolls

How to Measure Flour and Other Dry Ingredients

The best way to measure dry ingredients is with a scale, but in the United States, dry measuring cups are usually used instead.

Weighing ingredients is useful for home bakers, but it's especially important for professional bakers because they work with huge batches. 

I usually use dry measuring cups when baking too, because I didn't grow up in a country that generally weighs ingredients, so please don't feel like you can't use them.

To measure most dry ingredients, first spoon them into a dry measuring cup and then level off the measuring cup with an upside-down butter knife.

Make sure not to pack it down because this will cause you to use more of the ingredient than the recipe calls for.

Brown sugar is the exception to the rule, though. To measure brown sugar, pack it into the measuring cup and then level off any excess.

To measure chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruit, just pour them into the dry measuring cup and then level them off.

What are dry measuring cups?

Dry measuring cups are the set of cups that usually come with measuring spoons. Each cup is a different measurement, just like each spoon is a different measurement.

Liquid measuring cups, on the other hand, are the cups that usually hold more than one cup and have lines on the side that mark the measurements.

The problem with using liquid measuring cups to measure powdery dry ingredients, like flour and cocoa, is that you shake the cup to level them off. This causes the powder to settle, and you end up with more than you need.

I tested this with a friend who didn't believe me, and we ended up with a quarter cup more flour than the recipe called for.

Should I sift the flour and other dry ingredients?

It's usually recommended to sift your powdery ingredients, like flour and cocoa, before using them.

Sifting aerates the flour and removes any lumps, which helps make baked goods fluffier.

It also helps you get a more accurate measurement than when you use flour that's been packed tightly in a bag.

And sifting dry ingredients together, like flour, cocoa, and baking powder, helps make sure they're evenly distributed in the batter. Which honestly, I think is probably overrated, so I personally never bother with it.

Which Type of Cocoa Should I Use?

When a recipe calls for cocoa, always use unsweetened cocoa powder, unless specified otherwise.

This allows you to have better control of the sweetness of what you're making.

There are three basic forms of unsweetened cocoa powder: natural cocoa powder, Dutch-processed cocoa powder, and raw cacao powder.

Natural cocoa powder is your basic non-specialty cocoa powder, and it's the one you should use natural unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe.

Natural cocoa powder is the most commonly used type of cocoa powder and is what you should use in most recipes, such as chocolate cake, brownies, hot chocolate, or any recipe that simply says "cocoa powder."

Can I Use Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder?

Dutch-processed cocoa powder starts with cocoa beans that have been treated with potassium carbonate, which neutralizes their acidity.

Since Dutch-processed cocoa powder is not acidic, it does not react with baking soda the way natural cocoa powder does.

Recipes that rely on natural cocoa powder for the acidity to trigger the baking soda may not rise properly if you replace the natural cocoa with Dutch-processed cocoa.

For this recipe, I recommend sticking with natural cocoa powder, though I have had readers who switched it out and liked the results. So if you want to try it, that's totally up to you.

Can I Use Raw Cacao Powder?

Raw cacao powder is different from natural and Dutch-processed cocoa powders.

It's made from the cacao bean and isn't nearly as processed. It comes from seeds that have been fermented and are processed at low temperatures to ensure that their nutritional benefits and bitter flavor are preserved.

You can use raw cacao powder if you really want to, but I don't recommend it, since it's not as absorbent as cocoa powder, and it may cause the recipe to be too liquidy and not bake properly.

Can I Use Sweetened Cocoa?

Sweetened cocoa is natural cocoa powder mixed with sugar.

Please don't use it when making this recipe because it will make it too sweet.

How to Substitute Chocolate With Cocoa Powder in Recipes

This recipe calls for cocoa powder, so you really don't need to worry about this here, but I've found this so helpful (and honestly, I had to work hard to figure this out) so I'm sharing it with you anyway.

It's also really useful if you pair this recipe with another recipe that calls for melted chocolate, so I'm including it in case you need it...

Just make sure to mix the ingredients together in a bowl first before adding them to the rest of the recipe.

Cocoa Substitute for Sweet Baking Chocolate

To replace 4 ounces of sweet baking chocolate, use ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus ⅓ cup sugar and 3 tablespoons oil.

Cocoa Substitute for Semisweet and Bittersweet Baking Chocolate

To replace 4 ounces of semisweet and bittersweet chocolate, use ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus 2 ½ tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons oil.

Cocoa Substitute for Unsweetened Baking Chocolate

To replace 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, use ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus 3 tablespoons oil.

How to Store Cocoa

Store cocoa in an airtight container and keep it in a cool, dark place to prevent it from absorbing moisture and losing flavor.

Pro Tip: I store cocoa powder in a large canister so it doesn't make a mess when I go to use it. Doing this has made baking with cocoa so much easier and way less messy!

Why Does This Recipe Use Oil?

Cakes, cupcakes, muffins, and quick breads made with oil usually bake up taller, have a better crumb, and a lighter texture than ones made with butter.

They also tend to stay moist and tender longer.

In fact, some recipes call for both oil and butter, instead of only butter, if they want a lighter and airier texture while still keeping the butter flavor.

I created a baking with oil - butter to oil conversion chart for you in case you want to convert some of your butter recipes to oil recipes.

Which Type Of Oil to Use

I don't specify in the recipe which type of oil to use because it's mostly personal preference and I don't want anyone to feel they have to use specifically that type of oil. For the most part, you can use whatever oil you feel most comfortable using.

I use neutral oils like canola oil, safflower oil, and vegetable oil.

You can also use stronger oils like olive oil and coconut oil, but keep in mind that they may change the taste somewhat.

If you're going to use olive oil, use the one labeled pure olive oil because it has the mildest flavor. This should make the flavor a lot less noticeable.

Is It Better to Use Canola Oil or Olive Oil?

Canola oil is relatively cheap and, due to its lack of flavor and high smoke point, is very versatile.

Olive oil, on the other hand, is generally considered a healthier choice.

So, really, it's whatever you prefer.

How to Store Oil

Store oils in a cool, dark place to prevent them from becoming rancid.

If you store them in the fridge, some oils, like olive oil, may solidify and look strange, but don't worry, they'll return to normal at room temperature.

Coconut oil begins to solidify in temperatures under 76°F or 25°C.

Do Eggs Need to Be at Room Temperature?

The short answer is "no."

While a lot of recipes call for room-temperature eggs, the difference is only noticeable if you do a side-by-side comparison, and even then, the difference is very slight.

How Can I Tell if My Eggs Are Still Good?

Fill a glass with cool water and submerge the eggs.

If the eggs sink to the bottom and lay flat on their side, they're still fresh.

If they sink but stand on one end at the bottom of the glass, the eggs are older but still good to use.

If an egg floats to the top, it's very old and should be checked carefully for signs of spoilage before using.

What kind of sugar should I use?

You should use white granulated sugar, which is also called white sugar, granulated sugar, and table sugar.

If you live in the United Kingdom, you can use caster sugar instead.

You should not use powdered sugar, which is mostly used for dusting desserts and making frosting, icing, and glazes. But it is sometimes used to make fudge.

Can I use honey instead of sugar?

If you'd prefer to use honey instead of sugar, like I do in my honey challah recipe, you can use it for the dough. Do not use honey in place of sugar for the filling.

Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you don't need as much of it. As a general rule, use ¾ cup of honey for every 1 cup of sugar.

• 1 cup sugar → ¾ cup honey
• ¾ cup sugar → ⅔ cup honey
• ½ cup sugar → 6 tablespoons honey
• ¼ cup sugar → 3 tablespoons honey

Honey also adds liquid to the recipe, so you'll need to reduce the other liquid. For every cup of sugar you replace with honey, reduce the other liquid by about 3 to 4 tablespoons.

• 1 cup honey → remove 3 to 4 tablespoons liquid
• ¾ cup honey → remove about 2¼ to 3 tablespoons liquid
• ½ cup honey → remove about 1½ to 2 tablespoons liquid
• ¼ cup honey → remove about 1 tablespoon liquid

If there isn't enough liquid in the recipe to remove, you can remove it from the egg whites instead, but NEVER remove it from the oil.

Honey also causes baked goods to brown more quickly. For this reason, avoid using honey in recipes that need to be baked at temperatures above 350°F or 175°C.

how to store

Cover the rolls tightly with plastic wrap. This will preserve them for two days at room temperature. To preserve them for up to a week: refrigerate the rolls in a sealed plastic bag with as much air removed as possible.

How to freeze

To freeze, store inside of a heavy-duty freezer bag and squeeze out the excess air before sealing. Freeze for up to 2 to 3 months. After that point, they are still safe to eat but their quality begins to degrade.

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