Glazed Chocolate Babka Rolls

By vealam

Ribbons of buttery chocolate are nestled into swirl upon swirl of sweet yeast dough with a sticky glaze topping them off. The process is just like making cinnamon rolls except rather than baking them side by side these are baked in a muffin pan for stand-alone mini babka cakes.

Ingredients

• Dough:
• 1/2 cup whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast (I like Saf )
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for buttering the pan
• Filling:
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate (broken-up bars, wafers or chips)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Egg Wash:
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• Streusel Topping
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• Glaze: (skip the egg wash and streusel)
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• a dash of vanilla extract
• 2 - 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Preparation

Step 1

Make the dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir the warm milk, sugar, and yeast together.
Add the egg, flour, and salt. Beat on low speed just until the dough begins to form then add the butter, keep beating until it's fully incorporated.
Switch out the paddle attachment for the dough hook and knead on low speed 8 minutes. Butter a large bowl and add the dough, cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rise until doubled 1 to 1 + 1/2 hours.
Meanwhile make the filling:
To the bowl of a food processor add the chocolate. Pulse until finely chopped. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until combined. Tiny pieces of chocolate are OK.
Make the streusel, if using:
In a small bowl whisk the sugar and flour together. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or 2 forks scissor fashion until coarse crumbs form. Refrigerate.
Assemble the rolls:
Grease a 12 cup muffin pan well with butter.
Gently deflate the dough and turn out on a lightly floured work surface. Let rest for 5 minutes.
Roll out the dough into a 12x19-inch rectangle.
Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough leaving a 1-inch border on the furthest long edge, it won't cover it completely - there will be some bare spaces.
Starting from the long end without the border roll the dough into a log. Roll then tuck it to make it tight, repeating until you get to the end. Roll so the seam is on the bottom.
Slice off the ends if they're uneven and gently cut into about 1 + 1/2-inch sized rolls using a serrated knife or dental floss. Place them in the muffin pan. Cover with a piece of greased plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise 30 more minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If using the streusel brush the tops of each one with the egg wash (whisk the egg and heavy cream together) then crumble the streusel over each one patting it down gently to help it stick.
Bake:
Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pan and then run a butter knife around the edges to help pop them out.
Glaze:
If using the glaze whisk together all the ingredients in a medium bowl starting with 1 tablespoon heavy cream. If too thin add more sugar, if too thick add more heavy cream until you achieve a desired consistency. Drizzle or frost the muffins. Store in a tightly covered container up to 4 days.