I think we can all agree chocolate and coffee are an amazing combination. There’s 3 reasons why you should try them: they are delicious, they will give you a double caffeine kick and because normal cinnamon rolls are just boring.

What are mocha breakfast rolls?

These are the perfect breakfast buns. To make these, you’ll make the dough with coffee granules and then spread some lovely hazelnut spread on top, they are finished with the most delicious coffee cream cheese frosting. They are so delicious and easy to make!

Tips for success

• Be patient – as with everything dough related, these take their time and patience is required, but it’s so worth it. Make sure you give them enough time to raise completely, dough is always a lot quicker during the hot months, but takes a lot longer when the temperatures drop. One thing that I like. todo is put them nearby a warm source (and I mean warm, not hot!) like near a heater, or the oven if it’s cooling down.
• Don’t over bake them – nobody likes a dry bun! Remember that they keep cooking after you take them out of the oven, so keep an eye on them during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
• Add the frosting while they are warm – this will allow the frosting to melt on top of the buns and leak inside. Eating them while warm is also highly recommended!

Freezing the rolls

These recipe makes around 12 rolls, so if you feel like it’s too much and don’t want to waste them, you can either freeze them as soon as you have cut them or you can part bake them and then put them in the freezer and finish baking them whenever you are ready to eat them.

If you freeze them without baking, you will have to take them out of the freezer the night before, keep them in the fridge and then take them out, let them rise for 1-2 hours and then cooking them.

If you choose to pat bake them, you’ll cook them in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they get their shape but they don’t brown and then, once they’ve cooled down completely, freeze them. Once you are ready to eat them, take them out of the freezer the night before, let them unfreeze in the fridge and bake them for another 10-15 minutes.

Whatever method you use, I would only leave them in the freezer for 2-3 weeks.

Mocha Breakfast Rolls

Ingredients:

For the rolls:

• 270 ml of whole milk
• 60 gr of butter
• 500 gr of bread flour
• 15 gr of dry active instant yeast
• 100 gr of sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp of coffee granules
• 120 gr of Nutella

For the frosting:

• 100 gr of cream cheese
• 2 tbs of espresso
• 4 tbsp of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 60 gr of icing sugar

Method:

1. Warm up the milk and let the butter and coffee granules dissolve in it, you’ll have to stir regularly. In the meantime, mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Pour the milk and butter into the dry ingredients and mix them well until you get a dough. Knead it over a floured surface for 5 minutes, then, put the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest for at least an hour or until doubled in size.
3. Once the dough has risen, roll it in a floured surface until you have the shape of a rectangle. If you are struggling to get that shape, just cut the edges so it acquires that shape. Spread the Nutella all over the the dough covering up to the edges.
4. Grab one of the long edges (to your left or right) and start rolling the dough until you get a long log. Cut the top and bottom edge if those edges seem uneven.
5. Cut the rolls into 2.5-3 cm sections using either a very sharp serrated edge knife or floss (I used floss and found it extremely satisfying).
6. Place the rolls into a greased baking tray or skillet and cover it with cling film or a kitchen towel. Don’t squeeze them together, leave some space between them to allow them to grow.
7. Let the rolls rise for another hour.
8. Once ready, pop them in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until they start getting brown on top.
9. While cooking, make the frosting by mixing the ingredients listed above and spread it over the rolls while they are hot.