Chocolate Swirl Buns

This recipe is incredible. I'm ashamed to say that these disappeared very quickly in our house - had to spend some serious time on the elliptical to burn these off! If you haven't checked out the Smitten Kitchen blog yet, you should - her pictures are amazing and so are her recipes! I did have a little trouble getting the dough to rise, but after putting the dough in a slightly warmed oven it did eventually rise and I was able to make these incredible buns!

Chocolate Swirl Buns
from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

Dough
1/2 cup milk, preferably whole but I used almond milk
1/4 cup plus a pinch of granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 large egg, brought to room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for bowl and muffin tins

Filling
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 pound semisweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
Prepare dough: Warm milk and a pinch of sugar to between 110 to 116°F. Sprinkle yeast over milk and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and remaining 1/4 cup sugar, then slowly whisk in yeast mixture.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour and salt. Run mixer on low and add egg mixture, mixing until combined. Add butter and mix until incorporated. Switch mixer to dough hook and let it knead the dough for 10 minutes on low speed.
Butter a large bowl and place dough in it. Cover loosely with a lint-free towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled.

Meanwhile, prepare filling: If your chocolate is in large bars, roughly chop it. Then, you can let a food processor do the rest of the work, pulsing the chopped chocolate with the salt, sugar, and cinnamon (if using) until the chocolate is very finely chopped with some parts almost powdery. Add butter and pulse machine until it’s distributed throughout the chocolate. Set mixture aside and generously butter a standard 12-muffin tin.
Form buns: Once dough is doubled, turn it out onto a well-floured surface and gently deflate it with floured hands.

Let it rest for another 5 minutes. Once rested, roll dough into a large rectangle. The short sides should be a scant 11 to 12 inches. The other side can be as long as you can roll it.

 Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough's surface.
 
 
Tightly roll the dough back over the filling from one short end to the other, forming a 12-inch log. With a sharp serrated knife, gently saw 1-inch segments off the log and place each in a prepared muffin cup. Loosely cover buns with plastic wrap or a lint-free towel and let them rise for another 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F.

Bake buns for 15 to 20 minutes, until puffed and brown. Let cool completely before serving. Enjoy!!