Hello, lovelies! So after much deliberation, I decided to delete my Sweet Rolls category as a specific, separate entity, and just merged it with the Breakfast category. I know it's very thrilling and totally life-changing for y'all, so I wanted to make sure I acknowledged it 😉 I hadn't made anything with cherries in quite awhile, and I figured some sour cherry chocolate rolls were the perfect thing to combine my love of {non}cinnamon rolls and chocolate and fruit! I found some delicious jarred cherries at the store, and since it's not cherry season yet, they worked perfectly. Let's get to work!
As with any of my sweet roll recipes, you start with the basic dough which has the bonus of being vegan! Just use your favorite non-dairy milk in place of regular milk and you have pretty much the same exact dough. Go through all the usual steps, kneading it and letting it rise, and then when it's time to bake, you stuff your dough with butter/EarthBalance, pieces of cherries, brown sugar, dark chocolate chips, and you roll the whole thing up and cut out your rolls. Then just bake and devour! These Cherry Chocolate Rolls are so simple and incredibly yummy.
So recently, I accidentally received some of King Arthur Flour's Pure Vanilla Plus extract and it's kind of my new favorite thing. I say I accidentally got it because I ordered something else and it somehow ended up in my package anyways. But I totally love it! It's pure vanilla extract with tiny specs of vanilla bean inside and it's sooo good. I used it in the icing for these buns, but I've been sneaking it in pretty much everything! This isn't an affiliate link but I love it and I thought y'all deserved to know about it 🙂
Looking for more sweet rolls? You can check out my Peach Cinnamon Rolls, Chai Pear Cinnamon Rolls, Berry & Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls, Lemon White Chocolate Rolls, S'mores Rolls, and Nutella Rolls. If you can't tell, we really love rolls around here 😉
sour cherry chocolate rolls
Ingredients
- *for the rolls*
- 1 cup milk {dairy or non-dairy}
- 2 cups white flour {+ ½ cup separated}
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ½ tablespoon instant active dry yeast {about ½ a package}
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- *for the filling*
- ½ cup halved cherries fresh or jarred
- ¼ cup butter {or EarthBalance} softened
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
- *for the icing*
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoon milk
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a large nonstick pot, combine the milk, oil, and ¼ cup of sugar. Heat up to about 120F {warmer than body temperature but NOT burning hot} over medium heat, then remove from burner and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes to allow the yeast to activate.
- Afterwards, mix in the 2 cups of flour, cover the pot with a clean tea towel, and let the dough rise for about 1 hour.
- After the first rise, add in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and additional flour. Knead until all the flour has been absorbed, and add more if needed. You want the dough to be soft and smooth but not too sticky! Using a sharp knife, cut an X on top of your dough {this helps it rise }, cover with a tea towel again, and let rise for an additional 3+ hours. You can let it rise overnight at this point, or you can also wait until the next step!
- After the second rise, lightly flour a clean surface, and dump the dough on top. Knead it for 2-3 minutes, adding more flour as needed. The dough should be smooth and easy to work with, so add flour if it's too sticky!
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rough rectangle, making sure you don't roll it out too thin. Spread the softened butter all over the surface, then top with the brown sugar, cherry pieces, and chocolate chips.
- Starting on the long side closest to you, roll up the dough, being careful that no filling falls out of the sides.
- Using a large, smooth knife, cut 1½-2 inch slices of dough, and place them in a greased 9x13 pan {or you can use a giant muffin pan + 9x9 baking dish}. Make sure to leave some space between the rolls to allow them to rise more!
- At this point, you can cover the pans with plastic wrap and either let them rise for 30 minutes in a warm place, or place them in the refrigerator overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F. Bake the rolls 15-18 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and no longer doughy.
- While the rolls cook, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt, and add in the milk a little at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Let rolls cool, then drizzle with frosting. Enjoy!
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