Extremely soft chocolate chip buns: how to add the chocolate chips without melting them
How lovely is it to wake up in the morning to the smell of coffee and freshly baked brioche? Yes, it would be lovely, but that only happens in films or in Mulino Bianco commercials!
In real life it’s already something if you manage to warm the milk, maybe in the microwave to save time, and I don’t think anyone would even consider starting to knead.
However, I can’t give up breakfast and I like to have it at home, maybe in pajamas with half-closed eyes — I’m not a breakfast-at-the-café person.
A few days ago, while reading a cookbook, I decided to try a very simple recipe I hadn’t made yet but had always caught my eye: chocolate chip rolls, better known as Pangoccioli.
Nothing strange, you might think, but I guarantee that for once I cooked an easy-to-repeat recipe that worked on the first try, reliable and without surprises, and I decided to share it with you.
You’ll pull soft and fluffy sweet rolls out of the oven, with chocolate chips inside that will melt slightly during baking — so tempting they’ll start your day off right!
And importantly, you can prepare them in advance in batches, freeze them, and take them out as needed.
Pangoccioli recipe using leftover Easter egg chocolate
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 25 chocolate chip buns
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE CHIP BUNS
- 3/4 cup Manitoba flour
- 3.4 fl oz water
- 0.35 oz fresh brewer's yeast
- pre-ferment (lievitino)
- 2 1/3 cups 00 flour (all-purpose flour)
- 1 1/2 cups Manitoba flour
- 2/3 cup milk (room temperature)
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp honey (about 25 g)
- 1 egg (about 50 g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (or leftover Easter egg chocolate)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp milk
Tools
- Bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Parchment paper
- Plastic wrap
- Baking pan
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHIP BUNS AT HOME
You can prepare the dough for the chocolate chip buns either by hand or using a stand mixer.
First, mix the honey with the vanilla extract in a small bowl and let it rest. Put the chocolate in the freezer (a fundamental step!) and take the butter out to soften. Prepare the pre-ferment: in a bowl mix the Manitoba flour, the water and the crumbled yeast. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.
Add to the pre-ferment the sugar, the flours, the milk, the egg and the honey-vanilla mix. Start kneading and only add the salt at the end. When the dough begins to take shape, add the softened butter a little at a time, waiting for the previous piece to be absorbed before continuing.
When the dough is compact, shiny and homogeneous, add the ice-cold chocolate straight from the freezer. Knead only a few seconds to distribute it. Transfer to the work surface and perform the “pirlatura”: rotate the dough between your hands bringing it downward to obtain a smooth ball. Set it to rise in a switched-off oven with the light on for about 2 hours (or until doubled). Warning: if the oven is too hot, the chocolate will melt and ruin the color of the dough!
Deflate the dough and shape balls of 45 g each. To make them smooth, bring the edges toward the center and then roll them on the surface. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper well spaced and let them rise one last hour at room temperature.
Brush with the egg yolk and milk mix and bake at 356°F (conventional) for 15 minutes. The aroma that will fill the house will be the sign that they are ready!
The chocolate chip buns keep very well for 2-3 days if stored in a food-grade plastic bag. If you want them to last longer, you can freeze them as soon as they have cooled: just pass them for one minute in the oven or in the microwave to make them soft again as if just baked.
Recipe Variations
Black & White: Use half dark chocolate chips and half white chocolate chips.
Orange-scented: Add the grated zest of one organic orange for an amazing citrus touch.
Gooey Center: Instead of chips, try placing a teaspoon of hazelnut cream in the center of each ball before the second rise.
Useful Tips
Temperature: Milk and water should be lukewarm, not hot! If they are too hot they will “kill” the yeast, if they are cold everything will slow down.
Surface: To make them glossy like store-bought ones, brush the surface with a mix of milk and a pinch of sugar before baking.
Final Touch: Right after baking, you can brush them with a little water and sugar to keep them extra soft.
Notes on Ingredients and Substitutions
Yeast: If you use dry yeast, mix it directly with the flour, but make sure honey and lukewarm water are still present to activate it.
Chocolate: A pro tip? Keep the chocolate chips in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before adding them to the dough; this way they won’t melt while you handle the warm dough.
Oil: I use sunflower seed oil because it’s lighter and makes the buns softer compared to butter, and it’s perfect if you prefer a lighter snack.
Why didn’t my chocolate chip buns rise properly?
Most likely the yeast was expired or the liquids used were too hot. Another reason could be the room temperature: if it’s cold, put the bowl in a switched-off oven with the light on.
Can I use a different flour, like whole wheat?
Yes, but bear in mind that whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid and makes the dough heavier. I recommend using half all-purpose (00) and half whole wheat to maintain softness.
All the chocolate chips sank to the bottom of the buns — why?
If the dough is too soft or if the chips were not incorporated properly during manual mixing, they tend to fall. Make sure to knead well after adding them to distribute them evenly throughout the “cloud”.
Why did my chocolate melt into the dough?
Probably the proofing temperature was too high (above 82°F) or you kneaded too long after adding the chips. Chocolate should be added cold and worked as little as possible.
