Chocolate Milk Bread Hot Cross Buns

A single chocolate milk bread hot cross bun, on a white scalloped plate. The remaining tray of buns can be seen at the edge of frame.

Chocolate Milk Bread Hot Cross Buns

Milk bread hot cross buns, but make them chocolate flavored! Super soft milk bread, made using the tangzhong dough method, gets turned into the most deluxe hot cross buns, with deep dark cocoa and chocolate chips. These are surprisingly straightforward and better than any Easter buns you can buy.

Prep Time2 30

Cook Time30

Total Time3

Course: Afternoon Tea, Breakfast, Morning Tea

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: chocolate buns, chocolate hot cross buns, hot cross buns, steam oven hot cross buns

Servings: buns

Calories: 404kcal

Ingredients

Tangzhong mixture

8 Tbsp Dutch-process cocoa
3 Tbsp bread flour
1/2 cup milk whole/full-fat; cold
1/3 cup water

Dough

4 cups bread flour plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup milk whole/full-fat, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp whole milk powder dry milk powder, optional, see notes
3 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp fine salt 10g
8 Tbsp unsalted butter melted 1 stick
1 egg large, room temperature
1 1/4 cups semisweet or dark chocolate chips chilled, for ease of folding into the dough

Crosses

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp water you may need up to 3-4 Tbsp depending on your flour's moisture content

Glaze

2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp liquid glucose optional, if you haven’t got any don’t buy a whole jar. The buns will be fine, the glaze just won’t be as shiny/sticky

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the tangzhong (roux)

In a small saucepan, whisk the cocoa, flour, milk, and water until no lumps remain. Bring the mixture to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of instant pudding (never had instant pudding? You're looking for a very thick, 'blobby' consistency that plops off the spatula, rather than running off).
8 Tbsp Dutch-process cocoa, 3 Tbsp bread flour, 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 cup water
Transfer the tangzhong to the bowl of a stand mixer and cover the surface with a piece of cling wrap so it doesn't form a skin. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Make the dough

When the tangzhong has cooled to warm, remove the cling wrap and add the flour, milk, sugar, milk powder, yeast, salt, melted butter and egg to the bowl. Using the dough hook, mix on medium-low speed until a soft, sticky dough forms, scraping down the bowl a couple of times to make sure everything gets incorporated.
4 cups bread flour, 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 3 Tbsp whole milk powder, 3 tsp instant yeast, 2 tsp fine salt, 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, 1 egg
Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes total. Every few minutes, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. The dough will never completely pull away from the bowl, and it will appear to be slightly sticky. Don't worry, that is normal and the dough will become manageable after its first proof.

First proof

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and put it in your steam oven. Set to Steam, 80°F/27°C, (100% humidity), or use a dough proving setting if you have one. Let the dough rise until puffy and doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Add chocolate and form the buns

Use a dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently form the dough into a square and scatter two thirds of it with the chocolate chips (cold choc chips will be easiest to work with, especially if you're baking in a warm climate!). Fold the last, uncovered, third over towards the center, then fold again so you've enclosed the chips. Press out again, and fold into thirds the other way, starting with one of the open ends. Gently press out again into a square. This should distribute the chocolate evenly through the dough; if it seems like it's uneven, fold in half once more.
1 1/4 cups semisweet or dark chocolate chips
Use the dough scraper, or a butter knife, to divide the dough evenly into 12 pieces. If you're pedantic like me, you can weigh the whole piece and divide into 12 by weight to make sure you get even-sized buns. But I won't judge you if you don't!
Gently form each piece of dough into a ball. There are lots of ways to do this, I do so by pulling the raggedy edges into the center to make a ball shape, and then flipping over to have the smooth side on top. Roll each ball on the counter under a cupped hand a couple of times to make it nice and even. Place the dough balls, with just a little space between each one, into a 9x13 inch (23x33cm) baking tray or dish.

Second proof, make crosses and bake

Cover the buns with a clean dish towel and leave them to rise at room temperature (ideally about 71°F/22°C - higher or lower temp will alter your rising time). You want them to puff so they're about a third larger in size, and the dough springs back when gently pressed with your index finger; about 30 minutes.
While you wait for the buns to proof, make the cross mixture. Mix the flour and water to make a smooth paste, about the consistency of heavy cream. It might seem quite elastic; let it sit for 10-15 minutes and it'll be much easier to work with.
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp water
Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to Combi Steam, 350°F/180°C, 60% (high) humidity. Put the cross mixture into a piping bag, or a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off. Pipe a line down the center of each row of buns, then turn the tray 90 degrees and do the same thing the other way, making a cross on top of each bun.
Bake the buns until they're puffed, a touch darker than when you put them in, and cooked through, about 25 minutes. If you want to test them by temperature they should be 190°F/88°C in the center. Remove the buns from the oven and let them cool slightly while you make the glaze.

Glaze

Make the glaze by putting all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bringing to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes to make sure all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has evaporated a little.
2 Tbsp granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp water, 1 tsp liquid glucose
Brush the hot glaze over the hot buns and leave to cool completely before serving, split, with butter.

Notes

Tangzhong bread dough. This is originally a Chinese method, made popular by Taiwanese cook Yvonne Chen, in her book 65°C Bread Doctor. It involves cooking a small portion of flour and liquid (in this case, we add cocoa to the flour as well) until it becomes a smooth, thick paste. This gluey paste is cooled and mixed in with the bread dough. It works like this: heat and liquid make the starch molecules in the cooked flour swell and bond together. This creates a gel-like structure that can trap and hold water. When this gelatinized mixture is added to dough, it provides moisture without making it difficult to handle; thus, pillowy bread that has a super soft texture and stays fresh for longer.
Cocoa powder. My preference is for Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which means the cocoa has been alkalized. It's darker in color and has a smoother, more rounded chocolatey taste than natural cocoa or cacao.
Milk powder. This is optional so if you don't have it in your pantry, you can skip it without affecting the recipe too much. Adding a little extra milk solids to the dough just increases the softness and keeping qualities of the buns.
Glucose for the glaze. As with the milk powder, if you don't have liquid glucose in your kitchen, you don't need to buy a whole jar. Adding a little to the glaze makes it more sticky and shiny, and helps it to sit on top of the buns for longer, rather than a straight sugar glaze which will soak in after a few hours.

Nutrition