Light and fluffy, sweet yeasted buns filled with chocolate ganache centers! These chocolate buchteln are traditionally filled with jam but everything is better with chocolate so these sweet buns are the best of both worlds!
Austrian Sweet Yeasted Rolls
Buchteln are very traditional in Germany and this recipe is based on a recipe that was passed down to me by my Oma. They originated in the Bohemia region of Czechia and then became a part of Austrian and German culture.
While these buns are usually filled with jam, I thought why not fill it with a chocolate ganache center and fill the dough with chocolate chips!
Tips for making Buchteln
- Plan ahead with this recipe by making the chocolate ganache for the chocolate centers before beginning with the rest of the recipe.
- Whenever you are making a yeasted dough make sure to knead it for a while, the dough should become one clean ball with relatively smooth sides. Keep kneading for a couple minutes after it comes together. For this recipe, I usually set my stand mixer on low with the dough hook for ten to 15 minutes until the dough is smooth.
- You can use the stand mixer to knead in the chocolate chips; however, I find it easiest to do it by hand. Do not worry about the chocolate chips falling out, if they do just stick them back in the dough and continue kneading until the chocolate chips are fully dispersed.
- If you want the buchteln to have shiny tops, brush the top with 1 teaspoon of melted butter or use the paper wrapper from the butter and wipe it on the tops of the buns immediately after they come out of the oven.
Ingredients for Chocolate Buns
- All Purpose Flour: Any all purpose flour will work for these! I have not yet tried any other flours with this recipe.
- Eggs: I use standard large eggs from the store. This recipe uses one full egg and one egg yolk. The egg yolk adds extra richness to the rolls.
- Sugar: This recipe uses only 50 grams of sugar which makes them not too sweet but I find that the chocolate balances them out. If you find that they are not sweet enough, feel free to add an extra 25 grams.
- Milk: The buchteln use milk as the liquid in the dough; however, they will also work with non-dairy milks such as almond or light coconut milk.
- Butter: The butter adds moisture to the buns as well as makes them softer! It’s important that the butter is at room temperature, otherwise it will cool down the dough and be difficult to incorporate.
- Yeast: In this recipe, instant yeast is used. However, if you are using active dry, simply bloom the yeast in the milk alone first and then proceed with the recipe.
- Vanilla extract: I like to add a teaspoon of vanilla to give the buns extra flavor and enhance the chocolate.
- Chocolate Chips: Chocolate chips seem to be very controversial now so if you would rather use chocolate chunks, go for it! Personally, I like how the chips keep their shape in these buns; especially since the centers are full of melted ganache.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is used to make the ganache, I haven’t yet tested it with a non-dairy option, but if you do, let me know how it goes!
- Semi-sweet or dark chocolate: I use bars of chocolate and chop them up to make the ganache ball centers for the buns.
How to make homemade Chocolate Buchteln?
Make the chocolate truffle centers
- Chop the 6 oz. of chocolate into small pieces, no larger than 1/4″ and place in a heat safe bowl.
- Then heat up the heavy cream until it has just started to boil, make sure to stir it frequently to prevent it from burning.
- Once the cream is hot, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for 5 min. Then whisk until all of the chocolate is melted. If it doesn’t all melt, you can briefly reheat the mixture in the microwave or using a double boiler; but, don’t heat it up too hot or you will burn the mixture.
- Set the mixture aside to set.
Make the buchteln dough
- Start by warming the milk until it is just warm to the touch – it should not exceed 100 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the flour and sugar. Then whisk it together by hand and make a well in the center of the flour. Pour the yeast into the well and then add the warmed milk.
- Using a spoon stir in some of the flour/sugar mixture into the milk and yeast mixture. It should only be about 1/4 cup of the flour from the edges of the well.
- Then cover the bowl with a towel for 10 minutes.
- After the ten minutes you will notice that the mixture is bubbling. Then using a rubber spatula give the whole bowl a brief mix.
- Now add in the egg and egg yolk, butter, and vanilla extract. Knead the mixture with the dough hook on the stand mixer for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth and the bowl is clean.
- Remove the dough and shape it into a ball. Lightly grease the mixing bowl that you were just using and place the ball of dough back in. Then cover the bowl with a towel or plastic and place somewhere warm for 30-45 min. The dough should double in size.
- After the dough has grown, add the chocolate chips into the mixing bowl with the dough. Next, knead the dough and chocolate chips by hand in the bowl for a few turns and then turn it out onto the counter and continue to knead until the chocolate chips are evenly dispersed.
- Divide the dough into 15 even pieces and shape each piece into a ball as you go. After shaping each ball, cover them with a towel as you continue to divide and shape the rest. This will prevent the dough from drying out.
- Once all of the balls have been shaped, grease a 9×13 baking pan.
Shaping the chocolate buchteln
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Working with one ball at a time, flatten each ball into a 5″-6″ disk. Then scoop a tablespoon sized ball of ganache and place it in the center of the disk.
- Bring up the sides of the dough and pinch them over the top to seal in the chocolate ganache. Make sure to pinch all the seams well so the chocolate does not ooze out while baking. To make sure they are sealed, I like to roll the buns around in a clockwise, circular motion under the palm of my hand (using my fingers as a claw around the ball to keep it in place), on a clean work surface to really close up the bottom.
- Place the fully sealed buns into the greased 9×13 baking pan. There should be 3 buns across and 5 buns down. Ensure that the buns are evenly spaced so they have room to expand.
- Cover the pan with a towel or plastic and place somewhere warm for another 30 min until the buns have grown and are now fully touching each other.
- Bake the buns on the middle rack for 20-25 min until they are a deep golden brown.
- If you want a shiny top, use a butter wrapper (with some excess butter still on there) or 1 teaspoon of melted butter, and brush or wipe it on top of the buns while they are still hot.
- Serve the chocolate buchteln while still warm and optionally add a drizzle of Vanille Soรe.
Chocolate Buchteln
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 grams ap flour
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- 10 grams instant yeast
- 250 ml milk lukewarm
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 60 grams butter softened
- 150 grams semisweet chocolate chips
Ganache Centers
- 6 oz dark or semisweet chocolate chopped
- 3 oz heavy cream
Instructions
Ganache Centers
- Finely chop the chocolate and add it to a heat proof bowl.
- Heat the cream until boiling and pour it over the chopped chocolate. Leave it to sit for 5 minutes, then whisk together to melt all the chocolate.
- Set it aside to firm up.
Mixing the Dough
- Heat the milk until it is just lukewarm.
- In a large stand mixing bowl, add flour and sugar, and whisk together. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast and then the milk. Slowly stir a little flour into the milk and yeast mixture. Cover the bowl with a towel and set it somewhere warm to rest for 10 minutes.
- After the 10 min have passed, give the bowl a quick stir with a rubber spatula.
- Add the softened butter, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Mix together with the dough hook on low speed for 10 min or until the dough is a smooth cohesive ball of dough.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel / or proofing bag and set it somewhere warm to rest for 30 minutes.
- After the 30 minutes have passed, add in the chocolate chips and knead by hand until the chips are fully dispersed in the dough.
Assembling & Baking
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces by weight.
- Shape each piece of dough into a ball and then flatten each ball into a 5" – 6" disk. Working with one piece of dough at a time, scoop a tablespoon sized scoop into the center of the disk and then pinch the dough up and around the chocolate ganache and seal up the ball.
- Place each ball into the greased 9 x 13 pan. They should be arranged so that there are 3 balls across and 5 down the pan. Once all of the buns have been shaped, cover the pan and place somewhere warm for another 30 min.
- After the 30 min have passed, bake the pan of buns on the center rack of the oven for 20-25 min until they reach a deep golden brown.
- To create a shiny top, brush the buns with a teaspoon of melted butter.
- Serve warm with the optional vanilla sauce.
Delicious and super easy to make! They keep well in the fridge and heat up beautifully for breakfast with a quick pop in the microwave.
I’m so glad you liked them!
Sorry if i didn’t read the recipe properly..
So is the chocolate is for the filling?
No worries! The chocolate chips are needed into the dough and the chopped chocolate is for mixing with the heavy cream for the filling. I hope this helps but let me know if you have any other questions!
My boyfriend and I had a ton of fun making these- they were easy to make with the recipe (even for a just starting out baker) and tasted delicious! I can’t wait to share some with family and friends!
This makes me so happy! I’m so glad you liked them!