Chocolate and Sea salt Swedish Buns

The most comforting chocolate and sea salt buns ever!!

I don’t even know where to start, I’ve been wanting to post a recipe for so long now, that I kind of feel like the odds is not in my favor in that department :(. Leo is almost 5 months now, and the roller coaster of my new life never stops. I’ve been sleep deprived for the past 5 months, and it feels like my body is not really taking it well. My will to get back to the gym, get back to work, and manage to get back to the kitchen and posting here, is on hold and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to change any time soon.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for Leo, he is quite the little miracle. He’s getting bigger every day, and I find my self, amazed at how my heart keeps expanding, and how my love for him grows with each passing day. But betwine all the love and fun, I sometimes find myself missing some alone time with myself. All of the sudden, I understand that being able to get to the kitchen on the spear of the moment is a privilege I no longer have, being spontaneous and going for a swim without planning ahead and asking for my mom or A. to watch Leo is now a distant dream.I love my baby and I wouldn’t change a thing about our days together, or the choice I made to stay home with him. It’s true I’m very lucky to be working from home with my baby right next to me all day long, but that privilege doesn’t come without a price, and right now the price is my workout regime and my blogging.

Fortunately today Leo had a surprise visit from his aunt, and I got some time in the kitchen doing one of my all-time favorite activities i.e backing. I decided to bake some of the most amazing swedish buns, because nothing is more comforting, to me than hot yeasty pastry. Traditionally Swedish buns are made with plain flour and filled with cinnamon. A couple of days ago I stumbled upon this recipe for chocolate filled babka and figured it will probably work much better for me, cause let’s face it, everything is better with chocolate in it.These chocolate and sea salt buns are made with splet flour, the dough is so easy to work with, you’ll want to make it for all of your yeasty pastries from now on. I added the sea salt because I just love the combination of chocolate and salt, but you can easily skip adding the salt, and you’ll still get amazingly moist, sweet, and delicious buns.

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Chocolate and Sea salt Swedish Buns

Cuisine Swedish

Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Author Neta

Ingredients

For the dough

• 21/2 cups plain flour
• 21/4 cups spelt flour
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp dry yeast
• The zest of 1 medium lemon
• 1 cup milk
• 75 gr butter
• 1 egg

For the filling

• 75 gr butter
• 75 gr dark chocolate
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

For the glaze

• 1 egg beaten
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 5 tbsp boiled water
• 50 gr chopped almonds

Instructions

To make the dough

1. Put flour, sugar, salt, yeast and lemon zest into a large stand mixer bowl and mix together. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and add the milk, remove from heat and mix together. Add the milk mixture and egg to the flour mixture, gradually, and knead to form smooth elastic dough until the dough is smooth and elastic (10-15 minutes). Transfer the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

To make the filling

1. In a small saucepan melt butter and dark chocolate, mix in sugar and cocoa powder, stir well and let cool until thickened to a spreadable consistency.

Assemble the buns

1. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to a 40 x 60 cm/16 x 23-inch rectangle. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate mixture evenly over the rolled-out dough. Fold the dough from the bottom 2/3 inwards lengthways and again from the top down. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut widthways strips of 2-2.5cm. Take one strip and carefully twist it a few times, then curl into a ‘knot’, ensuring both ends are tucked in or under so they do not spring open during baking, you can watch this tutorial for making the buns.
2. Put each bun onto a baking paper-lined tray, leaving 4 cm/1.5 inch of space between each bun. Leave to rise under a kitchen cloth for 30-45 minutes until risen and puffy. Preheat the oven to 190°C /375°F. Brush each bun lightly with beaten egg and place in the oven, bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
3. While backing mix sugar and boiled water until sugar completely dissolves and you get a thick syrup.
4. Remove buns from the oven and brush the warm buns lightly with syrup then decorate with the crushed almonds. Store in a sealed container for up to three days.