These German Chocolate Buns (locally known as Schokobrötchen) are always a favorite among kids and adults! You’ll get bits of chocolate chips in a soft bun, and they’re excellent with coffee, tea, or a tall glass of milk. So, try them for your next coffee break or breakfast!
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Anything with chocolate chips is always a winner. So, it’s no surprise that these chocolate buns are (almost) always gone as soon as they’re served.
Best served when freshly baked, these buns have that perfect balance of butter and sugar in the dough, and adding chocolate chips to them gives it that extra oomph.
So, chocolate bits in our snack — yep, we all deserve that. 🙂
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Ingredients
- Milk – full cream milk, if possible; and make sure it’s warm.
- Yeast – I use active dry yeast for this chocolate buns recipe.
- Flour – you only need all-purpose flour.
- Sugar – regular, granulated white sugar is excellent for this recipe.
- Butter – unsalted and softened.
- Salt – you might need to use less (or none) if you use salted butter.
- Eggs – at room temperature, and each piece weighs 63 to 73 grams. One is for the dough, and the other one is for the egg wash of the chocolate chip buns.
- Vanilla sugar – just use your favorite brand.
- Chocolate chips – use a good baking brand of dark chocolate chips.
Preparation
Start with your chocolate buns dough by mixing a cup of warm milk with the yeast, mix, then set aside until foamy.
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla sugar in your stand mixer’s bowl, and use the paddle attachment to mix them.
Add the yeast mixture, beaten egg, and softened butter (photo 1).
Continue mixing with the paddle attachment until a dough starts to form.
Switch to the dough hook attachment and continue mixing until you get a smooth dough.
Form chocolate buns dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl (photo 2).
Cover with a clean kitchen cloth and set aside until it doubles in size (typically takes about an hour and a half).
Uncover the dough and deflate it by punching it in the middle.
Transfer dough into a flat surface and use a rolling pin to flatten it into about 12-inch x 9-inch in size — do not be concerned if it’s a round shape.
Scatter most of the chocolate chips (leave two tablespoons for later) on top of the dough.
Roll the dough into a log — starting from the longer end (photo 3).
Divide the log into twelve equal portions (photo 4).
Form each portion into a ball, then place it on top of a baking tray lined with a baking sheet. Make sure you leave enough space between each bun.
Place the remaining chocolate chips on top of each bun (photo 5).
Cover the chocolate chip buns with the kitchen towel and set aside for at least thirty minutes, just enough time for the dough to puff up a bit.
When the chocolate bread rolls are almost ready, preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
Mix egg with two tablespoons of milk for your egg wash.
Uncover the chocolate chip buns and brush each one with the egg wash (photo 6).
Place the baking tray in the middle of the oven for about twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until the chocolate buns turned golden.
Set aside for at least ten minutes to cool.
Serve and enjoy your schokobrötchen!
Helpful tips
- Do not hesitate to add a bit more flour if you feel the dough is too wet. The dough should be on the soft side but not sticky.
- Try to work fast once you’ve added the chocolate chips into the dough. You will notice that the chocolate bleeds (although it will not melt) into the dough, especially if you are in a warm place.
- The dough in this chocolate chip buns recipe is simple to handle; relatively easy to knead by hand when you don’t have a stand mixer.
FAQs
Absolutely.
Just wrap the cooled chocolate buns tightly in plastic before placing them in the freezer — they will be good for 1 to 2 months.
Yes, but be mindful of the baking time.
You probably don’t need to cook them for 30 minutes, depending on the size of the rolls.
They look delicious, right? So give these chocolate buns a try this weekend, and let me know what you think!
Gerrman Chocolate Buns Recipe (Schokobrötchen)
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Pyrex Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Stand Mixer
- Basting/Pastry Brush
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 cup milk, warm
- 2 & 1/4 tsp yeast
- 500 grams flour (about 3 cups + 2 tbsp + 2 tsp)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- pinch salt
- 100 grams butter (about 7 tbsp), unsalted and softened
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips (set 2 tbsp aside for placing on top of the buns)
- 1 medium egg, room temperature and beaten
For the egg wash:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp milk
Instructions
Preparing chocolate buns dough:
- Combine the cup of warm milk with the yeast and set aside until ready.
- Using the stand mixer's bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla sugar — use the paddle attachment to mix.
- Add the yeast mixture, beaten egg, and softened butter, then continue mixing until you see a dough starting to form.
- Switch to the dough hook attachment and continue mixing until you get a smooth dough.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl.
- Cover with a clean kitchen cloth and set aside for about 90 minutes, or until it doubles in size.
Forming and baking chocolate chip rolls:
- Uncover the dough and punch it in the middle to deflate.
- Transfer the dough to a flat surface and use a rolling pin to flatten it into about 12-inch x 9-inch in size — it's completely fine if the shape is not perfect.
- Scatter most of the chocolate chips (leave 2 tablespoons for later) on top of the dough.
- Roll the chocolate buns dough into a log, starting from the longer end, then divide it into 12 equal portions.
- Form each portion into a roll, then place it on top of a baking tray lined with a baking sheet. Make sure you leave enough space between each bun.
- Place the remaining chocolate chips on top of each bun.
- Cover the chocolate chip buns with the kitchen towel and set aside for at least 30 minutes, just enough time for the dough to puff up a bit.
- When the chocolate bread rolls are almost ready, preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Prepare the egg wash by combining the remaining egg with two tablespoons of milk.
- Uncover the chocolate chip buns and brush each one with the egg wash.
- Place the chocolate buns in the middle of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until they turned golden.
- Set aside for at least 10 minutes to cool, then serve.
Notes
- Cook’s Tip #1: Add a bit more flour if you feel the dough is too wet — it should be on the soft side but not sticky.
- Cook’s Tip #2: Try to work fast once you’ve added the chocolate chips into the dough. You will notice that the chocolate bleeds (although they will definitely not melt) into the dough, especially if you are in a warm place.
- Cook’s Tip #3: The dough for this chocolate chip buns recipe is quite simple to handle; easy to knead by hand when you don’t have a stand mixer.
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