Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Buns

This month the Daring Bakers kept our creativity rolling with cinnamon bun inspired treats. Shelley from C Mom Cook dared us to create our own dough and fill it with any filling we wanted to craft tasty rolled treats, cinnamon not required!

I've been making a  few different variations  on the cinnamon roll theme in the last month.  We loved, and have made quite a few times now....the Huckleberry and lemon sweet rolls, and more recently a batch filled with a jam of peach, pear and orange brandy.  Today....since it's been a while since we've done actual cinnamon buns...so that's what I did.  Only slightly modified with the addition of poudre douce, and chocolate chips.  Over all pretty happy with the outcome.

Over time, I've modified the dough recipe I use and have upped the liquid amount and moved away from the use of melted shortening to using vegetable oil.  The dough is very moist and easy to work with  due to the added oil and rises to a nice airy bun once baked.  We've also made some savoury options and presented the rolls as a twisted loaf rather than buns like with this Cheddar and Thai Chilli twisted loaf .  Other good savoury combinations are Cheddar and Marmite, and Spinach and feta.

Dough
1 1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vinegar
4 cups flour
2 tsp instant yeast
I add all of the above to my bread machine and let it make the dough for me.  once the dough is ready I roll it out to a rectangle 30 inches by 12 inches and spread with filling,.

This batch is filled with 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp poudre douce, 1/3 cup chocolate chips and a pinch of salt.

Rollup to make a 30 inch long log and slice into 24 equal pieces placing 12 in a 9X 13 pan.  Let rise in a warm draft free place until double in size.  Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes until rolls are nicely browned and near 200F internal temp.

While rolls are still hot from the oven mix a glaze of 1 1/2 cup icing sugar, 2 Tbsp melted butter, 1 tsp vanilla and enough milk (3-6 Tbsp) to make a pourable glaze.  Mix until smooth and pour over still hot rolls.