Chocolate Walnut Cinnamon Buns

I used to make these often when my son was in school. The twinkle in his eye as he would assemble the whole dessert gleefully would make my day. 

He would put a large scoop of ice cream and then pour oodles of homemade chocolate syrup before digging in. 

I stopped making these once he left for college. 

When I was asked by Plattershare to review Kalya brand of cocoa powder and showcase some recipes using it, the first thought that came to my mind was to recreate these chocolate walnut Cinnamon Buns. 

Irony is that my not so young son is coming back home in two days time. Hoping to see the same twinkle in his eyes. 

Ingredients

For the filling

Butter                     50 gms

Brown sugar          50 gms

Walnuts                  50gms chopped finely

Cinnamon pd         1 tsp

For the buns

Flour                      185 gms

Cocoa pd                18 gms

Brown sugar          15 gms

Baking pd              1 tsp

Cinnamon pd         1/2 tsp

Butter                     15 gms chilled

Milk                       100 ml

Banana                   1 small.

Method

Filling

• Beat butter and Cinnamon pd till creamy.
• Add sugar and beat till light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes.
• Mix in the walnuts.
• Keep it aside.
• Do not refrigerate.

For the buns

• Take a six inch round pan. Line the base with a parchment paper.
• Grease and dust with flour.
• Churn banana and milk in a blender.
• Strain it and keep it aside.
• Take all the dry ingredients and whizz them in a food processor.
• Cut butter into small cubes and add it to the flour mixture.
• Churn again to evenly distribute the butter through the flour.
• Take it out into a bowl.
• Now slowly add the banana milk mixture and using the tips of your fingers bring together the flour.
• If it feels dry add a tsp of water at a time.
• I used 1 tbsp water.
• Dust a parchment sheet with some cocoa powder and place the dough ball on it.
• Cover with another parchment sheet.
• Using a  rolling pin, roll it out into a 12 by 10 inch rectangle.
• This will require some patience.
• Spread the filling evenly all over.
• Now  with the widest end facing you, roll up the dough away from you so that it resembles a Swiss roll.
• Using a very sharp knife or a bench scraper cut the roll into six equal parts.
• Place the buns, cut side up in the prepared tin with very little gap between them.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
• Now reduce the temperature to 180 degrees celsius and bake them for 20-25 minutes.
• Mine took 25 minutes.
• If you have a bread thermometer, then check, their internal temperature should read 190 degrees fahrenheit.
• Remove the pan to a wire rack.
• After ten minutes carefully remove them to a serving platter.
• Enjoy them plain with coffee or serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and a drizzle of homemade chocolate syrup. 

Note : you can easily double the recipe.