Matcha Chocolate Cinnamon Scrolls

If there's anything at all that my Mum requests for every single time she visits us, it's my infamous cinnamon rolls. So when my parents were in town a few weeks ago, I made them some scrolls.

And as you all know, I am crazily in love with matcha at the moment and as it seems, I am matchafying everything, so of course there is no exception for my cinnamon rolls too.

This idea for a matcha chocolate cinnamon scroll creeped into my head as I was rolling out the dough. I was thinking, "Hmmm, it'd be really nice if it was all matcha-y and green!"

I did a quick google search and could not find any recipe out there that's similar to the idea that I had in mind, so I set out to come up with a recipe of my own. And VOILA - The Bakeanista's very own matcha chocolate cinnamon scrolls! ;)

The first time I baked them to test the recipe, I did not take any photos. As it was really good and we all loved it a lot (I received stamps of approval from The Brudder and The SIL who requested for moreeeee), I decided to make another batch and this time I made sure to photograph them. ;)

As this is an original recipe by yours truly, I also wanted to note that I did test the recipe twice, adjusting it ever so slightly the second time around and came up with this final version that I hope you will enjoy! :)

Matcha Chocolate Cinnamon Scrolls
Original recipe by The Bakeanista

Ingredients for dough:

• 300g plain flour, plus more for dusting work surface
• 100g bread flour
• 2 tbsp matcha powder
• 50g sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 14g yeast
• 40g unsalted butter, melted
• 200ml milk
• 1 egg
• 1 egg for glazing

Ingredients for filling:

• 80g butter
• 70g brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp matcha
• 15g dark choc, chopped finely

Method:

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer and set aside.
   
2. Chop chocolate until fine and set aside.
3. In another clean bowl, melt butter and milk over double boiler, then let butter mixture cool down before beating in the eggs. Alternatively you could zap the mixture in the microwave in 3 sets of 15 seconds, until the butter has melted altogether.
4. Add butter mixture from (3) into (1) and knead with dough hook.
5. Knead until well-combined, and check to ensure that the dough has reached windowpane stage then form into a ball and cover with a clean and slightly damp kitchen towel.
6. Set aside in a relatively warm place for 30-40 minutes to allow the dough to rise.
   
   
   
7. Prepare the filling 30 minutes into the proofing time. Mix the softened butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add in cinnamon powder, then sift in cocoa and matcha powder, and continue mixing until well combined and mixture resembles wet sand.
8. Preheat the oven to 220°C and grease two 8" inch square baking tray generously with butter. I lined with a layer of aluminium foil so there's less to wash then grease the foil with butter. ;)
   
   
   
9. The dough by now would have risen to the top of the bowl. Remove the kitchen towel and punch down the dough. Turn the punched dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, for about 1 minute. Divide the dough into two equal portions. My dough worked out to be 700g in total, so I had two portions of 350g.
   
   
10. Roll out one portion of the dough into a rectangular shape then sprinkle the dough evenly with the brown sugar filling. Press the filling firmly into the dough and scatter half of the chopped chocolate pieces generously. (I did add more after the photo was taken btw)
11. Using a bench scraper or spatula, loosen the dough from the work surface. Starting at a long side, roll the dough away from you, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. 
    
    
12. Pinch the seam to seal. Roll the log seam-side down and cut it evenly into 9 pieces.
    
    
    
13. Turn the pieces over on their flat sides and arrange them on the baking tray. Using your hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal the open edges and keep the filling in place.
14. Brush with egg wash then cover the baking tray with a kitchen towel and set aside to let dough rise on the countertop for at least 15 minutes before baking. Repeat with remaining dough.
15. Remove the towel and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. 
16. Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove and place scrolls on a wire rack. 

Enjoy whilst still warm, for they are the BEST fresh out of the oven! ;)

The rolls smelt really matcha-y prior to baking, but as the chocolate melted during the baking process, it did end up being a little more chocolatey that it is matcha-y after baking.

Still very delicious regardless, but if you want it stronger in matcha flavour, I recommend upping it from 2 tbsp to 3 tbsp of matcha powder in the dough instead. I'm planning to do that the next time I make this recipe again, which I can foresee will be very soon!

As usual I used Zen Wonders organic culinary grade Shizen. For those keen to try, Zen Wonders is offering an exclusive 10% off the total bill across all products for The Bakeanista's friends. Just enter "BAKENSTA" at check out. ;)