My Sweet Italian Maritozzi are a very popular treat. What’s not to love? It’s a sweetened dough with whipped cream filling it. I’m a vanilla girl, but I know I’m in the minority. Of course I had to make a chocolate maritozzi!
Chocolate bread is somewhat difficult to achieve. Cocoa powder is unsweetened, and it’s sort of the magic of sugar and the cocoa together that makes it taste like chocolate. However, we can’t put too much sugar in dough or it won’t rise properly. It’s a balance. So this dough is rich in chocolate color and a little light on the chocolate punch, so it’s filled with chocolate whipped cream. Now, if you’re like me, I say go with traditional whipped cream. Either way, they will be delicious!
I love how beautiful these are. They are real showstoppers in looks, but it’s really not that difficult to make them. The dough does take a little extra time from all the fat in it, but that also helps make them extra soft and tender.
I have made these chocolate maritozzi turning them into 8 rolls – those were jumbo! As well as with 10 and 12. However, I think you could probably split this even into 16 buns and still have them be more than mini. I wouldn’t fill the buns until you are ready to eat them. Even stabilized whipped cream won’t keep as long as the buns do, so just keep the whipped cream in the fridge and fill as needed.
Baking Tip
When you’re making the whipped cream, I would recommend sifting the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. If you really can’t be bothered to do both, at least do the cocoa powder. Will it work if you don’t? Yes. But you may end up with bits or streaks of cocoa powder that weren’t incorporated when you spread the filling.
Chocolate Maritozzi Key Ingredients
- Bread Flour – Too much fat makes it tough for your dough to form gluten and rise. These chocolate maritozzi benefit greatly using bread flour for it’s strength.
- Cocoa powder – Dutch process cocoa powder is less bitter than regular, and adds a little bit more oomph to the chocolate flavor. You can’t use tons of cocoa powder in the dough without inhibiting the yeast so you want to pack as much flavor as possible in any means necessary. We also will use cocoa powder in the whipped cream.
- Oil – This is a fat that will help soften the bread. I chose oil over butter for both ease of incorporation but also to not take away from the chocolate flavor. Use a neutral oil like vegetable oil.
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Ingredients
Dough
- 250 g AP Flour 2 cups + 2 tbsp
- 240 g Bread Flour 2 cups
- 2½ tsp Instant yeast
- 75 g Granulated sugar generous ⅓ cup
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tbsp Vanilla
- 2 large Eggs room temperature
- 240 g Whole or 2% milk 1 cup, warm ~95°F
- ¼ cup Neutral oil Vegetable/Canola
- 28 g Dutch process cocoa powder ¼ cup
Egg Wash
- 1 large Egg
- 1 tbsp Whole or 2% milk
Whipped Cream Filling
- 2 cups Heavy whipping cream cold
- ⅔ cup Powdered sugar sifted
- 4 tbsp Cocoa Powder sifted
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer with dough hook attached. Knead dough on low until smooth. Dough will still be slightly sticky, sticking to the bottom but not the sides of the bowl.
- Place dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow to rise for about 1-2 hours or when dough has doubled in size.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set Aside.
- Remove dough from bowl and use a knife or bench cutter to cut into 8-12 equal size pieces. Weighing will help you get equal size buns, but is not necessary if you don't mind the buns not being exactly uniform in size.
- Shape each piece of dough into a ball. Gently flatten the dough in your hand and then fold the sides into the center, pinching them together. Place the seam side down onto your workspace and gently cup hand over dough. Move your hand in a circular motion until dough has formed a ball.
- Place all dough balls onto baking sheet and cover. Let rise for about 30 minutes to1 hour until they have puffed up.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together egg and milk.
- When buns have risen, brush with egg wash before placing in oven.
- Bake for about 16 minutes on center rack. Because the buns are chocolate the browning level will be difficult to see. If you tap on the bottom of the buns they should sound hollow.
- Place baked buns on a wire cooling rack to cool.
- While buns are cooling, pour cream, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and pinch of salt into bowl and whisk until medium-stiff peaks form. Chill whipped cream.
- After buns have come to room temperature, slice down the middle but not all the way through the bun. You want to be able to open them to fill but not split apart (sort of like a hot dog bun).
- Fill the buns with whipped cream. I find using a piping bag easiest but it is not necessary. After it is filled, run a knife or offset spatula over the top of the bun to smooth out the whipped cream, leaving it flush with the surface of the bread.
- Sprinkle the tops lightly with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Notes
- Any type of orange is fine. I have used both naval oranges and blood oranges and both were great.
- If you do not have fiori di sicilia I would substitute 1/2 tsp of orange or lemon extract and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. However, the fiori di sicilia has a really wonderfully unique taste that I would recommend purchasing. I use it in lots of things in lieu of vanilla for a really bright citrusy vanilla test.
- I personally prefer to only fill buns I plan on eating fairly soon. Filled buns need to be stored in the refrigerator which will most likely dry out the bread slightly. Non filled buns should be stored in an airtight container.
- In addition to the whipped cream, these are also great if you add jam and/or berries with it. I have layered in lemon curd and topped with raspberries as well which was equally delicious.
