Betcha you want that Matcha
Apparently, these delicious rolls are a huge hit at a teahouse in New Zealand, where they are being sold. How’s that for an awesome endorsement?
Matcha Spelt Rolls with Bittersweet Chocolate Filling and Almond Icing
For the rolls:
3/4 cup (180 ml) plain soy or other nondairy milk, heated to 100°F (38°C)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup (48 g) Sucanat
2 1/2 cups (300 g) light spelt flour
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 teaspoons matcha green tea powder
2 tablespoons (28 g) nondairy butter
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 teaspoon canola oil, to coat the bowl
1/3 cup (58 g) chopped nondairy bittersweet chocolate
For the icing:
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons plain soy or other nondairy milk, more if needed
To make the rolls: In a medium bowl, combine milk, yeast, and Sucanat. Let stand for about 10 minutes: it should foam and bubble up. If it doesn’t, start all over again since your yeast might not be fresh.
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and matcha powder.
Add butter on top. Stir extract into yeast mixture.
Stir wet ingredients into dry.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and pliable, adding more flour, a little at a time, if the dough is too wet. Shape into a ball.
Lightly coat a large bowl with oil, turn dough around to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, 60 to 90 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or silicone baking mat, such as Silpat.
Punch down dough. Divide into six equal portions.
Divide chopped chocolate into six equal portions, placing each in the center of each piece of dough.
Fold dough over chocolate. Shape into rolls. Place on prepared baking sheet, loosely covering with plastic wrap. Let rise for 40 minutes.
Twenty minutes before the rolls are done rising, preheat oven to 375°F (190°C, or gas mark 5).
Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until the rolls are golden brown and sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. Let cool on a wire rack before adding icing.To make the icing: Combine extract and sugar in a small bowl, slowly adding milk: the icing needs to be rather thick and stick to the back of a spoon. Stir vigorously to remove lumps.
Drizzle or spread on top of each roll.
Yield: 6 rolls
Recipe Index « have cake, will travel! said,
February 29, 2008 at 9:09 pm
[...] Matcha Spelt Rolls with Bittersweet Chocolate Filling and Almond Icing Lemon Rolls with Rosewater Filling Banana Rolls with Coconut Pecan Filling Peanut Butter Granola Banana Pumpkin Quiche Almond Granola Blackberry Crumble With Almond Cream Muffins and Tea Breads [...]
ashmacaroon said,
February 29, 2008 at 9:54 pm
OMG! That is amazing…pure nirvana, I bet that was.
PS-Inside shot, soon I hope? ;-)
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Melisser said,
February 29, 2008 at 10:57 pm
This sounds SO amazing! In Japan, there’s many savory rolls filled with chocolate. They are SO good.
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Celine said,
February 29, 2008 at 11:51 pm
your wish is my command, Ash! [aka I edited the post with an inside shot]
Melisser: did you see the latest VegNews? [or is it Veg Times...I can never tell the diff since I get both at the same time!]
there’s a crapload of recipes by Robin Robertson using chocolate in savory recipes, and it’s absolutely droolworthy.
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Anna/Village Vegan said,
March 1, 2008 at 12:14 am
Those look amazing! Incredible, really. Definatly on the “to make” shortlist!
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Liz² said,
March 1, 2008 at 12:55 am
all right, that’s it, I don’t need fresh vegetables when I go shopping next, I need MATCHA. Those sound worth any sacrifice! :o~~~~
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Ashley said,
March 1, 2008 at 1:08 am
Wow those sound and look quite tasty and unique!
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erica said,
March 1, 2008 at 2:46 am
Let’s just say someone who doesn’t own a bread machine or just lost the paddle to their’s wants to knead the dough by hand, roughly how long should one knead?
my husband will go crazy over these, he loves chocolate filled anything. thank you celine for this latest recipe post.
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trina said,
March 1, 2008 at 3:35 am
holy crap. what a gorgeous recipe.
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jess said,
March 1, 2008 at 7:07 am
oh, man! oh, man. oh…..man.
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Celine said,
March 1, 2008 at 1:26 pm
erica: anywhere from 5-10 minutes, basically until the dough is soft and smooth, not too sticky.
and thank you for the kind comments!
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Anna/Village Vegan said,
March 1, 2008 at 3:50 pm
boohoo I went to two Asian shops today and couldn’t find matcha anywhere! Did you make these rolls in CH? Were you able to buy matcha there? Maybe it’s sold in the same kind of store in CH as in DE, and I’m just not looking in the right place…
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Celine said,
March 1, 2008 at 4:25 pm
oh poop, Anna! no I made these here in the States. I think I remember mom saying she could find it there in CH, but for a lot of moolah. she says she finds it at a tea-seller’s shop. fingers crossed for you to find it, but in case you don’t, these rolls would be fine without it too. it doesn’t make that huge a difference, really.
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Jackie said,
March 1, 2008 at 6:54 pm
This is possibly the most drool-inducing thing I’ve ever seen. I love simple bread & chocolate. I have all the ingredients already, will make these tomorrow!
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BitterSweet said,
March 1, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Oh my god, Celine, you’re killing me! If only I could get home to my oven… Augh, they sound heavenly!! Matcha is truly my weakness, you see.
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brilynn said,
March 2, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Love the combination, they look amazing!
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ruby red vegan said,
March 2, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Holy crap, those look amazing! So pillowy and wonderful. I’ve never seen a roll with chocolate inside, but that’s my kind of roll!
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Bonnie said,
March 3, 2008 at 12:40 am
I’ve never had matcha and I really haven’t got a clue what it tastes like, but I think I would love this roll. The glaze on the upper picture is beeauutiful.
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Cooking with Tea: Ya-Ya’s Organic Apple Jelly with Rose Oolong | Ya-Ya’s Tea-Board said,
March 9, 2008 at 4:36 am
[...] come across this wonderful recipe for Matcha Spelt Rolls with Bittersweet Chocolate last week. Of course, I’ve given it a try and must say they are delicious. Those of you who [...]
Jo said,
March 9, 2008 at 5:42 am
Hi Celine,
I’ve found this recipe last week and set out to make it yesterday. I was very happy with the results and thought I’d drop you a note about it.
We own a small teahouse in New Zealand and therefore, Matcha is always available. I brought some of these rolls into the teahouse today and it was a big hit. I’m sure I’ll make them again.
When reading through your recipe, I noticed a few things. First, from what I gather from your blog, you are cooking vegan. If you want to make these rolls vegan, you have to be careful to use vegan chocolate. It’s a common misconception that dark chocolate (the kind without milk) is automatically vegan. The sugar used in chocolate can be but is not necessarily vegan. A lot of sugar is produced using bone char for charcoal during the filtering process of cane sugar (for more info, see here). So make sure you use vegan chocolate (Green & Black makes a good vegan chocolate).
Also, these rolls are not just a sweet treat. They are actually quite an interesting mix of savory (from the salt & Matcha) and sweet (chocolate & glaze). I personally think that the amount of salt you quote is a tad much, but that’s rather personal taste.
I also love the combination of Matcha and dark chocolate, you should try a hot chocolate (melt your own, high quality chocolate) with Matcha. It’s divine and our customers love it.
I hope you don’t mind that I linked your recipe from my latest blog entry with a recipe for Organic Apple Jelly with Rose Oolong. I think some of our readers could be quite interested in your recipes.
Thanks for this recipe and for writing this beautiful blog (I love the pictures).
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Celine said,
March 9, 2008 at 1:08 pm
this is great, Jo! I’m glad these rolls are getting some success all the way in NZ too. :)
yes, I’ve been vegan for over 3 years so I’m definitely aware of the “perils” of finding adequate sugar and chocolate. and thank you for posting a link to the recipe on your blog, which I find quite awesome if I may say.
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sm said,
March 11, 2008 at 2:36 pm
These are fantastic! A friend brought me back from Japan some really good matcha and, although I love to drink it, I’ve been meaning to try it out as a flavouring ingredient. Plus, I’ve been wanted to experiment more with spelt and this gave me the perfect opportunity. They are perfect for breakfast with a soy milk latte! I think these rolls would also work well with a marzipan filling (especially with the almond icing). In short, the recipe is great and I appreciate that it makes only 5.
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ninaki said,
March 13, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Cool blog!i love recipes with matcha powder!keep up the gook work,nice pictures too!
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Giving some love back to my favorite bread « have cake, will travel! said,
April 24, 2008 at 6:37 pm
[...] and make it into buns/bread rolls, throwing a little piece of dark chocolate in its center à la matcha spelt rolls. another variation? knead in 1/2 cup of chocolate chunks or chips when starting the process of [...]
Kristi said,
December 14, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I am a Matcha addict…. Keiko is my top brand. Our local health food store just started carrying Matcha….but I’m spoiled because we have a Tea and Wine Library…where we get a variety of Matcha’s…even had a Matcha day where we made Latte’s and Smoothies! Mmmmm!
The recipe looks amazing! Looking forward to creating it!
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Misao Kiley said,
April 4, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I began making this recipe in the morning, and just finished baking it this evening! It is so delicious! Everything turned out great- perfect recipe!
Also, I didn’t have any matcha, and didn’t feel like hunting some down at the health store, and so instead I used an oraganic green tea by Numi. I doubled the recipe, so I used two tea bags- just tore and dumped it in. It turned out so well!
Thank you for posting and sharing! ^^
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Celine Reply:
April 4th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
this is great news, thanks Misao!
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