Matcha Spelt Rolls with Bittersweet Chocolate Filling and Almond Icing
Posted by Celine on February 29, 2008
folks, this is it: I just bit into one of these and there’s no coming back. I had the opportunity to take a great inside shot but my stomach ruled that my teeth were in too big a hurry to have more. [say what?]
quick sidenote regarding the matcha powder: I know it can be either extremely hard to find sometimes, or very expensive. and sometimes even both! so don’t worry if you end up having to make these without, they’ll be perfectly edible too when matcha-less.
remember to have all ingredients at room temperature, to measure everything carefully [such as: don't scoop the flour but spoon and level it!], and to check this out if you don’t have a bread machine.
for 5 rolls:
3/4 cups unsweetened soy milk [although any soy milk or other milk alternative will do]
2 T margarine, softened
2 1/4 cups + 3 T light spelt flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 t sea salt
2 t matcha green tea powder
2 t bread machine yeast
for later:
1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate [I buy mine from Trader Joe's, one of them huge scrumptious bars they sell for cheap]
place all ingredients [except for the chocolate chunks!] in your bread machine following manufacturer’s instructions, set machine on DOUGH. let the machine work its magic while you go do your thing.
line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. preheat oven to 375F.
remove DOUGH, I mean, dough from the machine, place it on your Silpat and punch it down. divide into 5. flatten each part a bit, place chopped chocolate on top, and fold the dough over the chocolate, re-shaping the dough into balls. cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 30 minutes.
place in oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown on top and hollow-sounding when the bottom is tapped.
let cool on a rack before icing.
for the icing:
1/4 t pure almond extract
1/2 cup icing [powdered] sugar
as much unsweetened soy milk [or other milk alternative] as you need for the icing to be rather thick and stick to the back of your spoon: just add a few droplets at a time to avoid a complete disaster.
mix all ingredients together in a small bowl, stirring vigorously to remove lumps. pour or spread on top of your rolls. bite into one and have your eyes roll in the back of your head. or don’t, whatever.
Mom sacrificed her hard-earned roll for me to take an inside shot. thanks, Ma!
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 [...]
February 29, 2008 at 9:54 pm
OMG! That is amazing…pure nirvana, I bet that was.
PS-Inside shot, soon I hope? ;-)
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.
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.
March 1, 2008 at 12:14 am
Those look amazing! Incredible, really. Definatly on the “to make” shortlist!
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~~~~
March 1, 2008 at 1:08 am
Wow those sound and look quite tasty and unique!
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.
March 1, 2008 at 3:35 am
holy crap. what a gorgeous recipe.
March 1, 2008 at 7:07 am
oh, man! oh, man. oh…..man.
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!
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…
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.
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!
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.
March 2, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Love the combination, they look amazing!
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!
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.
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 [...]
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).
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.
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.
March 13, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Cool blog!i love recipes with matcha powder!keep up the gook work,nice pictures too!
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 [...]