Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Rolls

Sunday mornings are always special at our house. Since we moved to Oklahoma our church services haven't started until late morning or early afternoon, so we've taken the opportunity to have a special family breakfast on Sundays. It almost always includes scrambled eggs (for nutrition and protein) and sometimes it includes something sinfully delicious and terribly fattening - like my cinnamon rolls. I recently started using brown sugar instead of white sugar in this recipe, and it makes for a much tastier filling.

This past Sunday we also decided to try something new: chocolate flavored icing.


Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Rolls

1/3 recipe Best Homemade Bread or 1 loaf of uncooked bread dough
1/4 c. butter or margerine
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon


Chocolate Icing

1 c. powdered sugar
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3 Tbsp milk


On a lightly floured surface, roll out bread dough into a large rectangle. (The taller the rectangle, the more "swirls" you have in your cinnamon rolls. The longer the rectangle, the more cinnamon rolls you will have.)











Melt butter in small bowl. Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon.











Spread melted butter evenly across the top of the bread dough, making sure to get near the edges. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly on top of the melted butter.













Starting from one of the long sides, roll the bread dough up into a long cylinder.











Using a long piece of string or dental floss, cut cinnamon rolls about an inch thick by sliding the string under the bread dough and crossing it over the top. Then pull until it slices off a cinnamon roll.


(This photo from of www.ourbestbites.com - it was much better than mine!)







Place cinnamon rolls in a greased 9x13 pan. Be sure to leave space between rolls so they have room to grow.











Let rise until double (about 1-2 hours).

Tip: If making these for breakfast, you can prepare the cinnamon rolls the night before, cover lightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. They will rise slowly overnight and be perfect for baking in the morning.











Bake at 400 for 20 minutes to 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top.











While cinnamon rolls are baking, combine powdered sugar and cocoa in a small bowl. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time until the icing is drizzling consistency.











After removing cinnamon rolls from oven, and while the cinnamon rolls are still hot, drop the icing in spoonfuls on the cinnamon rolls. The heat from the cinnamon rolls will melt the icing.











Once the icing is softened, spread it with a knife until the cinnamon rolls are covered completely. Serve and enjoy!