Triple-Chocolate Sticky Buns (ATK)

• servings: 12

Ingredients

FLOUR PASTE

⅔ cup whole milk

¼ cup (1½ ounces) all-purpose flour

DOUGH

⅔ cup whole milk

1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

3 1/4 cups (16½ ounces) all-purpose flour

2¼ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1½ teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and softened

TOPPING

¾ cup packed (5¼ ounces) brown sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup dark corn syrup

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon salt

FILLING

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup (6 ounces) milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. FOR THE FLOUR PASTE: Whisk milk and flour in small bowl until no lumps remain. Microwave, whisking every 25 seconds, until mixture thickens to stiff paste, 50 to 75 seconds. Whisk until smooth.

2. FOR THE DOUGH: In bowl of stand mixer, whisk flour paste and milk until smooth. Add egg and yolk and whisk until incorporated. Add flour and yeast. Fit mixer with dough hook and mix on low speed until mass of dough forms and all flour is moistened, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off mixer, cover bowl with dish towel or plastic wrap, and let dough stand for 15 minutes.

3. Add sugar and salt to dough. Knead on medium-low speed for 5 minutes. Add butter and continue to knead until incorporated, scraping down dough hook and bowl as needed (dough will be sticky), about 5 minutes longer.

4. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form ball. Transfer, seam side down, to greased large bowl, cover tightly with plastic, and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

5. FOR THE TOPPING: Meanwhile, whisk all ingredients in bowl until combined. Spray 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Pour topping into prepared pan and use rubber spatula to spread to edges of lower-middle positions and heat oven pan; set aside.

6. FOR THE FILLING: About 30 minutes before dough is done ris- ing, microwave bittersweet chocolate and butter in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until melted and combined, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until matte and firm, 30 to 40 minutes.

7. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and lightly flour top of dough. Roll and stretch dough to form 18 by 15-inch rectangle with long side parallel to counter's edge. Stir bittersweet chocolate mixture with rubber spatula until smooth and spreadable (mixture should have similar texture to frosting). Using offset spatula, spread mixture over entire surface of dough, leaving 1-inch border along top edge. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips.

8. Beginning with long edge nearest you, loosely roll dough away from you into even log, pushing in ends to create even thickness. Pinch seam to seal. Roll log seam side down and slice into 12 equal portions. Place buns, cut side down, in prepared pan in 3 rows of four, lightly reshaping buns into circles as needed. Cover tightly with plastic and let rise until buns are puffy and touching one another, about 1 hour.

9. Adjust oven racks to lowest and use rubber spatula to spread to edges of lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Place rimmed baking sheet on lower rack to catch any drips. Discard plastic and bake buns on upper rack until golden brown on top, about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with alu- minum foil and continue to bake until center buns register at least 200 de- grees, about 15 minutes longer. 10. Carefully remove foil from pan (steam may escape) and immediately run paring knife around edge of pan. Place large platter or second rimmed baking sheet over pan and carefully invert pan and sheet. Remove pan and let buns cool for 15 minutes. Serve.

TO MAKE AHEAD

Follow recipe through step 8, then refrigerate buns for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, let buns sit on counter for 30 minutes before proceeding with step 9. Increase uncovered baking time by 10 minutes.

Notes

These buns take about 4 hours to make. One packet of rapid-rise or instant yeast contains 2¼ teaspoons of yeast. Be sure to use a metal, not glass or ceramic, baking pan. The tackiness of the dough aids in flattening and stretching it in step 7, so resist the urge to use a lot of dusting flour. Rolling the dough cylinder too tightly in step 8 will result in misshapen rolls. Buns baked according to the make-ahead instructions will be shorter than buns baked after the second proofing.

Key Steps to the Best Buns

1. Microwave mixture of flour and milk to make stiff paste.

2. Add paste to more milk, egg, yeast, and flour in mixer. When dough forms, wait 15 minutes, then add sugar and salt.

3. Roll dough into 18 by 15-inch rectangle. Spread bittersweet chocolate filling over top. Sprinkle with milk chocolate chips.

4. Carefully roll dough into even log, then pinch seam to seal. Position log seam side down on counter.

5. Cut log into 12 equal portions and place buns, cut side down, on top of caramel topping in pan. Let rise.

6. Bake buns. Run knife around edge of pan, cover with rimmed baking sheet, and carefully invert. Let cool and serve.

Good Things Come in Threes, Including Chocolate Could we have simply added some cocoa powder to the dough or drizzled some melted chocolate over the top of these buns and called it a day? Sure-if we didn't care about making a knockout recipe. After testing every kind of chocolate in each component, we ended up keeping the bun dough chocolate-free, but we added cocoa powder to the caramel topping, based the filling on bittersweet chocolate, and then sprinkled milk chocolate chips on top of that. The result is a multifaceted, complex chocolate flavor that contributes to these buns' status as a mind-blowing treat. Chocolate lovers will certainly not be disappointed.