Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
Yesterday for Valentine’s Day I treated myself to a Target shopping spree. This was the worse thing I could do for my wallet but it was fun. I walked away with such necessities as nail polish (Essie’s Fishnet Stocking. Love it!), 2 DVDs (Perks of Being a Wallflower and Juno. I couldn’t decide, they were both on sale!!) and the Ed Sheeran CD. Because I love him. Hey! We all need to treat ourselves a little on the day of love.
Besides unnecessary shopping trips, what are your plans for tonight? Staying in? Going out? Do tell! I will be doing what ever person should be doing on Valentine’s Day- smuggling food into a zombie movie. oh yes! Nothing says ‘I love you’ like watching the undead eat brains. Yes please! Possible Valentine’s Day treats being smuggled in? Chocolate covered popcorn (I’ll try and post the recipe tonight) and Wild Berry skittles (aka, the best kind!). I, of course, will not be smuggling in a pomagranite margarita even though it’s pink and boozy and perfect for this holiday. That would be illegal. So, of course, I’m not doing it…
ANYWAY! I told you I was going to try and squeeze just one more recipe in here for you and here it is! I don’t know what to call these things. The original recipe called them “cinnamon” rolls but that just doesn’t work for me. They are sort of assembled like cinnamon rolls, except for the whole shaped-like-a-heart thing. They are bright red and super rich smothered in chocolate hazelnut spread and cream cheese frosting but oh so good! I will take suggestions on names cause “breakfast Rolls” aint cutting it. And “Nutella rolls” is just kind of ‘meh’.
Red Velvet Nutella Rolls
veganized from Yammie’s Noshery
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (2 packets) active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 bottles red gel food coloring (1 oz. each)
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted Earth Balance (or other vegan) butter (but not too hot)
- 1/4 cup oil
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup of chocolate hazelnut spread, like Justin’s or Nutella
In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the sugar, yeast, water, food coloring, butter, and oil and just give it a few gentle stirs with a spoon to incorporate. Let sit for about five minutes.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. With your mixer on its lowest setting and using your generic mixing paddle, add about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all the flour is combined, remove the paddle, put your dough hook on and knead your dough for about 5 more minutes.
Put dough in a greased bowl and cover in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until doubled in volume. (my apartment is so cold that my new trick is to turn my oven on to 400 degrees for 1 minute. The turn it off complete and put my dough in the oven, covered with a towel. It worked great for me!)
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Roll the dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. It should be about 1 foot by 1 1/2 feet or so (don’t worry about being exact). Spread on the chocolate hazelnut spread (if it’s not soft enough, you can warm some up in the microwave a little to make it easier).
Slice the dough into strips (about 1 inch wide or so). Roll the edges of each strip towards each other and then pinch the bottom to make into a heart shape.
Place the spirals on a well greased baking sheet. Allow to rise at least five more minutes. Bake at 375º for about 9-11 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe below).
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces softened vegan or organic cream cheese
1/2 cup softened vegan butter, such as Earth Balance
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
Beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Add the sugar, 1 cup at a time until well combined. Spread over cinnamon rolls. Drizzle with more Nutella if desired.
Nothing says I love you like carbs dripping with chocolate and frosting. YUM! Hope you have a great day!
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