In honor of our first book club selection – The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult – I couldn’t resist trying these chocolate cinnamon buns of hers! 

I love to bake. Normally it’s kind of relaxing for me, a stress reliever if you must. But I have to admit – these chocolate cinnamon buns almost did me in. All thanks the one small ingredient – the yeast. I should know better. Yeast and I rarely get along and I normally need to fortify myself before I attempt any recipes with this one ingredient. The yeast I had in my fridge was apparently old – it hadn’t yet expired, but no matter what I did or how many times I tried, it wouldn’t ‘foam’ at the top like it should have. So I dragged myself to the store to buy another. Which did the same thing. After my fourth attempt – it worked. Note to self – temperature is important when it comes to water.

My favorite part of this recipe was the crumbly chocolate-cinnamon mixture. I had to hand shave the chocolate (food processor out of commission) but it was worth it. I bought sweet chocolate (so yummy to lick off my fingers) and added a tad bit more cinnamon. 

Here what it looks like when sprinkled on the rolled out dough (except I don’t have a rolling pin so I used my fingers)

Using muffin tins is perfect for these! Sprinkle some extra crumb mixture on top of the buns if you want. And trust me, you’ll want to 🙂

Here they are – fresh out of the oven. Their smell is amazing and my oldest daughter has now instructed that I am no longer allowed to buy cinnamon buns from the store but must make them from scratch from now on. Apparently, Jodi Picoult – you have fabulous recipes!

I ended up making 4 batches. Two were chocolate cinnamon and 2 were just regular cinnamon (same directions, mix the butter, sugar with cinnamon – don’t add the chocolate). I actually can’t say which is my favorite. They both taste delicious and yes – despite my issues with the yeast – I will be making this recipe again.