Chinese Five-Spice Sweet Rolls

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Asian Fusion

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 25

proof te dough twice: 2

Total Time: 2 45

Servings: rolls

Calories: 314kcal

Author: Marvellina

Soft and fluffy rolls filled with aromatic Chinese five-spice sugar filling and simple and delicious frosting. The rolls are tasty without being cloyingly sweet and sinful. They are perfect to start the day or to accompany afternoon tea or coffee.

Print Recipe

US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Ingredients

Dough:

57 g unsalted butter melted
85 g plain whole milk yogurt
25 g water or more as needed
1 ¼ tsp instant yeast
30 g sugar
50 g egg
280 g all-purpose flour
4 g salt

Filling:

85 g coconut sugar
1 Tbsp Chinese five-spice powder
40 g unsalted butter it needs to be very soft
Small pinch of salt

Frosting:

56 g unsalted butter softened
60 g powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
Milk as needed, you can use water too

Instructions

Prepare the dough:

Melt the butter over low heat and let it cool down to at least lukewarm so it won't kill the yeast.
In a bowl of a standmixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add all the ingredients for the dough. Use the hook to stir a bit so the flour won't "fly" when you start the mixer
Start mixing at low speed to mix all the ingredients for about 2-3 minutes to form a rough dough.
Increase the speed to the next level and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and soft.
The amount of liquid depends on the flour you use and also the humidity level where you are. If it seems too dry, add a bit of water, one teaspoon at a time. The dough should feel soft and just slightly sticky to the touch.

First proofing:

Round up the dough and put it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl and put it in a warm place, around 82-90 F, and let it ferment until it doubles in volume, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours (this time varies depending on temperature)
While waiting for the dough to proof, prepare the filling by mixing all the ingredients together and set aside

Shaping:

Line a 8 x 8 inches square pan with a parchment sling for easy removal
Deflate the dough by folding the edge towards the center several times. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into about 8 x 10 inches rectangle. If the dough keeps retracting back, stop rolling and cover the dough with plastic wrap and give it a rest for 5 minutes to relax the gluten and try to roll again
Spread the filling on the dough, leaving about 1/2 inch along the edge. I decided to add some crushed peanuts (last-minute decision- I didn't put it on the ingredient list). You can skip if you don't want to.
Roll the dough tightly from the long side near you to form a log.
Use a serrated knife or unflavored floss (for example, don't use a mint-flavored floss LOL) to cut the log into 9 equal pieces

Final proofing:

Arrange the dough in the pan. Cover with a cling wrap (I sprayed with non-stick spray to prevent sticking) and place at a warm place again to let it ferment until the dough fills up the pan and very puffy, about 1 hour at a warm place
10 minutes before the end of proofing, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven, 330 F (165 C) for convection oven. Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven

Baking:

Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the internal temperature checked with a digital thermometer is 190 F (88 C)
Remove from the oven and put the pan on a cooling rack and let the rolls cool down for 10 minutes

Frosting:

While the rolls are cooling down, prepare the frosting by combining all the ingredients for frosting. Adjust the consistency by using milk or water. It should be thick but spreadable. So start with 1 teaspoon at a time
The use an offset spatula to spread the frosting on top of the rolls and serve them warm

Nutrition