These rye buns with chocolate pieces are both healthy and very delicious at the same time. We personally love them as a little snack in-between two meals or as a healthy dessert for our lunch. In Denmark these buns are similar to the Chokorug which are sold at the very famous Lagkagehuset. Lagkagehuset is a Danish chain of bakeries which are selling traditional and modern bread and cakes. If you come to Denmark at some point you should definitely pay them a visit.
See also: Recipe for EASY healthy Nordic rye bread
The chocolate buns are filled with healthy grains and delicious dark chocolate - if you heat them up a little they become even better. The recipe is actually pretty easy to follow. However, it does require a bit of preparation. These buns are based on a sourdough, which gives the bread a great dense and chewy texture with a crisp crust. We have a basic recipe for a sourdough which is the one we always use - find it on our blog.
Ingredients
- 400 g sourdough (find recipe on NordicFoodLiving.com)
- 4 dl cold water
- 150 g chopped/cracked rye grains
- 100 g sunflower seeds
- 100 g pumpkin seeds
- 100 g all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp malt syrup (may be omitted)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 250 g rye flour
- 200 g dark chocolate (70%) (or chocolate chips)
- 100 g almonds (for topping)
Instructions
Before start
- Before you can start this recipe; make sure you have a good sour dough. You can follow my recipe I have here on NordicFoodLiving.com.
Day 1
- In a bowl; mix the cold water with chopped rye grains, sunflower- and pumpkin seeds. Cover the bowl with a lid or a dish towel; Leave the bowl on the kitchen table for about 12-24 hours.
Day 2
- Drain the soaked seeds/grains.
- Mix the soaked seeds/grains with the sourdough, salt, malt syrup (may be omitted), all-purpose flour, rye flour and cocoa powder. Mix all the ingredients into a nice dough.
- When all the ingredients, in step 3, are mixed well together; add the chopped dark chocolate / chocolate chips. Mix again. The dough should be firm but still sticky.
- Make 20-22 buns out of the dough and place them on a parchment-paper covered oven tray.
- You can decorate the buns with chopped almonds. However, this can be skipped.
- Cover the buns with a clean dish towel and let them raise someplace warm for about 1 hour.
- Bake the buns at 180 C (360 F) for about 20-25 minutes.
Notes
Maikki // Maikin mokomin
These sound wonderful! Thanks for sharing :)
Louise Dam
Happy you like them! :-)
Rosana
I can't wait to make these! Thank you for the recipe! One small question: I don't have a kitchen scale - I measure in cups - more or less how many cups of sourdough would be needed? Thank you so much and congrats on your wonderful site.
Kim Nielsen
Hi Rosana. Thanks for your nice words. Unfortunately, I don't have the measurement of sour dough in cups. I'll measure it the next time I make it. However, I'll recommend you to get a cheap kitchen scale. It's a really good tool to have in the kitchen.
Cathy
Hello Kim
Thank you so much for sharing an amazing recipe. I’ve 2 questions please.
For the sourdough, is it a sourdough starter you meant? I have an ongoing 100% rye starter. It’s 1:1:1 ratio of water, starter and rye flour. May I use that?Or would you recommend me to use a mixture of 1/2 rye and 1/2 all purpose flour like yours instead?
My second question is, is it necessary to build up a levain for this bread? Or using a straight starter is good enough.
Thank you kindly of your time and advice. It’s really very much appreciated. Looking forward to trying the bread out.
Kim Nielsen
Hi. I would just use the sourdough starter that you already have. I think it should be good enough. For your second question. I believe that the sourdough starter should be fine. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Cathy
Thank you for your advice. I used my 100% rye starter and the bread turned out well. It’s everything I wish it would be with a hearty nutritious crumb studded with seeds and chocolate to a chewy delicious crust. Will be an amazing energy booster for my hiking trips. Thanks again for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Ashley
Dear many thanks for the recipes. However kindly advise if I can use flakes instead of cracked rhy seed or wheat seed in my soaking day one preparation. If I use flakes do I have go through asking process?
Many thanks again. Kisses
Kim Nielsen
Hi Ashley. Thank for you question. Actually, I'm not sure if you can use rye flakes or wheat seeds. However, I think you will get the best result with rye flakes. Is it difficult to find cracked flakes in the states?
Emilia
Wow, these look amazing! I had some similar at lagkagehuset and felt I need to make them! One quick question, can they be frozen? And if so should I do it before or after baking them in the oven?
Kim Nielsen
Yes they can be frozen after the have been baked. If the become a little dry you can toast them a little bit.
Alicia
Have adored these rolls for years and always make my husband stop in the airport for them. Do you think it’s possible to cheat and alter the amo rye bread mix sold in stores to make these?
Kim Nielsen
Yes I am quite sure that you can do that. Basically, they are just small rye bread buns with chocolate.
Netta
Made those today, they are so so good! Wow! And my kids loved them as well, which made me very happy. Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I am curious when are they usually eaten in Denmark, is it a snack bun or desert maybe?
Kim Nielsen
I'm happy that you like the recipe for chocolate rye buns. They are normally just eaten as a snack or maybe if you are making an extra delicious breakfast. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Anne
So delicious! I have been making your rugbrod for 2 years now. These chocolate buns will now be made every 2 weeks when I make the rye bread recipe. Thank you, we hope to visit Denmark someday because your food is so good!
Kim Nielsen
Thanks for your nice comment on the rye bread recipe. I am happy that you like the Danish food and my blog :-) Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Wen
I made these today and I really like them. I didn't have almonds when I made them today, so I use pecans and they are delicious too. I like their rustic look and light sweetness and healthy and easy ingredients. I use your sourdough recipe to make the bread. I would not recommend anyone to skip any ingredients because they all serve a good purpose.
One question, May I ask what and how do you shape the buns?
I used my ice cream scoop and made 20 of them, so only baked half of the time you suggested. THe dough was firm and sticky so it's hard for me to make 40 small ones ;-) Thanks for the good recipe!
Kim Nielsen
I'm happy that you liked the recipe for chocolate rye buns. You are right, the dough is quite sticky. I normally use two table spoons dipped in water. This way you can easily set the sticky buns on some parchment paper. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Ana
I tried this recipe and they came out so well, thank you! I was hoping to make one large loaf or two instead of several small buns next time for convenience - are there any adjustments to the recipe you would suggest for that? Thanks again!!
Kim Nielsen
I am happy that you like the recipe. I would normally just double up the ingredients if I was to make larger portion. Regards Kim (Nordicfoodliving.com)
Dean
My third time baking these. Hands down my favorite "sweet" ever. A bun and a bowl of plain yogurt make a great breakfast, lunch or dinner (I'll leave the chocolate out of half the recipe for a completely savory snack). They freeze very well so I can keep them on hand for a quick snack/meal. FYI my sourdough starter is 100% rye and works very well. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe.
Kim Nielsen
You are welcome. I am happy that you can use my recipe and that you like it. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)