Fellow coffee lovers, do I have a treat for you. These mocha swirl sticky buns combine two of the best things in life – coffee and chocolate!
These soft, fluffy buns are filled with a brown sugar espresso swirl, chopped pecans, chocolate chunks and drizzled with an espresso-maple icing. They are unashamedly decadent.
Yes, they are rich, but not so rich it would stop you from reaching for a second one. Or maybe that’s just me!
My favourite element of these buns? The espresso-maple icing. When I first made it I was seriously tempted to dive into the bowl and face plant the whole darn lot.
If you’re a coffee lover like me, you will be in heaven. I promise! As much as I love my pumpkin cinnamon rolls, these really are something else.
I won’t lie – these buns do take a bit of effort to make, but I promise you that as soon as you sink your teeth into one, you’ll agree that they are totally worth it!
ingredient list
For the buns
- Strong white bread flour. If you can’t find bread flour, the recipe still works with plain/all purpose flour. But try and use the bread flour if you can.
- Instant (fast action) yeast
- Salt
- Caster sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
- Eggs
for the chocolate coffee swirl
- Dark Chocolate, chopped
- Brown Sugar
- Instant espresso powder
- Ground Cinnamon
- Chopped Pecan nuts (if you can’t eat nuts you can just leave them out)
For the coffee-maple icing
- Icing sugar
- Maple syrup
- Instant espresso powder
- a little water or milk to thin down the glaze
tips for making these mocha swirl sticky buns
Do bear in mind that enriched dough – sweet dough containing butter, sugar and eggs – can take a bit longer to rise than a normal bread dough, so if it looks like nothing is happening, don’t worry.
Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, the dough can take up to 2 hours to rise. Go and watch a movie, read a good book or go for a walk while you wait!
how long do these mocha swirl sticky buns keep for?
Sticky buns are also best eaten on the day you are made. If you can resist tearing into them the minute the coffee icing glaze begins to set on the buns, you’re a much stronger person than I am!
Want to see more sweet bread recipes? Check these out…
Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns
Orange, Cranberry and White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
Fruit Loaf with maple icing glaze
did you make these mocha swirl sticky buns?
Let me know what you thought of the recipe by leaving a comment below and rate the recipe by clicking on the stars in the recipe card.
If you share a picture of your sticky buns on Instagram, don’t forget to tag me #sweetsavouryblog so I can see it!
Mocha Swirl Sticky Buns
soft, fluffy sticky buns filled with a brown sugar espresso swirl, chopped pecans, chocolate chunks and drizzled with an espresso-maple icing!
Ingredients
- for the dough:
- 500 g strong white flour
- 10 g salt
- 10 g fast action yeast
- 100 ml milk
- 200 ml water
- 45g unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- One medium egg, beaten
For the filling:
- 150 g butter
- 75 g soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 100g dark chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 tbsp espresso powder, I used NescafΓ© Azera espresso
- 50g chopped pecans, optional
For the espresso-maple icing (for pouring over the baked buns)
- 200 g icing sugar
- 3-4 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 1-2 tbsp water or milk
- 25 g chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
- Place the flour in the bowl of a mixer and place the salt and yeast on separate sides of the bowl.
- Place the water, milk, butter and vanilla bean paste/extract in a small saucepan and heat very gently until the butter has melted. Don't let the mixture get too hot, you just want to warm it enough so the butter melts. Take off the heat and beat in the egg.
- Pour this mixture over the flour and knead for 5 minutes or until the dough is shiny, smooth and springy. Leave to prove for at least one hour or until at least doubled in size.
- When the dough has at least doubled in size, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll out into a rectangle roughly 10x18 inches.
- Spread the soft butter all over the dough. Stir the brown sugar, ground cinnamon and espresso powder together and sprinkle all over the dough. Scatter over the chocolate chunks.
- Starting from one of the long ends, roll the dough up as tightly as you can. Cut into 10 equal pieces and place each piece in a lined baking tin, leaving a little room between each one to allow for rising. Leave to prove for around 45 minutes or until they have pretty much doubled in size and puffed together.
- While the buns are rising, make the icing. Sieve the icing sugar in a medium sized bowl. Add the maple syrup and espresso powder and stir until you have a smooth icing glaze. If it's a little thick, add 1/2-1 tbsp of water or milk to thin it down a little.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F. Bake the buns for 30-35 minutes or until golden, burnished and smell incredible.
- Remove from the oven and immediately pour over the coffee-maple icing and the chopped pecans, if using. Allow the icing to set a little before diving in.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 614Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 507mgCarbohydrates: 90gFiber: 3gSugar: 47gProtein: 8g
Calories and Nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be used as indicative figures only.
Oh yum, I can imagine these being perfect with a latte.
Looks hard to resist
that sounds AMAZING. I need one now #please
Seriously, yum!!!
Two of my greatest loves combined here, sticky buns and maple syrup! This looks absolutely divine π
I love sticky buns! Thank you for sharing this recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
Hi, thanks for stopping by! These buns are so decadent and dripping in maple goodness π
A double coffee hit Julie π
thanks Jovina, they really are!
They are so so good! π
There’s no need for how tasty this looks and sounds! x
These look really delicious, the topping is making my mouth water looking at it! One for the ‘must make’ list.
Thanks, they are very decadent!
I’m in bed right now and I am *this* close to getting up and making these lol. I can’t wait for that Moose butter to be available in shops π
Lol the lure of the sticky bun π me too! John and I loved that maple butter.
Fabulous. Prepped in evening, left in fridge overnight then baked following morning (took out early to bring to room temp and rise).
They look fantastic Sue, so glad you liked them!