chocolate smiles

heavily inspired by one of my favourite bakeries. November 2023

to be frank is a local bakery that make these amazing, unassuming chocolate smiles, which are little wholemeal buns dotted with dark chocolate pieces

I got a bag of this wonderful barber flour from tuerong farms for my birthday and this felt like the perfect inspiration to celebrate the flavour of this locally grown and milled flour

I also made yoghurt last weekend, so used the leftover whey in place of water in this recipe. you don’t have to, it just adds a little extra tang and feels nice to not waste anything!

makes four smiles (or frowns if you turn them around)

ingredients

225g bread flour

175g whey from making yoghurt, or water

4.5g salt

3.5g instant yeast

50g dark chocolate, chopped

method

in a large bowl, sift in the flour (225g)

make a well in the centre, and add the whey (or water, 175g), and yeast (3.5g) and stir together with a fork to make a shaggy dough

sprinkle over the salt (4.5g) and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface

knead until just coming together, then add the chopped dark chocolate (50g)

return the dough ball to the bowl, cover and let rise for two hours

transfer to the fridge and refrigerate overnight or up to six days

remove the dough from the fridge and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface

roll into a long log, then cut into four equal portions

bend each portion into a frown (or smile, depending on your mood)

cover lightly and let rise in a warm place for one hour

preheat oven to 200°C

bake for 25-30 minutes

optional: brush with butter as soon as they are out of the oven

best eaten warm out of the oven, or halved and toasted the next day with butter

:)