Pull-Apart Chocolate Matcha Swirl Bread with Kit Kat Filling

This seems to be the law of progress in everything we do; it moves along a spiral rather than a perpendicular; we seem to be actually going out of the way, and yet it turns out that we were really moving upward all the time.

~Frances E. Willard

Yes, I know it's Friday. And I know this is not the scheduled French Friday with Dorie's recipe post. I'm sorry, but I'm slightly distracted. Due to my recent fascination with various forms of pull-apart bread, I've embarked on yet another breadmaking adventure this week, this time involving pull-apart buns. Filled buns...spiral-patterned buns filled with Kit Kat bits.

So there's nothing new about pull-apart buns. Even this particular flavor combination is old, but so what, I like chocolate and matcha and they look really pretty together. Especially in this spiral pattern, the striking green matcha snaking against the dark chocolate background. I used the same rolling technique as my tomato pull-apart bread, just shaping the spiral discs into a round ball instead of a half-moon shape. 

Here was how I did it, for your visual pleasure. I really should do a video of this someday...except that I'm still trying to figure out how not to burst into giggles and break into hives in front of the camera, particularly if there is somebody else behind it trying hard to sabotage my composure. Until that day arrives, however, just enjoy this series of shots.

There's really nothing much else I can say about these buns except that:

1. the recipe here is deliberately "small batch", and the 12 buns will fit nicely inside an 8-inch baking pan.

2. I hadn't reckoned on the Kit Kat wafers turning slightly soggy inside the bun during baking. It was a good idea at the time but for the next round, I'll stick to good, old Nutella as a filling.
3. I'm sending this bread post off to Susan of Yeastspotting. For your weekly yeast fix, click here!

Oh, it also started raining heavily while this bread was baking in the oven. Big, fat raindrops against a dark grey sky...and honestly, all I could think about was, how was I going to photograph these buns in such bad lighting? Thank goodness the day cleared up a little afterwards, or maybe it was the miracle of Photoshop that these pictures even look presentable. 

Giant tropical raindrops

They fit nicely in my palms.

The lonely little slice of Kit Kat

At least I now have that out of my system. Next Friday will be business as usual.

PS. I have a cute giveaway that I think you'll love. If you missed it, click here to enter!


Pull-Apart Chocolate Matcha Swirl Bread with Kit Kat Filling
Ingredients:
Matcha Dough
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried instant yeast
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons matcha powder
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/8 cup warm milk
1 tablespoon extra flour, for kneading

Chocolate Dough
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried instant yeast
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 small egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup warm milk
2 to 3 tablespoons extra flour, for kneading

Filling
3 regular Kit Kat bars, sliced into 24 (1cm or ½-inch) pieces

1. Matcha dough: Mix the flour, sugar, dried yeast and matcha in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and gradually add the warm milk. Knead for about 10 minutes until dough becomes pliable and is non-sticky. Add the extra flour as necessary to achieve this texture. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly-oiled bowl, leave to proof in a warm place for 30 minutes.

2. Chocolate dough: Mix the flour, sugar, dried yeast and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. Add the butter, egg and gradually add the warm milk. Knead for about 10 minutes until dough becomes pliable and is non-sticky. Add the extra flour as necessary to achieve this texture. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly-oiled bowl, leave to proof in a warm place for 30 minutes.

3. Roll out the chocolate dough into a rough rectangle about 10x8-in. Wrap the matcha dough ball inside the chocolate dough. Turn dough over so the sealed side is at the bottom. Flatten out the dough again with a rolling pin and roll carefully out into a 12x10-in rectangle. Take the long-side and roll into a thin cylinder. Slice the cylinder into 12 fairly even pieces.

4. Take a piece of cut dough and with the cut-side down, roll out into a disc. Take 2 pieces of cut Kit Kat bars, stack one piece over the other and pull the edges of the dough together towards the middle. Press firmly to seal the egdes, then roll dough in your palm to form a ball shape. Repeat with the other dough pieces.

5. Arrange filled dough balls in a well-buttered 8-inch round baking pan. Leave it to rise in a warm place for another 20 minutes. 10 minutes before baking time, preheat your oven to 180C/350F.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Once it comes out of the oven, brush the tops with some melted butter. Leave it to cool for 10 minutes before turning out and serving.