Easy No-Wait Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

Last weekend was CrAzY around here!  For some insane reason, I decided to host a dinner party on Saturday, so I spent every spare minute of the weekend cleaning, shopping, and cooking in preparation.  Don't get me wrong, the party was nice, but boy was that a lot of work!  This weekend, I vowed to do absolutely nothing that I didn't have to do.  Unfortunately, I'm kind of an overachiever, so it's hard for me to actually follow through on that kind of plan, but so far I'm doing pretty good.  Since I had all this spare time on my hands, of course my first thoughts went to the kitchen!  Lazy Saturdays always make me want to bake something sinfully delicious for breakfast, but in keeping with my no-work vow, I wanted to make something really quick and easy.  Heck, who am I kidding - I ALWAYS want my recipes to be quick and easy!  There should be a special word to describe these kinds of fabulous recipes - quick, easy....queasy?  Okay, maybe not.  But seriously, why make something that takes forever when there are so many great things out there that don't?!

Cinnamon rolls are a perfect example of this.  Most recipes call for lots of yeast, kneading, rising, and worst of all, waiting.  Who wants to wait hours for breakfast? Definitely not this girl.  This recipes going from a counter-full of ingredients to a plateful of gooey cinnamon rolls in less than 40 minutes.  Now that's what I'm talking about!  Plus, these are chocolate, cuz, why not?!!

Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
Prep: 20min  Bake: 20 min
Serves 9

For the chocolate dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
7 Tbs butter, melted and divided

For the Cinnamon Filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs butter, melted
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp milk, if needed
2 Tbs mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in the buttermilk, sour cream, and 2 tablespoons melted butter until a soft dough forms. Do not over mix.

Place the dough ball on a well floured surface. Knead the dough 4-5 times to get a little flour into it. The dough will be a little sticky. Try not to add to much extra flour, though. Very carefully press the dough evenly into a 10x14 rectangle. Use a little bit of flour to keep it from sticking. Spread 2 tablespoons melted butter on top of the rectangle.

In a small bowl stir together the filling ingredients. Spoon the filling mixture over the butter. Leave about a 1/2 inch around the edge. Carefully roll the dough into a log from the shortest side up. If the dough sticks, use a knife or spatula to gently loosen as you roll it up. Cut the log into 9 even pieces.

Grease an 8x8 baking dish with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Place the 9 rolls in the pan. Drizzle with the last 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.

Whisk together the cream cheese and powdered sugar with a fork. If it is too thick, you can thin it out with a little milk. Spread over the tops of the warm cinnamon rolls and sprinkle with a few mini chocolate chips. Store covered in the refrigerator.

471 calories per serving. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!