Chocolate-Coffee Pinwheels

Good morning! Have you had your coffee yet? Better go grab a cup…all this coffee talk will have you jonesing for a fix. Ahem…of coffee!

Am I addicted to coffee? I don’t think so. I don’t have to have a cup, but I sure do enjoy it. For me, it’s all a part of the routine. It means a slow-paced morning and a chance to take a breath and get ready for the day. Brew a strong pot of dark roast, sit down, inhale that heavenly aroma, and that first sip? Oh yeah…that first sip is the best. Does that sound like a caffeine addict? Okay…maybe it does. But I almost feel the same about decaf, so I can’t be too far gone, right?

I don’t remember my first taste of coffee, but I do have a vivid memory of my mom singing an old coffee commercial jingle to me. I was about five years old and sitting in front of one of those old wall heaters, cold feet tucked under me, still in my pajamas with bed head and sleep in my eyes. The jingle went, “The best part of wakin’ up, is Folgers in your cup.” But my mom, much to my delight, sang it as, “The best part of wakin’ up, is Folgers in your butt.” It still makes me laugh out loud (because I’m so mature). And now that I’m such an adult, I’m going to eat chocolate for breakfast. Because I can.

When I was chosen to participate in the #MyBaristaMoment campaign for Smart & Final’s Ambiance brand of coffee, I was thrilled to create a treat to go along with your morning cup of joe. My head was spinning with ideas of coffee cake and cinnamon rolls, but then I thought about what I really wanted to eat for breakfast…chocolate!

Coffee and chocolate go together like peanut butter and jelly. Except way better. The hardest part was choosing which coffee to use for this recipe. I wanted the darkest roast they had…something that would really stand up to the flavor of the chocolate, like Italian Roast.

Now if this doesn’t get you going in the morning, I don’t know what will…

Chocolate-Coffee Pinwheels

Makes about 40

1/3 cup Ambiance Italian Roast ground coffee

water

1/2 cup + 6 tablespoons sugar, divided use

2 sheets puff pastry

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Make coffee simple syrup by brewing a very strong pot of coffee by using 1/3 cup ground coffee and filling water to about the 3-cup line on your coffee maker. (You will have leftover coffee.)

In a small saucepan, stir together 1/2 cup brewed coffee and 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 5 minutes until sugar is dissolved and mixture is slightly syrupy. Let cool.

Meanwhile, chop chocolate chips and pecans very finely. (Use a mini food processor to chop pecans very fine.)

When syrup is cool, lay a sheet of puff pastry on a cutting board. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the entire sheet. With a rolling pin, roll pastry out slightly in all directions, pressing sugar in (and keeping rectangular shape). Flip pastry over.

With a pastry brush, liberally coat pastry with coffee syrup. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar, half the chopped chocolate and half the chopped pecans over the syrup, leaving a 1/2” edge on one side of the pasty. Spread out evenly. Using your hands, press into pastry.

Starting with the end opposite the 1/2” border, roll pastry up tightly into a pinwheel. Seal by pressing the edge into the roll.

Repeat with second sheet of puff pastry.

Refrigerate rolls for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Slice the rolls into 1/2" pieces and lay on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 6 minutes on one side, flip over, and bake for 5-6 more minutes. (Watch carefully in the last minute…they go fast.)

Remove from oven and leave on baking sheet for another minute, them transfer to wire rack. While still hot, brush lightly with coffee syrup on top only. Let cool completely.

I have a confession to make: I think I ate about ten of these in one sitting. 

They are so light and airy that they can’t possibly have calories, right? There is just a hint of chocolate with a hint of coffee and it’s all caramelized to perfection.

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias #CBias. All opinions are my own.