Chocolate “Mushroom” Buns

Instructions Bake Mode Prevent your screen from going dark as you follow along. To make the dough: In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the dough ingredients and knead — by hand or with a mixer — to make a soft, elastic dough, about 8 to 10 minutes in a stand mixer. (It’ll take a bit longer to knead by hand.) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it's nearly doubled in bulk. To shape the buns: Gently deflate the dough and divide it into 12 pieces (about 58g each). Cut out twenty 4" squares of parchment and set aside. Take 2 pieces of the dough and divide them each into 5 pieces so that you end up with 10 pieces (about 11g each). Roll them into small, stubby logs, about 1 1/2" to 2" long, with one end tapered and slightly pointy; these will be the stems of the mushroom buns. Don’t worry if they’re not all exactly the same. Place each of the stems on its own parchment square, cover, and let rest while you shape th...