Name: Kenyan Chocolate Mandazi With a Molten Chocolate Center
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 3 Cups self rising flour ((410 g)); 1 tsp Instant coffee powder; 4 Tbs Unsweetened cocoa powder; 3/4 tsp cinnamon; 3/4 tsp Cardamom; 3/4 tsp All spice; 1/4 tsp Nutmeg (- Freshly grated is preferable); 1 Cup Sour milk solids (used 240 ml cup) (- You could substitute it with thick yoghurt, curd or butter milk); 1 tsp Vanilla essence; 200 g Chocolate (- Use your favourite kind); 1/4 Cup Unsalted butter (- Softened at room temperature); 1/2 Cup brown sugar (- 140 g)

Mandazis are a very popular snack in East Africa. They are also referred to as African donuts, but are not as sweet as the American version. Now, mine are the stuff of guilty pleasures. They are uber chocolatey, soft, moist and the crowning glory….. the ooey gooey molten chocolate center. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting my Kenyan Chocolate Mandazis With a Molten Chocolate Center.

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The inspiration to make these chocolate mandazis came to me one day as I was baking my super moist eggless chocolate cake. This cake is all those things that you’d want in a chocolate cake and then some! So I thought to myself, why not try and replicate this for my mandazis? And… voila!!! My uber chocolatey mandazis were born and they have been going strong ever since.

Let me share with you how to ensure that you have bomb chocolate mandazis:

Less is more here. I have used one cup of milk solids (I explain this below in this post) As you start kneading you might be tempted to keep adding more of the milk solids to achieve a moist dough. DO NOT!! Trust me on this one. One cup is more than enough to give you an excellent dough.
Make sure that you seal the mandazi dough properly, because if you do not, you will have a disaster on your hands. The mandazis will open up on you as you fry them and all the chocolate will ooze out into the hot oil. The only place we want the chocolate to ooze out into is our mouths,
It’s important to let the dough rest after the initial kneading in order for it to relax and for the moisture to redistribute itself. This dough is on the firm and almost dry side, therefore, it needs this time. So give it about twenty minutes.

So how did I end up with these sour milk solids?

I bought three litres of milk, boiled it and put it in the fridge to prevent it from spoiling. But, as luck would have it, there was a power black out in Nairobi that lasted for the whole day. People at my house kept opening the fridge to get out things through out the day and in the process it warmed up. I’m sure that by now you can guess how the rest of the story goes… the milk went sour. I only realized it when I scooped out some of it to cook tea and the chocolate mandazis. The milk that I had set aside in the sufuria to make tea split up. So the next thing I did was to gently warm up some of the remaining milk until it just started splitting and then I turned off the heat. After about ten minutes, of standing undisturbed, the milk solids had separated and floated to the top. I scooped them out and proceeded to use them for this recipe.

You could also take fresh milk and add about two teaspoons of vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice and make your own buttermilk. This will work fantastically for this recipe.

I already have the video up on YouTube and you could watch it right here.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

3 Cups (410 g) self rising flour
1 tsp Instant coffee powder
4 Tbs Unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp Cardamom
3/4 tsp All spice
1/4 tsp Nutmeg – Freshly grated is preferable

Wet Ingredients:

1 Cup (240 ml) Sour milk solids – You could substitute it with thick yoghurt, curd or butter milk
1 tsp Vanilla essence

Rest of Ingredients:

200 g Chocolate – Use your favourite kind
1/4 Cup Unsalted butter – Softened at room temperature
1/2 Cup (140 g) brown sugar

Directions

Start by adding all your dry ingredients into a sieve. This will help in ensuring that they end up being evenly distributed through out the mixture. And, secondly, the big lumps, especially for the cocoa powder will be broken down.
After sieving everything into your mixing bowl. I would advice you to use your spatula to ensure that it is, indeed, all mixed well. Then add the brown sugar and butter. Rub them in to the flour mixture until it resembles very fine bread crumbs. This step also helps to ensure that the sugar gets mixed in well.
Now add the sour milk solids and vanilla essence. Take your time and knead the dough until it all comes together. Like I said earlier, less is more. Add the milk solids as you gauge the consistency of your dough. You want to end up with a firm dough.
This is how the dough should look like. Cover with plastic paper and set aside to relax and for the moisture to redistribute itself through out the dough.
After the dough has had time to rest, knead it for about five minutes until it becomes smooth. You will know that it is ready once it stops sticking to your hands.
Roll it out very thinly, thickness of about 1/2 cm.
Cut out circles of about 3.5″ in diameter. Or, you could cut them out to be bigger or smaller depending on your preferences. I chose this size because of the amount of chocolate I had. If you cut out 3.5″ diameter circles you’ll end up with approximately eighteen pieces.
Place the chocolate in the center of the the dough. Dip your finger in some water and apply it on the edges of the dough. Please make sure that you do not apply too much water, let it be just enough to wet the dough edges.
Now take another circular piece of dough and place it on top of the one with the chocolates. Make sure that the edges are approximated accurately.
Press all around the edges down using a fork to seal and join the two pieces of dough. Make sure that you do not leave any part un-pressed. For double assurance that the mandazis will not open up, while frying, you could turn them over and press using the fork on the second side.
Heat enough oil (on medium heat) and fry the mandazis for two to three minutes per side. The dark brown colour of the mandazis might make it hard for you to gauge how well they are done, so use your judgment here. It’s better to err on the side of caution. Start by cooking for less time for the first mandazi and assess. From there decide on the adjustments that might be needed. It might be in terms of the heat or cooking time.
Leave to cool for about five minutes before serving because the chocolate in the center is very hot while still fresh out of the oil and might scald your tongue.
ENJOY!!!