Easy French chocolate chip viennoises accessible to all levels (beginners included). With only 4 minutes to knead the dough, breakfast is ready even before you say it!
What about a French breakfast today? You probably already know the classic croissants or pains au chocolat that we serve in every bakery in France, but have you ever heard of “viennoise”? A much easier recipe that every beginner can make!
A viennoise is a kind of bread made with an enriched dough, halfway between a pain au lait (litterally “milk bread”) and a brioche dough, and usually shaped like a baguette. In France, we usually eat it for breakfast or tea time in its classic version along with some butter and marmelade, or you can find my favorite version: the chocolate chip viennoise!
As I received recently La Bonne Box, a beautiful box with some delightful French delicacies that are sent to every subscriber on a monthly basis, I felt in love with French food again. Among these beautiful products, I had some praline roses, a madeleine mix, and even a madeleine form (check out my madeleine recipe!). One product I also received: some very small chocolate chips, just like the one we find in some small brioches or baguettes viennoises. I know already that I’m gonna love this concept of La Bonne Box every month!
I decided to give this fantastic chocolate chip viennoise a try. I used to eat it after school when I was a kid. I already had a recipe in mind since I wanted to try the one I found on my blogger friend Une plume dans la cuisine a few months ago after we met in Stockholm and she told me how easy this recipe was. French pastry + very easy + chocolate? I had to try, right?
Oh dear, how good it was! My blogger friend was right, this viennoise recipe is very easy to make and all beginners can do it! You only need to knead the dough for 4 minutes! Then all you need is to be a little bit patient while the dough is rising. In the end you get a beautiful airy texture with a lovely crispy crust and some delicious chocolate chips. I’m in love with this recipe and I will definitely make it again for breakfast on Sunday mornings!
For other French breakfast recipes bakery-style, have a look at these ones!
- Easy Chocolate Brioche Buns
- Chocolate Chip Vanilla Custard Brioches (Brioches Suisses)
- French Brioche à Tête
- Easy Brioche French Toast Casserole (+video)
- Easy French Pains aux Raisins
- Almond Croissants (The Easy Way)
Lastly, if you make theseFrench chocolate chip viennoises, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!
French Chocolate Chip Viennoises
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 8 viennoises 1x
- Category: Breads and brioches
- Cuisine: French recipes
Description
Easy French chocolate chip viennoises accessible to all levels. With only 4 minutes to knead the dough, breakfast is ready even before you say it!
Ingredients
- 10 cl milk
- 10 cl liquid cream
- 25g fresh yeast
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 cup (75g) melted butter
- 3,5 cups (475g) flour
- 1 egg + 1 yolk to brush
- 3/4 cup (100g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, warm up the milk with the cream up to 100°F. Dissolve the fresh yeast into the milk by stirring well. Be careful not to overheat the milk-cream mixture to prevent from killing the yeast.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar with the melted butter. Add the beaten egg and the milk-cream mixture. Pour the flour in two or three additions, stirring well after each addition. Knead the dough until it becomes soft and elastic, then form a ball. Place it back into the bowl covered with a towel and let rise at room temperature for about 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
- Add the chocolate chips into to the dough and knead for a few more minutes to incorporate them perfectly. Divide the dough in 8 parts, form a ball with each of them and then shape them into long snakes (you can also divide the dough in 4 parts only, depending on the size you want to obtain).
- Place the viennoises on a baking tray covered with parchment paper, cover them with a cloth, and let them rise for 30 more minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 480°F. When the oven is warm enough, brush the viennoises with the yolk and bake them half way for about 8-10 minutes, depending on their size.
This is such a lovely recipe! I’m gonna make it this weekend for mothers day 🙂
Just a question: is cream the same as heavy whipping cream?
Hi Nathalia! Yes, this is exactly the kind of cream you are looking for in this recipe 🙂
Frustration 🙁
Je me suis lancèe dans la réalisation de cette recette et malheureusement la pate n’a pas du tout levé..
Pourtant elle a bien reposé dans un milieu sec et tempéré. Je me demande si ce n’est pas du à là première étape, lorsque l’on doit dissoudre la levure…
Je n’avais pas de thermomètre mais ai fait attention à ce que le lait et la crème ne boue pas..
Pouvez vous m’aiguiller ?
En tout cas, j’espère réussir à la réaliser un jour 🙂
Bonjour Charlotte. Je suis vraiment désolée d’apprendre cela. En effet je pense que tout s’est joué au moment de dissoudre la levure. J’imagine que vous utilisez bien de la levure boulangère fraîche (et non sèche) comme l’indique la recette ici. Dans ce cas il est important de bien émietter la levure dans le lait. Une petite astuce que je fais souvent : commencer par émietter la levure dans un bol jusqu’à ce qu’elle soit complètement effritée, puis y ajouter ensuite le lait à environ 37°C ou moins (en effet pas forcément besoin d’un thermomètre, le lait doit être tiède mais surtout pas trop chaud), petit à petit, en remuant bien. La levure doit être complètement dissoute avant de procéder aux étapes suivantes. Je suis sûre que la prochaine fois la recette sera parfaite et rassurez-vous, cela nous arrive tous de ne pas réussir une recette du premier coup et la bonne nouvelle c’est que cela nous permet d’apprendre quelques techniques de cuisine 🙂 Bien à vous. Del
Merci pour votre réponse
Je suis en train de réessayer ☺️
Croisons les doigts
Très bonnes ces viennoises et surtout tellement simples à faire !
★★★★★
Entièrement d’accord avec toi Clara. Merci!
Please help this simple American! I am truing to figure out the best translation from cl into something, have be it metric or ANYTHING wit a fairly simple translation, not found an easy answer. Any thoughts? Thank you so much! I look forward to making these for my family and friends!
Hi what is 10cl milk in cups ?
Oh dear, mine failed miserably .. they did not raise and tasted awfully of too much yeast. I put in 25g yeast … correct?
Maybe I killed the yeast by making the milk/cream mixture too hot? But why did it taste so overwhelmingly of yeast?
Hi Emily!
I’m so sorry to hear that. Let’s try to understand together what might have happen, and remember fails are just one step away from better cooking skills. It’s just work in progress 🙂 Coming back to the recipe, yes it calls for 25g *fresh* yeast (as opposed to instant dry yeast or active dry yeast). Can you confirm that this is what you used? Also, yes you could possibly kill the yeast if you mixed it with too warm milk, but I doubt that this is what happened here as you wouldn’t have a strong, overwhelming taste of yeast.
Here’s how I usually do: crumble 25 fresh yeast (or 10g active dry yeast, or 8g instant dry yeast) in a small bowl. Pour in a few teaspoons or Tablespoons lukewarm milk and stir well. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast. Once the mixture is bubbling and has thicken a little bit, it’s ready to use.
I hope this helps. Good luck for next time, I hope you’ll have a lovely breakfast with these chocolate chip viennoises!
Del
I had a problem with the rise as well. Looking at this recipe, I wonder if it should be 3/4 of a stick of butter rather than 3/4 cups of butter. Also, is there another step? Last it says to bake them halfway for 8-10 minutes – are they supposed to be baked the rest of the way?