The best mini panettone with chocolate chips recipe. Perfectly domed, buttery, and fluffy mini panettone for beginners. A simpler and faster way to enjoy this delicious sweet bread during Christmas and the holidays!
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Why This Recipe Works
Marco is a quarter Italian, and he introduced me to Panettone. We love it, especially during Christmas time and the holidays. We make them every year together with his family's easy fruitcake recipe. Our readers who've made them simply loved them! Here's why we think this is the best mini panettone with chocolate chips ever!
It's easier than traditional panettone - This recipe is perfect for beginners, before jumping to our traditional panettone bread recipe. It takes less time and effort, and since it's a mini version, you don't need to flip it. Easy!
Soft and fluffy panettone - Being a mini panettone doesn't take away the essence of a panettone in it. You'll have a tall, perfectly domed, buttery, and fluffy panettone to enjoy!
Success-guaranteed recipe - We don't want you to waste ingredients and time, that's why we've tested all of our recipes, including this mini panettone with chocolate chips recipe. In this article we've written out tips and tricks, you simply can't go wrong with it!
Another typical holiday recipe here in Spain is 3 Kings bread. It's soft and fluffy sweet bread in a big donut shape, topped with candied fruits and custard filling. Unique and delicious!
Ingredients For This Recipe
Bread flour - Or high-protein flour with 12g-13g protein/100g. It's important to develop strong gluten networks, resulting in soft, fluffy, good-structured panettone with chocolate. We also use it in our Nutella babka buns and our braided Nutella star bread, that's why they're super soft!
Citrus - Marco doesn't like orange blossom water which was traditionally added to panettone dough. To compensate, we go heavy with citrus zest and vanilla extract for this mini panettone with chocolate chips. The orange and lemon combo is our favorite. Even the raw dough smells like Christmas!
Honey - Our secret for soft bread is using honey as a natural bread softener! At the same time, it also adds a touch of sweetness to the dough.
Yeast - We use instant dry yeast. It's faster and easier since we can add it together with the rest of the ingredients without having to activate it first. Use 3 teaspoon (9g) of active dry yeast or 21g of fresh yeast. For both active dry yeast and fresh yeast, activate them with warm milk before using.
Chocolate chips - We use semisweet with 55% cocoa for this mini panettone with chocolate chips. Feel free to use dark or white chocolate if you wish. Other variations can be chopped candied fruits, raisins, or almonds. We've made these mini panettones using around 6oz (170g) of candied fruits, and they turned out beautifully.
⭐ See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. First proof - Add all the ingredients for the dough, except for butter, in a standing mixer bowl. Mix well and then knead for 10 minutes. Add in cubed butter bit by bit until everything is incorporated; this process will take 5-10 minutes. Then, knead for another 10 minutes. You'll get a soft and very sticky dough. Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and leave until the dough rises to double its size. This could take around 1-2 hours.
2. Second proof - Grease the countertop and your hands with some oil. Place the dough on the countertop and stretch it into a rectangle, more or less. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Fold the dough and gently knead it to distribute the chocolate chips evenly. Divide the dough into six equal pieces.
3. Assemble and bake - Form each piece of dough into a ball. Place them into mini panettone molds. Cover the top loosely with cling film. Leave until the top of the dough rises to almost 1 inch (2.5cm) from the brim of the mold. Don't overproof it. Gently brush the top with some egg wash. Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF (175ºC) on a lower ⅔ rack for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. Enjoy your mini panettone with chocolate chips!
Recipe Expert Tips
- Correct measurement - We love using a kitchen scale as it's more precise, especially when weighing flour in baking. We don't want excess flour in this mini panettone recipe, which usually happens with cup measurements. However, all our recipes are in both cup and metric measurements for your convenience. Use the spoon and level method if you're using cup measurement.
- Standing mixer - The dough will be sticky, so we highly recommend using a standing mixer to make the kneading process of this mini panettone easier.
- No extra flour - Don't add extra flour to the countertop and your hands when handling the sticky dough. Instead, grease them with some oil. The dough is supposed to be soft and sticky to achieve a soft and fluffy mini panettone with chocolate chips.
- Don't overproof the dough - For the final proof, the dough in the molds should not rise over the brim of the mold. The top dome of the dough should rise just until around 1 inch (2.5cm) before the brim of the mold. If you overproof the dough at this stage, your mini panettone with chocolate chips will not rise beautifully in the oven.
- Place the molds containing the dough on a baking tray - This will make it easier to move them around and bake them later without risking deflating the dough.
- Bake on lower ⅔ rack - This is to leave space for the panettone to rise in the oven, without burning the top, if you were to bake it on the middle rack.
- Variation - Use candied fruits, raisins, and or chopped nuts. We've made these mini panettones using around 6oz (170g) of candied fruits, and they turned out beautifully.
How To Serve, Store, And Freeze
Serve - This mini panettone is best consumed on the day of baking like any other fresh homemade bread. Enjoy it with some sweet wine or hot drinks like tea, coffee, or chocolate!
Store - In an air-tight container at room temperature. It lasts up to 5 days. The texture of this mini panettone with chocolate chips will start getting dry as the days pass, which is natural since we don't add any preservatives to this mini panettone recipe. No worries! Reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds, and it'll be as if it just came out from the oven!
Freeze - In an air-tight container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. Remember to reheat this mini panettone to bring it back to its glory!
If you love more holiday recipes, our fluffy bakery-style gingerbread muffins are a must-try!
Recipe FAQs
Nope. Traditional panettone has candied fruits, raisins, and/or nuts, and we've used this same recipe using around 6oz (170g) of candied fruits, and they turned out beautifully. We're using chocolate chips for this mini panettone recipe as another variation and to make everything simpler.
It's because it's a lengthy process to make a panettone, and it requires more effort than the typical bread. Its unique tall and domed shape also needs some expertise and knowledge to achieve.
A traditional panettone bread takes hours to make. It's a cross between bread and cake, and its tall and domed shape is so unique. It's usually consumed during Christmas.
1) If the texture is dry on the day that you baked it, then you've overbaked it. Use a portable oven thermometer to get an accurate temperature. When baking, place it on a lower ⅔ rack so the growing top doesn't get burnt. 2) If the texture feels dry the days after, then it's natural since we don't add any preservatives to it. Simply reheat it for a few seconds in the microwave and it'll be just as if it just came out from the oven!
More Holidays Recipes
⭐ If you tried this Mini Panettone With Chocolate Chips or any other recipe on our website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the comments below!
Watch How To Make It
📖 Recipe
Mini Panettone With Chocolate Chips
Video
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cup (260 g) bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- zest of 1 orange
- zest of ½ lemon
- 1 large egg , room temperature
- 1 large yolk , room temperature
- 2 tablespoon (40 g) honey
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) warm milk
- 2 ¼ teaspoon (7 g) instant dry yeast
- ⅓ cup (75 g) butter , room temperature and cubed
Others
- 4 oz (110 g) chocolate chip
- 1 egg with a splash of milk , for egg wash
Instructions
First proof
- Add all the ingredients for the dough except for butter, in a standing mixer bowl. Mix well and then knead for 10 minutes. Add in cubed butter bit by bit until everything is incorporated, this process will take from 5-10 minutes. Then knead for another 10 minutes. You'll get a soft and very sticky dough.
- Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and leave until the dough rises to double its size. This could take around 1-2 hours.
Second proof
- Grease the countertop and your hands with some oil. Don't use flour as we don't want to add extra flour to the dough. Place the dough on the countertop and stretch it into a rectangle, more or less. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
- Fold the dough and gently knead it to distribute the chocolate chips evenly. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.
Assemble and bake
- Form each piece of dough into a ball. Place them into mini panettone molds (2.5x1.75 inch or 6.35x4.4 cm), on a baking tray. This will make it easier to move them around without deflating the dough. Cover the top loosely with cling film. Leave until the top of the dough rises to almost 1 inch (2.5cm) from the brim of the mold. Don't overproof it.
- Gently brush the top with some egg wash. Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF (175ºC), on a lower ⅔ rack for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. Enjoy your mini panettone with chocolate chips!
Notes
- We highly recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe as it's more precise.
- Use a portable oven thermometer to get a precise oven temperature.
- The dough will be soft and sticky; do not be tempted to add more flour.
- Do not let the dough rise too much in the second proof stage. The over-risen dough will result in the dough overflowing the mold when you bake it.
- Cover the top loosely with aluminum foil if the panettones brown too fast.
- Never slice a panettone (or any bread!) when it's still hot/warm.
- Variation: Use candied fruits, raisins, and or chopped nuts. We've made these mini panettones using around 6oz (170g) of candied fruits and they turned out beautifully.
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Originally published on Nov 15, 2018. Updated with improved text and pictures on Dec 2, 2023.
Vicki says
This recipe is fantastic. It took no time at all to make these fluffy, delicious little blessings. I'm ready to make another batch, despite trying to eat low-carb. Oh well, it's the holidays.
Bea & Marco says
Thank you so much, Vicki. “Fluffy little blessings” made us smile.
We’re so glad you loved them, and honestly, the holidays are the perfect time to ignore low-carb plans just a little 😉
Thanks for baking along with us!
Carol Abnett says
Hi,
Could the first proofing be done in the fridge overnight then brought to room temperature before proceeding.
Thanks
Bea & Marco says
Hi, Carol! We haven't tried it, but we think it could work. Do let us know how it goes if you try it that way.
Julie says
Incredible! Everyone loved them. Always a bit worrying with an enriched dough that it won’t prove/rise well but a great success! My proving times were 1.5 hours for the first and second around 40 mins in a warm place.
Bea & Marco says
Yay! It warm our hearts to know that everybody loved them. Thank you so much for your feedback, Julie!
Vicky Miceli says
Hi Marco, going to try the mini panettone recipe w/choc chips. Hopefully, if that works, going to make a 2nd batch w/ raisins & sultanas. I’ll let you know how I did 🤞LOL
Vicky Miceli
Bea & Marco says
Hi Vicky! That's a delicious idea 🙂 Have fun and let me know how it went. Happy holidays!
Ilektra says
Hello,can I use this recipe for a single big panettone instead of deciding the dough in smaller balls?
Bea & Marco says
Hi! 😊 For this recipe, it’s best to follow it as mini panettone since the proofing and baking times are designed for smaller portions. But the good news is, we do have a separate recipe for a full-size panettone on the site that’s tested for one big loaf. We’d recommend using that one instead for the best result! Hope it helps!