Chocolate-Dipped Rolled Phyllo Dough Is An Easy Crowd-Pleasing Dessert

Phyllo dough plays a big role in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, used as a savory buttery crust in spanakopita and meat pies or layered into the countless variations of honey-soaked baklava. As a delicate, paper-thin pastry dough, phyllo dough may be an intimidating ingredient for first-time cooks. However, chocolate-dipped rolled phyllo dough is a crowd-pleasing dessert that comes together quickly and easily.

Unlike a cake, tart, or pie, dipped phyllo dough rolls require few ingredients and minimal preparation. Phyllo dough comes stacked in large rolled rectangles, which you'll divide into thinner rectangles for rolling. The first step is the most delicate as you'll have to brush a layer of butter onto a thin sheet of pastry before layering another sheet on top. Once you've conquered the first step, divide the buttery sheets in half lengthwise, cutting each half into five strips and rolling each strip into cylinders.

You'll use cooking spray as the glue for a sugar and cinnamon mixture, spraying each cylinder and then sprinkling a heaping spoonful of the mixture to coat. The pastry rolls go into a hot oven and puff up into light, crunchy pastries in a matter of minutes. While they cool, you have plenty of time to melt your favorite type of chocolate for dipping. After dipping each pastry halfway, place them back on the cooled baking sheet to set at room temperature. This recipe comes together in around half an hour, providing a showstopping presentation and a light and elegant, bite-sized dessert.

While these rolls demonstrate how simple a phyllo dough dessert can be, there's no denying that these thin and delicate pastry sheets can test your patience. Therefore, you'll need to act quickly and create the optimum conditions for this delicate and finicky dough. Phyllo dough needs to be used at room temperature, so you'll need to thaw it if it's been sitting in the fridge or freezer.

That said, it can dry out and become too brittle to work with should you leave it out for too long. Therefore, you'll need to keep close tabs on the thawing process and use the dough as soon as it's thawed. When handling the thawed phyllo, it's important to have dry hands as moisture from water or fat can cause the sheets to stick to your hand and rip the dough.

When you cut your sheets, a sharp knife, scissors, or a pizza cutter are all adequate tools to cut straight and precise lines. If the sheets are cracked, you can use the butter to patch faulty lines to maintain the integrity of the rolls. 

You can use different types of chocolate, chopped nuts, or colored sugars to create a more impressive presentation and flavor. You can dip the rolls into melted dark chocolate, finishing with a drizzle of white chocolate, or use the chocolate as glue for chopped pecans or pistachios.