Lindsey

Feb 25, 2003

Chocolate Bread

On Friday, Eli was home from school with a high fever. He just sat on a big comfy chair ALL day! He didn’t really want to eat anything. But it was cold out and I wanted to cook. I wanted to make something that would be tasty, and with all this cold and snow, I wanted something warm. Since I’ve been craving more chocolate lately, I though of chocolate bread. Not as fattening as other chocolate baked things, yet just as satisfying to munch. Besides, I’d been thinking about for a while.

I pulled out the recipes that I had hunted down on the internet for chocolate bread. My brother Dave and his wife, Vicki, turned me on to it when they brought a loaf out from a cool bakery near them in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Zingermans ( http://www.zingermans.com ) makes this amazing chocolate cherry bread, which is delicious when toasted. Big chunks of dried cherries, and chunks of chocolate add to the experience, especially when smeared with a bit of butter. I needed to find out how to make my own.

On the internet I found three good prospects. I picked the one that was the easiest to try, partly due to the fact that it was written for bread machine bakers. Hope you like it as much as we do. (It is much easier to cut the second day- but damn is it good when it first comes out of the oven!)

My bread machine has seen a bit more use in the last year, since I’ve now changed how I use it. Originally, I used it the traditional way and made the bread in it. But years ago the novelty wore off and it saw very little use for awhile. Now I use it to mix and knead the dough, then remove the dough and let it do the last rise in a regular loaf pan and cook it in the oven. So I get a regular loaf of homemade bread with hardly any work at all! I just dump all the ingredients in and turn it on, It mixes, kneads, rises, etc. then I take it out 2 1/2 hours later, and shape it into a log, put it into a loaf pan, let it rise once more, then bake it.

For those of you without a bread machine- sorry! You’ll just have to get some of this bread from me, or give the recipe to someone else who has one and request a few slices in return! The second two recipes are for bread baked the traditional way. I have not yet tried making the second two recipes yet. Please email me if you try one of them, I’ll post the feedback here.

Double Chocolate Bread
Yields: 1 - 1.5 lb loaf
Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg
1 Tbsp. butter
3 cups bread flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
4 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 cup semi sweet choclate chips

Select loaf size and add ingredients to machine according to machine directions. Wait until the last knead cycle to add the chocolate chips. The Ghirradelli double chocolate chips are slightly larger and more intense.

Chocolate Bread (1)
Recipe By : http://www.cdkitchen.com
Categories : Bakers Dozen: Breads
1 Pkg Active Dry Yeast
2 Tbsp Sugar
1/4 C Warm Water
1 C Warm Water
4 C Flour
1/3 C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 Tsp Salt
1 Egg -- lightly beaten
2 Tbsp Sweet Butter -- at room temperature
1 C Chocolate Morsels
Combine the yeast with half the sugar and the first measure of warm (110 degree) water. Let stand until foamy (about 3 minutes). Combine the flour, cocoa and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the yeast mixture, the butter, remaining sugar and the second measure of water. Fit the mixer with a dough hook and knead the dough at medium speed until the dough is smooth and supple (about 10 minutes). Turn out onto a lightly floured board.
Knead by hand for 1 minute, adding more flour if needed. The dough must be quite firm, not sticky, as it must stand on its own. Knead in the chocolate morsels. Place the dough in the mixing bowl. Cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (1-1 1/2 hours).

Grease the baking pan. Turn the dough out. Punch down. Knead for 1 minute. Let rest for 5 minutes. Form into an 8" x 4" oval. Place on the baking pan.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour). Place the baking pan on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake for another 25 minutes.
Cool on a rack. Serve with sweet butter.

Chocolate Bread (2)
Recipe courtesy Louis Marchand
1 package active dry yeast or 18
grams fresh yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon lukewarm water
4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
1 cup unsweetened chocolate chips
Stir the first 3 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa and salt in another bowl. Stir 1 1/4 cups water, the egg yolk and butter into dissolved yeast; then stir in the flour mixture, 1 cup at a time, with your hands. Stir in the chocolate chips last. Knead on a lightly floured surface until velvety, elastic and moist, 8 to 10 minutes.
If done in a mixer, follow the same stages but add the chocolate chips together with the flour using the paddle. When it is blended, change to the dough hook and knead 2 minutes at low speed then 2 minutes at medium speed.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 2 hours.
Punch the dough down and cut in half. Shape into round loaves and place on an oiled baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Bake for 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake 30 minutes longer. Cool on a rack. Slice and enjoy for breakfast or a snack.
Yield: 2 loaves
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Medium