Here's a delicious chocolate bread that's not too sweet and has a deep, dark chocolate flavor. It's the perfect gift for Valentine's Day and the bread tastes fantastic when made into morning toast. This recipe is great for beginner bread bakers and can easily be expanded upon by more experienced bakers.
Yield: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 cups bread flour, about
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 2-1/4 tsp or 1 pkg (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1-1/2 cups warm water, 95 to 110 degrees F
Preparation:
- In large bow, mix together 2 cups bread flour, cocoa, sugar, brown sugar, yeast, salt, oil, and water. Mix in the remaining flour, about a 1/4 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and knead for 5 minutes, adding only a small sprinkle of flour each time the dough gets too sticky.
- Put dough in greased bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so that the dough top is also lightly greased. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or clean kitchen cloth and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 1 hour. Punch down dough. Turn dough out onto board and knead for another 5 minutes. Shape dough into loaf. Put loaf in greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Cover loaf and let rise in warm, draft-free place for about 45 minutes or until double in size.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when you tap on it.
