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I was thinking about Purim, and while I love giving real food for mishloach manot, I like to keep it fun too. And then we discovered...
Chocolate Bread (whole wheat
variation)
Note: traditional Italian chocolate
bread is made with a sourdough starter. This recipe is for those of
us who don’t keep sourdough starter on hand.
This recipe makes 6 mini-loaves or 3
regular size loaves.
Ingredients:
3 ¼ cups warm water
2 tsp sugar
3 tsp dry yeast
9 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup oil + more for coating the bowl
½ bar dark chocolate, crushed with a
hammer or the end of a wooden rolling pin
Mix together the first three
ingredients, and allow the yeast to proof for about 10 minutes. (I
know, lots of people say you don’t have to do this, but I always
proof my yeast, that way I’m sure it is alive!)
Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar,
salt, and cocoa) in a large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour
the oil and the yeast mixture into the well, and then combine
everything. You can start with a wooden spoon, but eventually you
will need to use your hands (unless of course, you have a powerful
enough mixer to handle bread dough). Knead dough for about 10 min.
Coat the dough with oil and cover with a tea towel to rise.
Allow to rise until doubled in size.
After it has risen, punch down the dough, and sprinkle chocolate bits
evenly over the dough. Use a knife to cut the dough into 6
approximately equal pieces, if making mini loaves (3 pieces if making
regular size loaves). Work the chocolate into each piece of dough,
shape into circles and place on a baking tray lined with parchment
paper (you may need two, I did). Cover with a tea towel, and allow to
rise for another half hour.
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
When your loaves have risen, bake for
about 30 minutes. Watch them! Chocolate burns quickly if left in too
long.
Allow to cool before slicing.
Tastes great with butter. Or hazelnut
spread.
It’s actually pretty addictive. Don’t
get me started...
Let me know if you try this!
