Chocolate Bread

chocolate bread from bakechocolatecake.blogspot.com
Today I was in the mood to bake bread again and instead of baking another loaf using Jim Lahey's recipe, I decided to alter it to make chocolate bread.

The result is a crispy crust with gooey chunks of chocolate.  It was just what I was craving.  It is especially good with Nutella!




Enjoy!




Chocolate Bread

3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup sugar
1 2/3 cups water
3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate (or chocolate chips)

In a large bowl stir together flour, yeast, salt, cocoa and sugar.  Add 1 1/3 cups water.  Continue to add more water to create a soft dough.  The dough should be slightly sticky.  Stir in the pieces of chocolate.

shape dough into a ball
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside overnight (or about 15 hours).

Remove the dough from the bowl and gently shape into a ball.  As you are shaping the dough, try to keep the chocolate in the middle of the dough instead of on top (Too much chocolate on top will burn as it is baking).

Place a small amount of olive oil on a large plate.  Place the ball of dough on top of the plate.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 2 hours.


This is the 2 1/2 qt pot I use to bake the bread
















Put a 2 1/2 quart pot with lid into the oven.  Heat the oven until it reaches 450 degrees.

Carefully remove the pot and place the dough inside.  Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes remove the lid and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.  Continue to bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bread is brown.  (If the top of the bread is browning too fast then cover with aluminum foil)

Remove the bread from the pot and cool on a wire wrack.



Crispy Chocolate Bread - Delicious!