Chocolate Bread

This chocolate bread recipe is easy to make and bakes up with a wonderful texture and rich chocolate flavor. It’s a yeast bread that is not hard to make. All you need is some simple ingredients and some time for the bread to rest before you make it. You can easily make the dough ahead for this chocolate bread and keep it in the refrigerator, too.

I’ve made quite a few quick breads because they’re usually pretty easy since you don’t need yeast or a lot of time to make them. But I’ve been curious about yeast breads and so I got the cookbook, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day* which is all about easy-to-make homemade yeast bread.

The chocolate bread recipe caught my eye right away and I was so excited when I made it because it was my first yeast bread ever and it turned out well! I was very happy.

The book has lots of delicious bread recipes, but what I liked best about the chocolate bread is that you don’t need a baking stone to bake it and you don’t have to set up a way to steam the bread as it bakes. Unlike some of the more traditional breads in the book, all you have to do for this chocolate bread is mix up the ingredients and let the dough sit in the fridge before you bake it.

Even though it’s pretty easy to make the dough, you do need to allow enough time for the dough to rest several times before you bake it.

Ingredients

• Lukewarm water
• Vegetable oil
• Granulated yeast
• Kosher salt
• Granulated sugar
• Unbleached all-purpose flour
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

How to Make Chocolate Bread

First, it helps to have a very large bowl to mix the ingredients. Combine the water, oil, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the flour, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips and stir until there are no lumps of dry flour. Loosely cover the bowl and leave the mixture at room temperature for two hours.

Grease an 8×4-inch loaf pan with butter and then sprinkle sugar over the top of the butter. Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a round shape. Rest the dough for a few minutes and then shape it into a rectangle.

Place the dough into the prepared pan, cover it loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour and 45 minutes.

After the dough has rested you can bake the bread. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the bread for 45 to 50 minutes. It’s helpful to check the bread with a thermometer to ensure it is fully cooked. Its internal temperature should be 190-200°F.

This chocolate bread has the same texture as a regular loaf of yeast bread, but with a rich and chocolaty flavor. After I made this bread, I realized the authors have shared the recipe on their site, so if you want step-by-step photos you might want to check it out.

Update: Since making this bread I’ve also made Chocolate Bread Rolls, too.

*Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).

Chocolate Bread

Servings: 1 (8x4-inch) loaf

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

This bread has the texture of a regular loaf of bread but it’s flavored with chocolate. The bread is easy to make but be sure to plan your time because the dough needs time to rest several times.

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Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp granulated yeast
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• extra butter and sugar for the pan

Instructions

• Place the water, oil, yeast, salt, and sugar in a very large bowl (or bucket). Stir it a few times. Add the flour, cocoa powder and chocolate chips. Mix until there are no lumps of dry flour. Cover the bowl loosely. Leave the mixture to rest for 2 hours at room temperature.
• Prepare a 8x4-inch loaf pan with butter and then sprinkle it with sugar. Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a round and let it rest for a few minutes. Flatten the dough into a rectangle shape after it’s rested.
• Place the dough into the prepared pan, cover it loosely with plastic wrap and leave it to rest for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with sugar and bake it for 45 to 50 minutes. You can check the bread with a thermometer to ensure it’s fully baked. It should read 190-200°F.
• Remove the bread from the pan to cool completely before serving.

Notes

Recipe source: Artisan Bread in Five

The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.

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