Chocolate Swirl Bread

I've been slacking on bread baking lately.  It has been a slow process getting back into all of the baking I used to do since I got over morning sickness.  But it's been on my list for some time.  I finally made a batch of homemade bread this morning.  Since Justin was gone I didn't have as much of a morning time constraint for breakfast/shower.  So that worked well.  I decided to try another Heavenly Homemaker recipe - chocolate swirl bread.  I've been wanting to try this bread for a LONG time.  But every time I look at the recipe and see that it takes about 4 hours from start to finish I change my mind.  Well, I tried it today.  I just did one loaf (half recipe) to try it out.  Yeast breads can be hit or miss, so I didn't want to waste a bunch of flour on my first attempt.  I should have made a full recipe!!  This is awesome!  It turned out really well.  Rebecca and I both love it.  The chocolate flavor isn't super strong.  Just a hint.  And the bread is so soft.  Right out of the oven with lots of butter...mmmmm:)  The best part - this is Laura's regular whole wheat bread recipe, with the chocolate added.  So now I know I can make her basic bread and her cinnamon swirl bread.  It's like 3 recipes in one.  I just might have to add another round of bread baking to my agenda for this week :)  And it turns out the steps in making this recipe actually work really well with our usual morning routine.  So now I know I can make it more often.  Laura usually does 4 loaves at once.  Maybe I'll have to get in that habit so I can always have homemade bread on hand (fresh and in the freezer).  A great money saver.  And very healthy.  I'll have to try it using sprouted flour sometime too to make it even more tummy friendly.  Definitely two thumbs up!!  I can't wait to make it again.  Rebecca said she wanted the cinnamon raisin bread, so I think that's coming very soon :)

The two things I adjusted in the recipe were the water and the filling.  I added more water for the soaking and while kneading the dough.  I always say wetter is better when it comes to yeast doughs :)  It would have been way too dry otherwise.  I also used the full amount of filling for one loaf.  Even that is not very sweet/chocolatey.  For 2 loaves I would definitely increase the filling from what Laura suggests.

Chocolate Swirl Bread
makes 2 loaves

6 cups whole wheat flour, divided
1 ¾ cups warm water, divided
1/3 cup honey
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.) (I used bread machine/instant yeast)
1 tsp. sea salt
3 Tbsp. melted butter

butter
2 tsp. cocoa (or carob powder)
1/4 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)

Mix 3 cups of whole wheat flour with 1 ½ cups of warm water in a large glass bowl (I did this in my stand mixer bowl). Allow this to sit for about 30 minutes. This will break down the gluten and help the bread to rise better.

In a small bowl mix together ¼ cup water, yeast and honey. Allow this to sit for about 10 minutes, or until the yeast is activated and mixture becomes bubbly (I let it sit until the flour/water was done resting).

In the meantime, melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and allow to cool. You don’t want the hot butter to kill the yeast.

When the 30 minutes are up, add salt, melted butter and yeast mixture to the flour and water mixture. Gradually add the remaining three cups of flour and stir well. As the dough becomes harder to stir, pour it out onto a clean counter and begin to knead the dough (I did this all in my stand mixer with the dough hook on.  I kneaded it in the mixer for about 13 minutes.  I had to add extra water.).

Once you’ve kneaded your dough, place it into a bowl to rise (I just kept it in my mixer bowl).  Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise for at least one hour or until it has risen to twice it’s starting size (be sure it's in a warm place.  I turn my oven to warm and place the bowl on top of the oven.  Mine took about 1 1/2 hours to rise.).

While you’re waiting for your dough to rise, get your bread pans buttered.

 

When the dough has doubled in size, give it a nice punch.   Using a floured hand, pull the dough out of the bowl onto the counter.  Knead for three or four minutes until the air bubbles are all gone (I did do this by hand).

 Divide dough in half.  Roll out the dough about the width of your bread pans and as long as you like (the longer it is the more swirls you'll have in the bread).  Spread butter over the dough (I used 2-3 Tbsp. for one loaf) and sprinkled on sucanat (dehydrated cane sugar juice) mixed with cocoa powder (I mixed this and then realized I was only making one loaf...but I still used it all :)  Adjust to your taste.). Roll it up, tuck ends under and place in buttered bread pans.

Cover and allow 30 minutes to one hour to rise again. They should double in size, but the rising should happen more quickly this time because the yeast knows what to do by now.

Bake the bread uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when you thump the top of it.

Allow the bread to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove it to finish cooling on a wire rack.