The sweet taste of chocolate bread

In my last post, I mentioned baking chocolate bread - a favorite of mine. Fantastic blogger For the Love commented to post the recipe - so here it is! It all started with Glenda finding this small bakery in San Diego that made chocolate bread every Saturday morning. Needless to say you had to get there early or else it was sold out. Then, I thought - why not try to make it ourselves! I gathered online recipies for chocolate bread and we went to work. Although we haven't completely perfected it yet and continue to tweak the recipe - here is a recipe to start with.

2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast (we think we should still add more)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup warm water
4 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1/2 cup plus
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 cup chopped semisweet chocolate (we tried Nestle, but are thinking a more rich milk chocolate will be better)
Egg wash (one egg plus 1 tablespoon water mixed)

Stir yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar into 1/3 cup warm water and pour into a large mixing bowl; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

Mix flour, remaining sugar, cocoa and salt. Stir remaining 1 1/4 cups water into dissolved yeast, then stir in the flour mixture. Knead dough until elastic (5-8 min) and then add in chocolate chunks for the last few kneads.

Place dough in greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, approximately 1 hour.

Turn risen dough onto lightly floured surface, punch it down - not too much though or you'll lost the chocolate chunks! and divide in half. Form each half into desired shape and place on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Cover with plastic wrap again and let rise. It doesn't rise as much as other breads do - we think it's because of the chocolate weight.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Brush loaves with egg wash and bake in 450-degree oven for 10 minutes, Then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes more or until bread sounds hollow when tapped - it really sounds hollow.

Enjoy warm or cool, and always good with a glass of milk!

Happy baking!