Home » Blog » Decadence! » chocolate bread

chocolate bread

~ chocolate bread ~

Ta Daaa!!! Here’s my recipe for chocolate bread made in a cast iron Dutch oven. It’s easy, beautiful and sooooo delicious. Ready? here we go…

1 packet active dry yeast

3 cups warm water

6 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa

1 and 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

In a large glass or pottery bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add flour, salt, cocoa, walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir with a wooden spoon until blended. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to proof on countertop for 8 hours. There should be bubbles on the surface after the 8 hours. Lightly flour a work surface. Using floured hands, gently remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the floured surface. Turn the dough over on itself twice. Cover with plastic wrap. Open up a clean, large floursack towel and lay it over the top of a big, clean pottery or glass bowl. Push it down in the center so it lines the bowl. Generously coat the towel with dry cornmeal. Place the bread dough, seam side down, on the towel. Sprinkle a little more cornmeal over the top of the dough. Cover the bread with another towel. Place the bowl in a warm spot to rise for 2 hours, or until doubled in size. 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees F and place a covered, cast iron Dutch oven inside the oven to heat up. When dough is ready, remove the pot, remove the lid, and put the dough in the pot seam side up. Replace the cover and bake at 475 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until bread is well browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack one hour before slicing.

Enjoy!

~Melissa

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

18 Comments

    1. Hi Carrie! It’s wonderful toasted with butter, cinnamon and sugar and a cup of cocoa…or spread with honey walnut cream cheese and topped with sliced strawberries for tea time! 🙂 enjoy!

  1. Sweet Melissa, I am soooooo determined to try this! I think I can do it, provided the actual baking happens on a day when Donna is here to help me lift the Dutch oven! I’m really super excited about this… thousand thanks! 🙂

  2. Wonder if the amount of cocoa could be increased without fundamentaly changing this recipe? I really want to make this but chocolate recipes never have enough chocolate for me.

    1. Hi Cheryl! 🙂 I’m not sure, Ive never tried adding more. I would suggest possibly adding chocolate chips? never tried this either, but it’s a thought. thanks for visiting.