One the weekend at The Cabin with friends, I was challenged, once again, to create a “new” type of bread.
I’m always up for a challenge, as you know.
I LOVE competition…and I LOVE checking items off the list and designating items as “mission accomplished.” I suppose you may surmise that I simply love winning!
This time it was to pair chocolate and almond…in bread…but not so much in a “sweet” way.
One request was for a chocolate chip bread with banana butter. The second was for a chocolate bread with an almond flavored butter.
Thus, in order to satisfy both palates, I created a chocolate – chocolate chunk bread with both a banana butter and an almond “essence” butter, of course, using Kerrygold.
And the result?
Winning!
Chocolate Artisan Bread
1 1/2Â cups lukewarm water, plus more for the broiler tray
1 1/2 tsp. granulated yeast (active dry, instant, quick rise, or bread machine is fine)
2 Tbs. raw cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, measured by the scoop-and-sweep method
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 oz. 70% dark chocolate, broken into smallish pieces
Follow all the instructions for Easy Artisan Bread, adding the sugar to the yeast and the chocolate and cocoa powder to the flour mixture in the very beginning.
Banana Butter
8 Tbs. Kerrygold butter, room temperature
1 ripe banana, mashed
Whip the two together! Add a touch of salt too.
Almond Essence Butter
8 Tbs. Kerrygold butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Whip the two together! Add a touch of salt too.
Seemingly similar, the two combinations are surprisingly different. Very different in fact.
Explore, experiment, and enjoy.
Best bread EVER!!!