5/5 (3)

Valentine’s day is fast approaching. Many people are thinking about gifts for their loved ones. I would suggest anything that contains chocolate will be an ideal gift. So I decided to make a cinnamon & chocolate bread this week. The funny thing is, I love chocolate so badly, and my husband doesn’t like it very much. BUT, he loved this bread immensely such that, it disappeared very quickly.

This is definitely not my own recipe, but I am proud to say that the end result comes out good every time i make it. Needless to say, I have modified the recipe according to my taste.

Servings : 4

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour – 2 and 1/4 cups
2. Sugar – 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
3. Cinnamon powder – 1 and 1/2 teaspoons
4. Salt – 1 heaping teaspoon
5. Red Star active dry yeast – 1 tablespoon
6. Whole milk – 1/4 cup
7. Eggs – 2 (large)
8. Butter – 5 tablespoons
9. Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
10. Nutella – 1/2 cup
11. Semisweet chocolate chips – 1/2 cup

For finishing : (to make simple syrup – optional)

1. Sugar – 1/4 cup
2. Water – 1/4 cup

Simple syrup : Dissolve the sugar in the water and boil for 5 minutes.

Method:

1. Keep ready all the wet ingredients first.

Take a bowl with 1/4 cup warm milk (110°F), mix 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon yeast into it. Keep it in room temperature (covered) for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, it will form froth like texture as shown below.

2. Then slightly beat 2 eggs in a bowl. Also melt the butter and keep it ready.

3. Now for the dry ingredients:

In a large prep bowl, add all purpose flour, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, cinnamon powder, salt and mix well. Now add all the wet ingredients – yeast mixture, eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract into the dry ingredients.

4. Knead well to form a dough. Now turn the oven on to the lowest temperature setting for only 2 minutes. Now, place the dough covered with a lid inside the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, the dough will be expanded as shown below.

Here comes the main ingredient…

5. Take the dough and spread it out with a rolling pin so that it has a thickness of 1/4 of an inch. Then spread out the nutella all over it along with the chocolate chips. Start rolling it from the longer side and seal it when it reaches the end as shown in picture. After which, enclose it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

6. After 15 minutes, cut the roll in to half (vertically) as shown. Then intertwine the two cut pieces as given.

7. Take a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan and line it with aluminum foil and place the intertwined dough into it gently.

Now, again turn the oven on to the lowest temperature setting for only 2 minutes. Place the dough inside the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, the dough will be expanded as shown below.

8. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for 45 minutes. Allow it to cool for some time. Then poke holes on the bread with a back of a wooden spoon and pour the simple syrup all over it (this is optional).

Slice and serve!