Category Archives: Bread

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

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Yum! In my opinion, cinnamon and raisins got together so well. My husband doesn’t agree – he hates raisins. I cut this recipe in half just to make sure I don’t over do it with this yummy bread. It smells wonderful while baking and the scent lingered until this morning. My only issue with this bread is that it took so long to rise – at least 4 hours for the first one and almost 2 for the second rise. I was bummed that it didn’t rise quite where I had hoped before baking it off; but I was already staying up past my preferred bed time waiting for it to crest over the top of the pan. I even tried proofing it in my oven in hopes that it would speed up the process, and that took an hour. This recipe doesn’t have much yeast in it for some reason (only one packet worth for two loaves), so it probably didn’t help that I cut the recipe in half. Next time I’ll add a touch more yeast or just be extra careful with the temperatures of the liquids I add. I’m not sure what the culprit was, but the flavor is great and the bread isn’t as dense as I feared it might be. It’s not too sweet and it has a great cinnamon spiciness to it. This is the perfect kind of bread for Fall and I’m sure I will make this one or another recipe similar to it. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread – adapted from King Arthur Flour

  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
  • 1 heaping cup dark and/or golden raisins
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar, divided
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm water, 110°F
  • 5 1/2 to 6 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Directions:

Combine and heat the milk and butter (on the stove or in the microwave) until just hot to the touch (about 120°F). Transfer to a large bowl and add the raisins or other fruit, oat flakes, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt and cinnamon; stir well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, dissolve the remaining tablespoon of brown sugar and active dry yeast in the water and let sit until bubbles appear. (If you’re using instant yeast, skip this step; simply add all of the remaining ingredients to the milk mixture once it’s cooled to lukewarm.) When the milk mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add the yeast mixture and mix well. Stir in the unbleached flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes by hand, adding additional flour only as necessary to prevent sticking. You can also do this whole process in the bowl of an electric mixer, kneading the dough for 5 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat it on all sides, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a cozy place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Knock down the dough, knead briefly on a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place into two lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until nicely browned. Near the end of the baking time, if the loaves are getting dark too quickly, cover them with a piece of aluminum foil, shiny-side up. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Soft Garlic Knots

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Soup needs bread! 😉 I didn’t have a couple of the ingredients that these knots required, but thankfully my improvisations didn’t ruin these. The dough improver is a necessary ingredient though with all the shaping these required. It prevents the dough from snapping back easily and rolling these out and tying them up would have been a pain with out it. These were fun to shape, but I didn’t roll them out like in the directions. I made sure that all my 16 pieces were at least 1.5 ounces each before shaping so I could make sure that they would all bake evenly. I took each ball and rolled it into about 11 inches (think of Play Doh snakes!) and made the knot, then tucked in the ends per the instructions. I baked off all 16 but only buttered half of them so I could store or freeze the rest. My family enjoyed these and they were a perfect accompaniment to our chicken noodle soup. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Soft Garlic Knots – adapted from King Arthur Flour

Dough:

  • 3 1/4 cups (13 3/4 ounces) Mellow Pastry Blend or 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 cup (1 ounce) Baker’s Special Dry Milk
  • 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) potato flour (*I used a couple TBSP of potato flakes)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 3 tablespoons King Arthur Easy-Roll Dough Improver (optional)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 4 teaspoons Pizza Dough Flavor (*I didn’t use this)
  • 2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) olive oil
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) lukewarm water*

*Add an additional 2 tablespoons water in the winter, or if you live in a very dry climate.

Glaze:

  • 2 to 6 cloves peeled, crushed garlic
  • 4 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon Pizza Seasoning or Italian seasoning, optional (*I used parsley flakes)

Directions: 

Dough: Whisk the dry ingredients together to prevent the potato flour from clumping when liquid is added. Stir in the olive oil and water, then mix and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to form a smooth, elastic dough, adding additional water or flour as needed. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, until it’s doubled in bulk.

Shaping: Divide the dough into 16 pieces, and roll each into a rope about 11 inches long; tie each rope into a knot, tucking the loose ends into the center. Place the knots on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for 45 minutes to about an hour, until very puffy looking.

Glaze: Whisk together the melted butter and garlic. Set it aside.

Baking: Bake the knots in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes. They should be set, but only very lightly browned. Remove the knots from the oven, and brush or drizzle them with the garlic butter. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning, if desired. Eat the knots warm. Yield: 16 garlic knots.

Light Wheat Bread

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Quick Post: I’m always on the lookout for new sandwich breads and have experimented with several. I’m not searching for the “perfect” loaf, I just have fun trying new ones. This bread is slightly wheaty with a nice chewy crust and dense crumb. I used a different technique (business letter fold) to form this loaf and I think that’s why it’s so tall, but my husband appreciated that for his sandwich today. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Light Wheat Bread – adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

  • 2 1/2 cups (11.25 oz) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
  • 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz.) white whole-wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (.75 oz.) raw sugar or honey
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (.38 oz.) salt
  • 3 tablespoons (1 oz.) powdered milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (.17 oz.) instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoons (1 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups (10 oz.) water, at room temperature

1. Stir together the high-gluten flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar (if using), salt, powdered milk, and yeast in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the shortening, honey (if using), and water. Stir (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) until the ingredients form a ball. If there is still flour in the bottom of the bowl, dribble in additional water. The dough should feel soft and supple. It is better for it to be a little too soft that to be too stiff and tough.

2. Sprinkle high-gluten or whole-wheat flour on the counter, and transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook). Add more flour if needed to make a firm, supple dough that is slightly tacky but not sticky. Kneading should take about 10 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The dough should pass the windowpane test and registers 77 to 81 degrees F. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

4. Remove the dough from the bowl and press it by hand into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick, 6 inches wide, and 8 to 10 inches long. Form it into a loaf by working from the short side of the dough, rolling up the length of the dough one section at a time, pinching the crease with each rotation to strengthen the surface tension. It will spread wider as you roll it. Pinch the final seam closed with the back edge of your hand or with your thumbs. Place the loaf in a lightly oiled 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch bread pan; the ends of the loaf should touch the ends of the pan to ensure an even rise. Mist the top with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap.

5. Proof at room temperature for approximately 60 to 90 minutes (as in, original recipe says 90 minutes, I walked into the kitchen at 60 and said “whoa!” as it had almost risen too much; clearly final rising times vary), or until the dough crests above the lip of the pan.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven rack on the middle shelf.

7. Place the bread pan on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue baking for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the oven. The finished loaf should register 190 degrees F in the center, be golden brown on the top and the sides, and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

8. When the bread is finished baking, remove it immediately from the loaf pan and cool it on a rack for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours

Cocoa-nana Bread

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Quick Post:  I had a few leftover bananas from my produce box that were perfectly spotty for a banana bread. This bread is dense, chocolaty, rich, and fudgy. M enjoyed a generous slice on his way to work and called me to tell me how good it was 🙂 He knows I love compliments on my food – especially new recipes. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Cocoa-nana Bread – adapted from Obsessed with Baking via Dorie Greenspan 

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup semisweet cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 stick unsalted butter at room temp
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup store-bought chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.)

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute, until softened. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. At this point, the batter may look a little curdled — it’s okay. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Still on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tent to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 to 75 minutes) or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temp right side up.

Pizza Dough

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M requested a new pizza dough so this is what I decided to try. It wasn’t as good as this one, but I’m pretty partial to it. This had a nice texture and chew, it was really easy to work with; but there was nothing remarkable about the flavor. It’s just a good basic recipe, but my search for the perfect dough for him isn’t over. He really loves California Pizza Kitchen’s dough. I have to admit, it’s really good – so if I am able to find something that comes close it would be my new favorite. I doubled this recipe and ended up with four 11 ounce balls of dough, two are stashed in the freezer. I made one pizza Margarita and one barbecue chicken pizza (a la CPK, his fave – of course). The kids and I enjoyed the new (to them) pizza margarita and M happily ate four of his – pizza night is always a hit in this family 🙂 Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Pizza Dough – adapted from Food Network
  • 1 package active dry or fresh yeast
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees F
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing
Directions:

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and honey in 1/4 cup warm water.

In a food processor, combine the flour and the salt. Add the oil, the yeast mixture, and the remaining 3/4 cup of water and process until the mixture forms a ball. (The pizza dough can also be made in a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed until the mixture comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and starts to climb up the dough hook).

Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead by hand 2 or 3 minutes longer. The dough should be smooth and firm. Cover the dough with a clean, damp towel and let it rise in a cool spot for about 2 hours. (When ready, the dough will stretch as it is lightly pulled).

Divide the dough into 4 balls, about 6 ounces each. Work each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball. Repeat 4 or 5 times. Then on a smooth, unfloured surface, roll the ball under the palm of your hand until the top of the dough is smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let rest 1 hour. At this point, the balls can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Pizza Margarita –

  • 1 – 11 ounce ball of dough
  • 1/3 cup of pizza sauce
  • 4 ounces of fresh mozzarella
  • 10 leaves of basil
  • Parmesan cheese, Pecorino Romano cheese, olive oil for drizzling (optional)
Directions – 
*Preheat your oven to 475 about 15 minutes before you make your pizza. I use a pizza stone and place it on the lowest rack of my oven.

1. On a piece of parchment paper, shape the pizza dough into the desired diameter. I use a little olive oil to prevent sticking. Work from the inside out, and gradually move your hands away from the center of the dough. You could also do this with a rolling pin – I happen to love using my hands for the job. Once you’ve achieved the size you want, take a fork and poke the tines all over the surface of the dough.

2. Spread the pizza sauce all over, making sure to leave about an inch around the circumference. Next, take your torn mozzarella and place on top of the sauce. Because it’s fresh mozzarella, you can leave lots of empty space because this type of mozz melts beautifully and spreads itself nicely when heated. I love the stuff!  Top with basil leaves, a sprinkle of cheese and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.

3. Carefully transfer the pizza – still on its parchment paper to an upside-down sheet pan. I use it like a pizza peel to move it to the stone in the oven. Bake for about 10 minutes. Using the sheet pan again, remove the pizza from the oven and place the parchment paper and all onto a cooling rack.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Whole Wheat Pita

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This is one of my sneaky ways of getting the family to eat healthier with me. It’s not that they don’t like this kind of meal, but I know if they had a choice – the first one wouldn’t be salad. I marinated the chicken souvlaki style and set it in the fridge for a couple of hours, and the chicken was moist and flavorful. I used my new favorite dressing – this stuff is so addicting I love it on veggies and sandwiches too. M didn’t like the pita because it was too chewy for him, but the kids and I didn’t mind that at all. Thanks for reading, enjoy!
White Whole Wheat Pita – adapted from King Arthur Flour
  • 1 3/4 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1 1/2 cups Bread Flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
  • 1 to 1 1/8 cups lukewarm water
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (*I didn’t end up using this, but it probably would have helped keep these moist)
Directions:

1.Combine all of the pita ingredients (except the oil for brushing), and mix and knead to make a soft, smooth dough.

2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or large measuring cup, cover it, and let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes, till it’s just about doubled in bulk. Towards the end of the rising time, start to preheat your oven to 450°F, with a pizza stone on the bottom shelf, if you have one.

3. Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, cover them, and let them rest for 10 minutes.

4. Working with two pieces of dough at a time, roll each into a 6″ circle. If you roll the dough about 7″ wide, it’ll shrink back to about 6″.

5. Carefully flop the dough onto the hot pizza stone. If you’re not using a pizza stone, put it on an ungreased baking sheet, and put the baking sheet on your oven’s bottom rack.

6. Bake for 4 minutes. The pitas should rise enthusiastically. If they’re on a stone, they’ll probably puff up like balloons; if they’re on a baking sheet, they’ll still expand; just not as vigorously.

7. Turn the pitas over, and bake for an additional 60 seconds.

8. Remove them from the oven, and brush with your favorite olive oil, plain or flavored. Wrap lightly in a cotton towel, to keep them soft. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough

Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake

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I promised M I would make him this a long time ago, so I decided it was best to make good on that promise. Besides, he’s been giving me many guilt-trips these past few days about wanting something sweet. I hope he appreciates this! 🙂 I love lemon zest and the step where you have to rub the zest and sugar together – it smells amazing! While it’s baking is smells buttery and sweet…swoon!

Verdict: I thought it best to cut this recipe in half so the extra loaf wouldn’t tempt me! The crumb is dense, but when I bit into it; it was like a cloud 😉 It’s so light and airy – totally unexpected. It was sweet, lemony (of course) and the texture is so unique. It’s great – if you love lemon, try this!

Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake – adapted from Joy the Baker 

Cake:

  • 2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2-1/3 cups sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 6 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
  • 1 stick, plus 7 tbsp unsalted butter (15 tbsp total), melted and cooled

Syrup:

  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • juice of two lemons
Directions:
  1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9×5-inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Even if the pans are nonstick, it’s a good idea to butter and flour them.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. Put the sugar and the lemon zest in a large bowl, working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist and thoroughly imbued with the fragrance of lemon.
  4. Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the extract, then whisk in the cream. Continuing with the whisk, or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing with a rubber spatula.
  5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. As soon as the cake goes into the oven, make the syrup. After about 30 minutes in the oven, check the cakes for color- if they are browning too quickly, cover them lightly with foil tents.
  6. Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.
  7. When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding them and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and, using a thin skewer, cake tester or thin-bladed sharp knife, poke holes all over the cakes. Brush the cakes all over with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.

French Bread

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Maybe I enjoy making things more difficult, or it may just be the fact that I love making as much from scratch as possible. I enjoy learning new techniques as well as avoiding buying more over-priced foods from Publix, (the money saving makes it even more rewarding for me). I needed to make these for meatball sandwiches, so hopefully they’ll hold up well to the sauce, cheese and of course – the meatballs. This dough was hard to work with because it was so sticky.
Verdict: These were really good with a nice tight crumb so they held up well to the meatball subs we used these for. They have a nice chewy crust too – overall a great choice for future sandwiches. Before adding the meatballs, I hollowed out the bread to make room for easier handling and eating. All the bread guts went into a freezer bag to be used for bread crumbs – waste not, want not! Thanks for reading, enjoy!
French Bread – adapted from The Sisters’ Cafe
  • 2 ¼ c. warm water
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp yeast
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp oil
  • 5 ½ -6 cups flour-stirred before measured

First dissolve sugar and yeast in the warm water. Let this proof—or sit for a few minutes until it bubbles. Then add salt, oil and 3 cups of flour and beat well (At this point I switch to my dough/kneading attachment on my mixer) Add in 2 1/2 -3 more cups of flour. The dough should clean off the sides of the bowl and not be too sticky. Knead for a few minutes. Leave the dough in the mixer to rest for 10 minutes and then stir it down (turn on your mixer for 10 seconds) and then allow to rest another 10 minutes. Repeat for a total of 5 times. Then turn dough onto a floured surface and knead it 2 or 3 times to coat with flour. Divide into 2 equal parts. Roll each part into a 9×13 rectangle. Roll dough up, starting from long edge of loaf to seal. Arrange seam side down on large baking sheet that’s been sprinkled with corn meal, allowing room for both loaves. Repeat with second part of dough. With a sharp knife, cut 3 gashes at an angle on the top of each. Cover lightly; allow to rise 30 minutes. Brush entire surface with egg wash (one egg beaten slightly with 1 Tbsp of water). If desired, sprinkle with sesame seads. Bake for 30 minutes at 375. Cool on racks

Brioche Buns

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Yum – hamburgers with caramelized onions, chipotle Gouda, avocado, and tomato…so good. Up until today, I have never caramelized onions before, but it couldn’t be easier. If you have 15 minutes, onion and olive oil – you’re golden! Just be sure to stir them around every once in a while so they brown evenly. My house smells amazing and I am going to have to make these every time we make hamburgers now – for the smell alone! 😉 Oh, and if that wasn’t enough to make these burgers special, I made brioche buns. These are light, fluffy and slightly sweet buns enriched with eggs, butter and sweetened with honey. The dough is pretty sticky but so light and pillow soft. These burgers had so many flavors going on – sweet, salty, savory and spicy. I am so hooked on caramelized onions now, I’m going to have to find more ways to use them. Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Brioche Buns  –  adapted from Home Cooking in Montana
  • 2/3 cup warm milk
  • 1/3 cup warm water
  • 3 TBS honey
  • 2 ex-large eggs, room temp.
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 cups bread flour(+ more, if needed)
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 TBS unsalted butter, softened
Topping:
  • 1 egg yolk, for brushing( you can mix the yolk with a bit of water, if you like)
Directions:
1. In the bowl of a mixer add the flours(3 cups first), yeast and the salt. Whisk to combine and add the sliced soft butter.
2. In a glass measuring cup, combine milk, warm water, eggs and honey. Whisk to combine and add it all to the dry ingredients.
3. Place a kneading hook and turn on mixer. Mix on low scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the flour. Increase the speed to medium. Knead for 8 minutes…the dough should be tacky and look pretty sticky. If you feel the dough is sticking to the sides too much add 1 TBS of flour at a time until the dough gathers around the hook and slaps around the sides of the bowl. It may still stick a bit to the sides, but not overly. Don’t be tempted to add too much flour or the buns will be dry.~ I probably added another couple of tablespoonfuls of extra flour.
4. Continue kneading for an additional 2 more minutes… for a total of 10 minutes.
5. Scrape the sticky dough that clings to the sides of the mixer bowl and then form all of the dough in a ball. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until at least doubled in bulk and is nice and puffy… 1 to 2 hours.
6. Plop the soft dough unto a floured countertop… sprinkle a bit of flour on top as well. Using a dough scraper, divide dough into 8-10 equal parts. With floured hands form balls and place on lightly oiled parchment-lined baking sheet. Arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet as they will rise some more.
7. Flatten the balls down a bit( to about 1 1/2-2 inches or so) and brush with egg yolk. Cover loosely( with oiled plastic wrap) and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours… or until nicely puffed.
8. Pre-heat oven to 400 deg. F with rack in center. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 10-15 minutes(depending on the size of the bread buns…mine took about 11 minutes.)

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

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Quick Post: This bread is so moist and rich and no one would ever know that there is zucchini in it unless you told them 😉 Sneaky, right? My kids love it, too. M on the other hand wont touch it because he knows there is zucchini…oh well, more for me! The original recipe calls for this to be baked in a 9×5 inch pan, but I wanted to make a taller loaf, so I baked it in a smaller 8×4 inch loaf pan. That’s why mine doesn’t have a dome on top – it baked completely flat because it couldn’t rise higher than the loaf pan. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread – adapted from Inspired Taste

  • 1 1/2 cup shredded raw zucchini
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (45 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (*I used espresso powder)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup  light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions –

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a loaf pan (8×4 or 9×5) with nonstick cooking oil.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, then set aside.

In a large bowl, using a hand mixer beat the oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla extract and coffee granules for about 2 minutes.

Add the shredded zucchini to the dry ingredients and then in batches add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; use a spatula to incorporate everything until just mixed.  Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake in the oven for 55 – 65 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted in the bread and then be removed clean.  Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.