Chocolate Coffee Cardamom Bread! (CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED)
Thanksgiving has come and gone too quickly yet again. We have finished eating our Thanksgiving Leftovers Torta, but we’ll continue to hold on to our reasons to stop and give thanks, especially as the holiday madness begins in earnest. We’ve come up with a great way to celebrate the season with you–and they don’t involve turkey or long lines of shoppers–a decadent chocolate bread, laced with coffee, cardamom, and more chocolate!
Let’s start with the bread. The recipe is our Chocolate Espresso Whole Wheat Bread recipe, which comes from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day, but tweaked just a bit, with a swirl of cardamom sugar and chocolate chunks. The combination of chocolate, cardamom, and coffee is quite a treat; the flavors compliment each other beautifully. This bread is rich and dreamy, but the dough is still made with whole wheat flour and honey, adding lots of flavor with less fat than our regular brioche, for example. There is, of course, the coffee icing that covers the top, an added little indulgence for the Holidays.
Chocolate Coffee Cardamom Bread
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (or two packets)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 cup strong brewed coffee, lukewarm
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
4 large eggs
1/2 cup neutral-flavored oil
3/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
Whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5 quart bowl, or other lidded food container. Combine the liquid ingredients and mix with the dry ingredients without kneading.
The dough will be loose, but will firm up when chilled. Don’t try to use it without chilling at least 2 hours.
Cover the dough, and allow to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, about 2 hours. Refrigerate and use over the next 5 days.
On baking day, grease a 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch nonstick loaf pan. Cut off a 2-pound piece of dough and shape into a ball. Generously flour your work surface, and roll the dough into a 1/4 inch rectangle, dusting with flour as needed. Brush the surface of the dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter, and sprinkle the cardamom sugar mixture evenly over the butter. Then sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the sugar mixture. Roll the dough into a cylinder, and pinch the seams shut. Place in the prepared loaf pan, and allow to rest for about an hour and 45 minutes, covered loosely with plastic wrap. (For detailed instructions on rolling out, sprinkling, and rolling up, see Zoe’s post here).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 45-50 minutes, until firm. Remove the bread from the pan and drizzle with the coffee icing (recipe follows). Allow to cool before slicing and eating.
Coffee Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons strong coffee
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt together. Add coffee one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
Another must try recipe from you guys….and I sure hope that I win the Giveaway !!!
I have all three books, but they’d make a lovely present. It’s always good to share the love (and the bread)!
That bread looks amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I have two of these books and I bake sandwich bread all the time for school lunches. Do you think you substitute cinnamon chips or white chocolate/ or almond paste for the chocolate? My son is allergic chocolate.
Wow, this bread looks amazing! And what a fun giveaway!
Love your recipes and would love to have the books…Actually I have the first one already, so if I win, that would be a lovely gift.
I would love to win this set. I just checked out from the library the Healthy Bread book and can’t wait to try new recipes.
I love your books. You have made me look like a genius.
Oh, the chocolate cardamon bread looks delicious. I love baking with cardamon. Thank you for another great recipe.
I’ve never had cardamon bread…but this looks delicious 🙂
Thanks for the contest and recipe.
I am not big on chocolate and rarely eat it. But I know some others who live to eat the confection in any manner. I am right now proofing some whole wheat with a nut mixture on top. Two loaves on Friday of last week didn’t last the weekend!
I’ve had your Artisan Bread in 5 for quite a while now and have baked quite a bit of the bread recipes, the most used one being the Master recipe for Boule. I share this bread a lot when invited to dinner (added olives and rosemary and shaped it like a baguette). I would love to win these 3 books (to keep the 2 for me and share AB in 5 with my sister).
This chocolate bread would make a great Christmas breakfast bread! mmm the smell of cardamon!
I have borrowed 2 of your books from the library last Sat. The instructions are clear. The receipes are easy to follow. The chocolate coffee bread looks like a cake. I am sure that my husband would enjoy it if I make it.
Thanks for this recipe, particularly the reduced fat part.
Love the master recipe! This looks like a good one to try, too.
That looks yummy! I would love to have to books!
This looks amazing!!
A friend made me a loaf of this amazing bread. I almost cried it was so good. Couldn’t wait to pay it forward — made a loaf for one of my friends this morning.
Borrowed a book from a friend but had to give it back. The set of three would be a great addition to my well used library!
Your breads are amazing!
What a generous giveaway! The honey apple challah is one of my favorite recipes!
My grandchildren, 3 and 5, recently made AB5 for their mother. It was a great hit!
One of my favorite recipes for making a treat is the Brioche filled with Chocolate Ganache, except I use Nutella instead of the chocolate. Sometimes I slice it into individual rolls and bake in a muffin tin.
Thank you for another delicious recipe and the book set giveaway contest!
I have your first book and my kids love the bread from your recipes. Please keep your fresh and healthy idea coming!
A couple of years ago I got intrigued with your recipes! Consequently, my 4 year old grandson would help me make bread every two weeks (I was babysitting him while his parents work). We would each have a bowl and he’d work on measuring the ingredients and we’d bake 4 LARGE loves. He would only eat “MIMI’s Bread”!!! Keep up the good work!
I think that Chocolate Coffee Cardamom Bread would be perfect for my holiday potlucks with friends and co-workers. And the book giveaway is almost as sweet!
Thank you.
This looks delicious! I’m already a fan of the chocolate bread, though I’ve never made it in a loaf before (just muffins). Looks gorgeous with the frosting drizzled over it!
So excited about the giveaway! I will make a batch of the basic bread dough up during the holidays, hoping to try one of the crockpot methods. Thanks for making breadmaking easy!
Just started making your bread. This one looks really yummy!
This bread sounds delicious!
Oh, yum. That’s all I can say. Yum.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! It’s my turn to bring treats next Monday and this bread will be perfect!
This recipe looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it this weekend!
Looks so delicious! I think I just might have to make this one. 🙂
Love these recipes! So curious to try this one!
Hooray! I have the first book but would love to add the others.
The bread looks absolutely yummy! And I have been faunching for your books since they’ve come out (being on a very small pension stinks). I hope I win the giveaway, so I can top pestering my friends to get them for me for Christmas.
Yum! I can not wait to try this recipe!
Wow! I *must* make more room in the fridge to get a batch of dough going!
My son thought this bread looked great. We plan to try it soon. Thanks for all the great recipes. I hope to own the books soon!
Thank you for the giveaway opportunity! We love your “Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day” and are spreading the word about your books. 🙂
I love your books! They have helped me overcome my fear of yeast! I have been trying to think of something new to make for friends for Christmas this year, but I think I’ll go with the old standard that everyone loves- fresh homemade bread!
This bread looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it!!!
This bread looks so delicious! I love your books and would love to win this giveaway! Your pizza dough has saved me for dinner time numerous times–even tonight! 🙂
mmmmm. We will likely have the pistachio awesomeness for Christmas breakfast at my husband’s folks, and pumpkin pie brioche for dinner at my Aunt’s, not to mention the whole wheat challah that we’ll give out for gifts to neighbors and friends. We look forward to sharing it all!
Thanks for the chance.
That bread looks amazing. I need to make that very soon!
I have just recently discovered cardamom . Combining it with chocolate sounds divine!
I love have dough in the fridge to make bread so fast. This looks great! I only have your first book and would love to own more!!!
After retiring last month we found a new cafe and the owner makes many different kinds of breads & other treats. I decided I would like to bake breads too so would like to win your books. Thanks for the chance.
I have been looking for a new receipt using cardamomand this one looks like a winner, thanks