Chocolate bread : Roped and Loaf

I just realized that I have not been posting any bread or chocolate recipe for ages! Super unlike me, hahaha! So today I shall "kill 2 birds with one stone"...a chocolate bread post, heehee. :D I found this great recipe book in the library the other and fell in love with it! There are countless recipes inside that I cannot wait to try out! Title of book is "Bread顶级风味面包书" and it is published in Chinese. Anyway, my first one will be this yummy Chocolate bread with some modification ...just to make it a wee bit healthier. ;)

One of the thing I love about this recipe is it's a straight dough method, no pre fermented dough or Tangzhong required. ;) I really love the texture of this bread, so easy to handle and yet so soft and yummy. Not to mention it is packed full of chocolaty flavor too! I had replace some of the bread flour with wholemeal flour to make it healthier, here is my version  of the recipe:

Ingredients for Chocolate Bread: (makes one 9x5x4 loaf, and 5 roped buns)
400g bread flour
60g wholemeal flour (I used Prima)
40g organic brown rice powder
7g salt
60g caster sugar
20g milk powder
15g honey
20g cocoa powder (I used Valrohna)
50g egg without shell
300-325ml water (add as per needed)
8g instant active yeast
40g unsalted butter, room temperature
50-80g raisins (depending how much u like)
80g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

•  In a large mixer, add in all the ingredients except for water, butter and chocolate chips. 
• Gradually add in 300ml water and start mixing. If needed, add in the additional 25ml water and continue to knead till dough is not sticky and very elastic which will pull away from the sides.
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it reaches window panel.
• Cover and let proof for 1-2hrs or till dough doubles in volume.
• After proofing, punch out the air and weigh out 600g for the loaf and the remaining dough for the buns.
• Grease the loaf pan. Roll out the loaf dough portion into a large rectangle. Sprinkle the raisins all over the surface. Then roll it up like a swiss roll  and seal up the edges. Then fold the log into half like a skinny U shape, then take the two tips and start twisting it till it is like a twisted rope, then seal the two ends tightly. Gently lay the loaf into the loaf pan. Cover and let proof till it reaches the rim.
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• Next roll out the bun portion into a large long rectangle as well. Again sprinkle the chocolate chunks all over the surface. Then gently fold it into 3 fold like a letter, seal the edges. Then using the rolling pin, roll it slightly flat.
• Using a knife, cut the dough length wise into 5 long strips. It will be a little tricky if your chocolate chunks are big.
• Take one strip to shape: Take about 5 cm worth of the tip and fold it up like a U shape. Then the longer end tip and start twirling around the U until all used up. Seal the tip to the center of the dough. Repeat till the remaining 4 portions are all shaped. (Sorry forgotten to take pics this time)
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• Let dough proof till double in size. Preheat oven in the meantime to 175-180C.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes for the buns while 28-30 minutes for the loaf. I did an open loaf, so no cover. You can cover if you wish. 
• Once baked, remove from oven and let cool completely on the rack.

I had to admit that I did not do a good job on the shaping, haha! But I still had fun nonetheless and it does look a little bit likes ropes, ya? ;) The bread still turned out soft and awesome with chocolaty taste even with the addition of the wholemeal and brown rice powder. Note that you can purchase brown rice powder in Organic Shops.

The twisted loaf also turned out great too. :) Although one end of the loaf was taller then the other, haha!

 It is almost mandatory that I show a sneak peek of the inside of the bread, haha! So again proving that healthy can be tasty as well! Yums! But no worries if you have no brown rice powder or you don't fancy wholemeal in your bread, just use 500g of bread flour. :)

Okay, that's all folks! Hopefully you all will try out this recipe as well. Happy baking all!