Chocolate Cranberry Rye Bread
Chocolate cranberry rye bread is a sweet and hearty bread to enjoy on cold, wintery days.
This sweet yet savoury bread combines chocolatey and slightly bitter cacao with sweet dried cranberries and the full flavour of rye. This no-kneed recipe is quite easy to make, and in no time the bread is ready to enjoy.
Though it isn't gluten-free, this bread is dairy-free, sugar-free and vegan. However, if none of these are a concern for you, dairy-based butter, regular cocoa powder, and dark chocolate can be used.
I love to keep things simple and spread a little butter on a still warm slice, but other toppings like herbed goat cheese, or Bree can make interesting flavour pairings. A little morsel of this bread also goes really well with a glass of wine while watching the snow fall.
Ingredients
(Makes 24 servings / 3 loaves)
7 cups bread flour
1 scant cup dark rye flour
1 cup cacao powder
1/3 cup grade A maple syrup
1/2 cup unsalted plant-based butter, softened
2, 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 packet active dried yeast
3 cups water, lukewarm
1, 1/2 cups cacao nibs
2 cups dried cranberries
Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine all the ingredients except for the cacao nibs and dried cranberries. Set the mixer speed to low until all the contents are combined. Switch to a dough hook and continue mixing on speed level 2 until a dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough seems too sticky, add a little more bread flour a little at a time allowing each addition to be well incorporated before adding more.
Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to rest for a few minutes then add the cacao nibs and dried cranberries. Continue mixing on speed level 2 until the nibs and cranberries are well incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with a tea towel or clingwrap. Set it in a warm area to rise for two hours, or until it doubles in size. Punch down the dough and divide it into three equal portions. Form each portion into a ball, dust with a little flour, cover and let rise again until the balls are doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 400°F / 205°C and prepare two sheet pans lined with parchment paper or silicone liners. Set aside. If you wish to confine the diameter of each loaf, they can be baked in cake pans or baking pans instead of on sheet pans.
Using a sharp knife or bread lame, slice the top of each loaf and transfer them to the sheet pans. Bake for 35 minutes. No steam required. Remove from the oven and let cool before slicing.
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
total calories = 272 | total fat = 6.16g | saturated fat = 2.72g | cholesterol = 0mg | sodium = 277.83mg | net carbohydrates = 41.23g | dietary fibre = 4.57g | sugars = 7.94g | protein = 7.28g
