A simple touch of cocoa powder in the bread dough can add so much color and aroma to your everyday slice of bread.

Hello everyone…yes, I have been incognito for a few weeks…a combination of work load and other things in my life that I want to prioritize…such as travel (vacation)…and suddenly here we are past mid January…

Time indeed flies…even faster as older I get and so much has been happening around me, I just want to take in and enjoy every moment…I tried to take a small break from blogging and see how I felt…well…I miss it, so here I am back to the world of sharing recipes by blogging.

Okay, enough of this…and let’s talk about cocoa bread…

– How the cocoa bread taste?

Honestly not much different than the plain one, the color is very deceiving as I have imagined biting into a big chunk of chocolate…sorry to disappoint you…does not taste like chocolate.

– So, why bother adding cocoa powder into the bread dough?

Cocoa powder does not contain fats or sugar, therefore makes the bread a bit healthier and smell so good.

– Tangzhong method?

Yes, this recipe uses tangzhong method, which you can read more about it here.  The bread stays soft, cottony for many days.

– Are you ready to give this recipe a try?

Ingredients:

Tangzhong or water roux

  • 40 g flour
  • 200 g water

Bread dough

  • 450 g bread flour
  • 35 g honey
  • 25 g sugar
  • 25 g unsweetened cocoa  powder
  • 5 g yeast
  • 5 g salt
  • 80 g heavy cream
  • 70 g water
  • 30 g butter

Method:

Tangzhong or Water roux

Whisk together the water and the flour until the mixture is well blended and free of lumps.

Stir the mixture while it cooks over the medium heat to reach 65oC/149 – 150oF. It takes about 2-3 minutes.

Continue whisking until the mixture starts to thicken. The mixture of flour will have “lines”.

Remove from the heat.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with a plastic film to avoid “skin” from forming.

Ready to add to the bread dough once is cool.

Tangzhong or water roux can bend kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

Cocoa bread dough

In the mixer, add all the water roux, and all the other ingredients under bread, except for the butter.

Turn the machine and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until a uniform very wet and sticky dough.

Increase the speed to “2” and let it mix for 15 minutes. The dough should be very sticky. Do not add extra flour as the dough will be less sticky as gluten forms.

Add the butter and mix for 15 to 20 minutes more. Take a small portion of the dough (like a golf ball) and stretch gently until a very thin and transparent membrane (windowpane) and you can see light through it.

If the dough tears mix for another 2-3 minutes until the dough pass the windowpane test. demonstrating that the gluten is very well developed, and it will create a very light crumb. The dough should be very elastic.

Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let dough proof until the dough tripled to its original size.

Assembly

Shape the dough as you like.  I used two different pans, one bread pan and the other one I made into small dinner rolls.

Knock back the dough and split into desired size and shape and let it rise until triple of its original size.

Cover the pan and bake in a preheated oven of 350oF for approximately 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and flip the bread into a wire rack to cool.

– Looking for more bread recipes?  Check these out…

Did you know that cocoa powder is healthy? Chocolate is made from cocoa plant by adding fat, sugar and vanilla, therefore need to be consumed in moderation. Unsweetened cocoa powder is a great source of iron, magnesium, zinc, manganese and other minerals. Moreover, studies have found cocoa powder to exert anti-inflammatory properties.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

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