Mexican Chocolate Bread Recipe

On occasion, when I was in
the depths of the misery that was my former marriage, I would console myself
with the bread machine. Actually, it was
a gift from my ex, so maybe he was onto me. I've never been a baker, but I envied people who could create the
comforting smells in their kitchen that came from home-baked bread. Having the sense to know this kind of
consolation was not possible from my oven, I relied on my then newfangled
machine. It's ancient now, but I still
have it. One of my most vivid comfort
recipes was Mexican Chocolate bread. The
recipe I used had chocolate chips, cocoa and salted peanuts in it. My sister stopped by one day in the middle of
the afternoon to find me having a slice of it with tea, and looked at me like
I'd lost my mind. Well, I probably had,
but she was on a diet at the time and I'm sure she wished she'd made a U-turn
at my street. This is not that same
recipe, but is delicious nonetheless. You could always toss in some peanuts if you wanted. But don’t save it until you're in a miserable
relationship. This stuff was made for
happy eating.

Mexican Chocolate Bread
Recipe for Machine  

Makes one 1.5 pound loaf

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter,
  cut into pieces

• 2.5 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process
  cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon gluten
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso
  powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate
  chips

• 2 teaspoons fast acting
  yeast, or 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast 

Place all ingredients in the
pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions. Set crust on medium and program for Sweet
Bread Cycle. Press start. (This recipe not suitable for delay timer).

When the baking cycle ends,
immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.

Courtesy: The Bread Lover's Bread Machine
Cookbook, Beth Hensperger