Guatemalan Hot Chocolate Bread

From the Macrina Bakery and Cafe cookbook

• Ready In: 5 hrs
• Yields: 1 round loaf

Ingredients

• 1⁄3 cup  whole  blanched almond
• 4  tablespoons butter (room temperature)
• 1⁄2 cup  full fat milk
• 2  teaspoons dried yeast
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄4 teaspoon  almond extract
• 2  eggs
• 1⁄4 cup  sifted cocoa powder
• 2 1⁄4 cups  sifted plain flour
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 3  ounces  coarsely chopped dark chocolate
• 2  tablespoons  cinnamon sugar
•  water, for spraying

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F Toast the almonds on a lined baking tray in the oven for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and cool before coarsely chopping them. Turn off the oven.
2. Warm the milk slightly, then add to the bowl of your electric mixer, together with the yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar and the vanilla extract. Whisk together, then leave for 5 minutes.
3. Add the rest of the sugar to the bowl, together with the almond extract, eggs, cocoa, flour and salt. Using the dough hook attachment on your mixer, mix the ingredients on low speed for 2 minutes, then turn up the speed to medium and drop small pieces of pieces of butter into the dough. Once all the butter is combined, keep mixing for 12-14 minutes. Dough will look satiny and stringy. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then add the chocolate and almonds, and mix for another 2 minutes to combine.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured bench and form it into a ball. Put the dough ball into an oiled bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave the dough to rise for 2 hours, when it should have almost doubled in size.
5. Turn the dough back out onto a floured benchtop, and flatten it with your hands. Pull the edges of the dough to the top, and repeat until you have a tight ball. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or baking paper, and place the ball of dough in the centre of the tray. Cover it with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour, when it should have doubled in size.
6. Preheat your oven to 350°F Remove the wrap from the dough and spray it lightly with water. Sprinkle the top of the dough with cinnamon sugar and bake in the oven for 1 hour until the loaf is deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Cool the bread on a wire rack before slicing.