Chocolate Loves Vanilla Bread

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 teaspoons water

Recipe

• 1 place the chocolate chips in the bowl of a food processor. process until the chips are coarsely chopped and coverd with a coating of ground chocolate. set aside.
• 2 to prepare dough- combine all of the dough ingredients except the chopped chocolate, mix and knead them by hand, mixer or bread machine, until you have a soft, smooth dough. allow dough to rise, covered for 1-2 hours, or until it's puffy and nearly doubled in bulk. lightly grease a 9" round cake pan. even better - lightly grease the pan and then add a 9" round parchement paper and then grease that also. between chocolate melting from inside and the sugar topping (which runs down the sides of the bread to the bottom of the pan) this bread tends to stick to the pan.
• 3 gently deflate the dough and knead the chips into it. shape the dough into a flat ball and place in the prepared pan, flattening to reach the edges of the pan. cover the pan with a proof cover or lightly greased plastic wrap and allow dough to rise 1 1/4 - 2 1/2 hours or until it's center just crests over the height of the pan. while the bread is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 4 combine the sugar, vanilla and water, stirring until the sugar is suspended in the liquid, even if it hasn't melted. drizzle this mixture over the top of the risen bread. bake it for 20 minutes, tent it lightly with foil to prevent overbrowning and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes, or until it's a deep golden brown and the internal temperature registers 190 degrees. remove it from the oven and after 5 minutes run a table knife around the edge of the pan, working it under the bottom a bit to loosen the bread as much as possible. carefully turn it out of the pan and transfer to a rack to cool. cool completely before serving.