Chocolate Bread - old post from old blog

Chocolate bread

Just found a recipe today for chocolate bread from 1935. Actually had found the recipe awhile ago and forgot that I had it. It's on it's second rise right now, should be done in time for dinner!

1 package yeast
1/2 cup warm milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon shortening, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 cups sifted all purpose flour, divided
1 cup pecans chopped
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons cocoa
vegetable oil

That's the original recipe. However, I tweaked my version a little bit to bring it up to date. I used Splenda instead of sugar, mixed whole wheat flour and bread flour (1/2 cup whole wheat to 1 cup bread flour) instead of the all purpose flour, and omitted the pecans since I didnt have any nuts of any kind in the house. I did try to keep it pretty much original as much as possible though; next time however I will probably use olive oil instead of the shortening.

OK, step 1: Dissolve yeast in the warm milk and let stand 5 minutes. (At this point I should have redone this step; I think my milk was a bit too warm and killed off most of the yeast ... it didn't foam up very much and so it really didnt rise well.)

Step 2: Sift together 1-1/2 cups flour, salt, sugar, cocoa and set aside. (I just mixed mine up really well since I dont have a sifter.)

Step 3: Combine dissolved yeast, egg, vanilla, shortening and pecans and mix well. Slowly add flour mixture in a little at a time to make a soft dough.

Step 4: Turn out onto surface that has been sprinkled with the remaining 1/2 cup flour and knead for 10 minutes or till smooth and elastic. Place in well greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in warm place free from drafts for 1 hour or till doubled in bulk. (I turn my oven on to the "warm" setting to warm up as I start mixing the ingredients together and turn off before I knead ... let rise in there.)

Step 5: Punch down; turn out onto floured surface and shape into loaf. (I put mine in my "fancy" bread pan that makes the bread look braided. OK, OK, so I cheat here and there lol). Place into a greased 7-1/2 x 3 x 2 inch loaf pan. Brush top with oil; repeat rising process for 1 hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or till the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Immediately remove from pan and cool on baking rack.

Sounds good, this is the first time I've made it and I can see there are some things I will need to do to tweak this a bit more, but that's the original recipe from 1935! Enjoy!