Happy President’s Day, Bread and Chocolate with Cherries

Bread and Chocolate and Cherries
Bread and Chocolate and Cherries

And this is take two on cherries for our President’s day theme. Cherries go with chocolate. And there’s a place in Concord, New Hampshire that sells a pastry called Bread & Chocolate that I’ve been trying to replicate since the dairy allergy diagnosis, so I decided to add cherries to the mix this time.  This is like a jelly roll, except instead of cake and jelly or cream, you have bread and chocolate and cherries.  Although I’ve tagged a warning, just to be clear, this recipe contains wheat and gluten, and I’ve written it to be used with a bread machine.

Bread and Chocolate with Cherries 

  • 1/4 cup of warm water (between 70ºF and 85ºF)
  • 3/4 cup of a milk alternative product of your choice (I used homemade oat milk)
  • 1 Tablespoon of Ener-G egg replacer, mixed with 6 Tablespoons of warm water
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
  • 1/3 cup and 1 teaspoon of dark brown sugar, packed firmly
  • 1/4 cup of shortening or Earth Balance Soyfree Natural Buttery Spreads
  • 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
  • 4 cups of bread flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons of bread machine yeast
  • 1 cup of Dole frozen Dark Sweet Cherries, chopped
  • 1 cup of Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate chips
  • 2 Tablespoons of melted Earth Balance Soyfree Natural Buttery Spreads
Sunbeam Bread Machine
Sunbeam Bread Machine

Using my nicely inexpensive Sunbeam bread machine, add first three ingredients in order as listed to the bread machine pan. Then add the salt, brown sugar, shortening, cinnamon and flour to the bread machine pan, heaping the flour in a pile.

Using a spoon, make a little indentation that you can put the yeast in, and then add the yeast.

Ingredients in Bread Pan with Yeast in Indentation on Top
Ingredients in Bread Pan with Yeast in Indentation on Top

Set your bread machine menu to just make dough.  When its ready it should look something like this:

Completed Dough in Bread Pan
Completed Dough in Bread Pan

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread a little flour on your very clean counter top or on your dough mat, and dump dough on mat or counter.  Make sure you remove the paddle if it falls out of the bread pan.  Roll out dough using a rolling pin to a rectangular shape approximately 12 by 18 inches.

Dough rolled to a rectangular shape
Dough rolled to a rectangular shape

Once you have rolled the dough to the correct shape, spread your chopped cherries over the surface.

Dough with Cherries Spread over Surface
Dough with Cherries Spread over Surface

Then sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the surface of the dough.

Chocolate Chips and Cherries Spread over Surface of Dough
Chocolate Chips and Cherries Spread over Surface of Dough

Taking a small amount of water, dip fingers in water and run them around the edges of the dough to help it seal when you roll it up.  Take one edge of the shorter side and begin to roll it up, making sure that you seal up the edges as you go, and that the final seam is sealed by pressing the wet edges to the dough.  Carefully place the roll with the seam on the bottom on the pan you will bake it on.

Completed Bread Roll
Completed Bread Roll

Taking the melted Earth Balance, brush it over the surface of the dough.

Brushing Melted Earth Balance over Bread Roll
Brushing Melted Earth Balance over Bread Roll

Let dough rise for about an hour and half, until it nearly doubles in size.

Bread Roll After Rising
Bread Roll After Rising

Place in oven preheated to 375°F, and bake for 30-35 minutes.  If you rolled your rectangle out a bit too wide, you’ll get the bent shape I did after baking 🙂

Baked Bread Roll
Baked Bread Roll

Let cool for 30 minutes or more and then cut slices.  Enjoy!

Bread Roll after Cutting
Bread Roll after Cutting

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