Chocolate Tea Bread, 70p for 4 generous portions at 18p each.
This came about because I LOVE chocolate chip brioche, and going vegan for Lent (and maybe for life if I manage to make the switch) means that I haven’t had those little sweet buttery rolls full of chocolate chip goodness in a very long time. For the past few days it’s all I’ve been able to think about – so I decided to try to make some chocolate chip bread as a replacement.
In short- the chocolate chips all melted into the dough as I added my usual boiling water, so if I was to make this again, i’d fold them in when kneading the dough, for a buttery- type bread with chunks of chocolate, but I ended up instead with this Chocolate Tea Bread – and it was delicious! (chomp!)
Ingredients:*
250g Self Raising Flour, 11p (65p/1.5kg)
7g fast action dried yeast, 11p (89p/8 packets)
1 bar dark chocolate, 35p
50g caster sugar, 7p (£1.30/kg)
25g Free From spread, 6p ( Free From Butter, £1.29/500g)
1. Measure the flour and the yeast and the sugar into a large mixing bowl.
2. Break the chocolate into chunks. It’s up to you how you do this; I put mine into a freezer bag and bashed it with the flat end of a rolling pin, or you could use a wood mallet in a similar set-up, or chop on a work surface with a big sharp knife if you’re cheffy and adept at that sort of thing. Tip into the bowl with the flour and yeast and sugar.
3. Add the butter substitute and 150ml boiling water, and stir together with a wooden spoon until well combined into a pliable, soft, sticky dough.
4. Tip out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead for a good ten minutes. I always notice when I’ve added oil or butter to a bread dough, it has a beautiful silken texture and eminent pliability. If you’ve made bread before, you’ll notice the difference. When kneaded, pat into a rugby ball shape and leave on the side for twenty minutes to rise.
5. When risen, transfer into a lightly oiled loaf tin to prove for a further half hour; cover with oiled clingfilm or a tea towel and leave in a warm place.
6. Half an hour or so later, pop into an oven at 180C for 40 minutes to bake, and wait for the smell of chocolate and bread to permeate your house…
I ate mine in chunks, warm with spread and a cuppa… 🙂 I’ll attempt actual chocolate chip brioche another day, but this is no apology, I’ve stumbled on something heavenly. Bliss.
Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MsJackMonroe
*(Prices calculated at Sainsburys, using the Basics range where available. Costs checked on date of publication against ASDA SmartPrice, Tesco Value, Morrisons Value and Waitrose Essentials. Some variation between major supermarkets but most items widely available at similar price.)