Chocolate and Hazelnut Bread Recipe
I do not usually bake as and when desire strikes fancy! Its usually planned out. I have this list of to-do bakes for every month with specific ones planned for each week. I have to do it to accommodate my time and schedule not to mention the availability of ingredients in my pantry! Another thing, I try to generally avoid blogging/blogging based activities like drafting, researching, photos, cooking etc. during weekends. For a good reason of course! The reason - 'my better half'.
Chocolate and Hazelnut Bread Recipe
If I don't like to cook when he is around, he doesn't like me to do blogging while he is around! Works fantastic ;). Another thing I don't do is to take photos at night! I like a healthy dose of light around esp. since I do not own those fancy photography lights/ studio. That so called white light in my kitchen makes all my food look yellow which I hate! With so many "no-no's", this chocolate bread is sure a first timer. Yesterday, while I was watering my plants, I heard this sudden wail from the other side of the fence. The kid was crying its heart out and after straining my ears to eavesdrop after few minutes, I heard the mother's voice shouting at the kid "NO MORE NUTELLA! You finished half the bottle already"! I don't know why, but after hearing that I had this sudden craving for chocolate and nuts. I do not have nutella at home (OK don't look shocked! I don't like chocolate that much remember?) Chocolate and Hazelnut Bread Recipe I slowly walked up to my husband, who was home for President's day holiday, and was like I want to bake something chocolaty! He was taken aback and was like "I sent my wife to water some plants and suddenly someone else walks in! Who the heck are you? Chocolate? In this house?". But he played along for a change (!!!) - after effects of Valentine's day may be! - and I sent out to try this recipe I had been meaning to but was not scheduled for this month. It was this amazing hazelnut bread and I checked my pantry thinking I may not have all the ingredients. I was in for a surprise - I had almost all of it! This is a rich bread what with chocolates, butter, sour cream and eggs. I wanted to reduce its calories a bit. Did not want to cut down everything since I wanted to retain the rich taste. But instead of 2 eggs, I used egg whites (protein without unwanted calories) and replaced plain fat free yogurt for the rich sour cream. Chocolate and Hazelnut Bread Recipe The result was MIND BLOWING! I knew I had a winner in my hands the minute the whole house started smelling delicious while it was baking in the oven. The texture is close to a pound cake. The crust was amazingly crunchy with nuts and chocolate which melted when you put a piece in your mouth. There is this slight hint of almond extract and is moist with egg whites and yogurt. The whole bread was almost over in the next 90 minutes. This was in the evening around 6:00 pm! I took few photos and had to struggle to keep aside one small piece so that I can take a better one the next day! But I was astounded when my husband requested that piece for work!!!! Hence having no time to take photos I just clicked few snaps and packed them off! You have to give this a try!
  • Cook time:
  • Prep time:
  • Yields: Makes one 9X5 inch loaf
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 egg whites (0r 2 whole eggs) [ See egg substitutes]
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) thickened plain fat free yogurt
    TOPPING
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
  • 1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Method
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat the egg whites slightly
3. Add it to the butter mixture and then beat in extracts.
4. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
5. gradually add to the creamed mixture
6. alternately with yogurt
7. Pour half of the batter into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pan.
8. Combine topping ingredients;
9. sprinkle two-thirds over the batter.
10. Top with remaining batter.
11. Sprinkle with remaining topping; press down lightly.
Bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Chocolate and Hazelnut Bread Recipe Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Chocolate and Hazelnut Bread Recipe

Recipe Reference

adapted from taste of home - yield: 1 loaf (12 slices)

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7 Member Reviews

By Shalini on Dec 9, 2011

This was a really good 'bread'.  I replaced the hazelnut with Walnut and added some white chcolate chips and some butterscotch chips along with chocolate chips....worth a try!

Recipe Image

By Sandhya on Feb 13, 2011

Another masterpiece from CIY.Just followed the recipe.....tasted great.Loved the cruchy crust with choco-nuts and the soft crumb.Thank you so much for your efforts.It adds a lot of fun to our lives.

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29 Comments

By Shivani on Jul 16, 2011

:( Sorry i tried checkin the egg subsitute but suld not understand what to use instead 4 eggs white..iam totally new to breads..mostly i make eggless cakes..hav never changed anything in the recipie...but i love ur recipie..can u plzzz guide me what shuld be used in tis recipie instead of eggs..n in what proportion..??thanx

By Mini on Jul 12, 2011

Hi,can I replace hazel nuts with walnuts?

I guess you can

By Gipsy on Nov 1, 2010

:mrgreen: Oh, also, I added 1/4 c. cocoa to make it a richer, chocolate base. It was perfect.

By Gipsy on Nov 1, 2010

:mrgreen: So, I was looking for a basic chocolate bread I could play with for my dreams of a chocolate hazelnut ginger bread. (Note - that's ginger bread not gingerbread.) I used lowfat sourcream instead of yogurt, and the regular two eggs (the yellows aren't as bad as we think). I added 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger to the batter and folded in a handful of candied ginger chopped. Then I added some sliced candied ginger to the topping with the chocolate chips and hazelnuts. It was amazing. The only thing I would change: I think this recipe uses too much almond extract in general. I would at least cut it in half - definitely when doing the ginger additive. That much almond extract gives a too-sweet aftertaste even without the ginger and overwhelms the delicate flavor of the hazelnuts. Thanks! Great recipe!!!! And gorgeous photos! I def need some coarse sugar to make it pretty in top.

By Swapna on Jul 30, 2010

We ABSOLUTELY love this cake. I have made it many times and it comes out perfectly each time :).

By Padma on Jun 2, 2010

I made this last night! The batter filled the loaf pan I had-- and I didn't realize it would poof quite so much in the oven, so I had to do quite a bit of clean up. Did anyone else have that problem? I would suggest not filling the loaf pan more than halfway, and using smaller loaf pans for the rest of the batter. I was also unsure about what "thickened yogurt" was-- yogurt mixed with a thickener, like cornstarch? Or store-bought yogurt vs. homemade yogurt? I used store-bought yogurt, and it worked fine. After all the work, though, this is DELICIOUS. I love chocolate, so I added a bit more in, and it was wonderful. The texture of the bread is awesome-- not dense at all, and the hazelnuts work really well for it. I added a bit of ground nutmeg and ground cloves to the top. Thanks so much for the recipe :)

By Megha Deora on May 7, 2010

Hey DK, I love your blog- its awesome... And i love nutella and hazelnut too... But I dont have any hazelnut at home so i was wondering if i could substitute it with nutella ( I always have that) somewhere in the recipe for the hazelnut taste...

I am thinking you can! but then there might be some problem with the consistency! But its a good one to experiment with :) --DK

By Neha Dhiman on Apr 28, 2010

OMG!!! dis 1 was jus amazing!! actually i'v recently got married.... my mum-in-law told me dat d way to a man's heart is d stomach... so i was surfing thru sum cookin recipes wen i finally came across dis 1! My hubby n me luv choclate cakes n breads, n v dnt get dat gud cakes for a reasonable price here in copenhagen , denmark. Also i dnt knw danish yet, so cnt n ask frm d market yet.. so i read dis 1 n made it!! v jus loved it!! it was soooo yummy! thnku so much!! i'l try sum of d othr recipes too... thnx a lot! :-D

Thanks you so much Neha :) Hope you like whatever you make from here :) --DK

By Aarti Sawale on Apr 12, 2010

Hi DK, I have noticed that u have used microwave bowl for baking in oven or u have started baking in microwave bcos baking time u have mentioned for oven and not microwave. if this bowl can be used in oven than its better we also start using same in oven. thanks

Hi Aarti, its the mixing bowl which is M/W safe. The loaf pan which I am using is Oven safe pan. I do NOT use M/W bowls in my oven. I have many oven based pans which are glass :) --DK

By Renu on Feb 24, 2010

OMG, I tried it this weekend and I have NO words to describe how well it turned out and how delicious is was. Notice the "was", I tried really hard to make it last but couldn't...hehe. You know the most interesting part was the nutty chocolaty crust with sugar...every time I took a bite I was in heaven. LOVE IT! Thanks for the recipe. I took pics will send them soon...how do I attach a picture?

hey renu. Glad to know u liked it. Wud abs. Luv to see ur creation. Send it to me at dk at chefinyou dot com

By Aditi on Feb 22, 2010

Mmm Mmm goodddd...I haven't yet got into baking breads but yesterday my hubby surprised me by asking me to buy a loaf pan...I was sooo happy and now I am going to mark your bread recipes to try one by one...I am sooo happy just like a child is, on being given a favorite toy or treat or something :-D. This time I'll definitely send some pics too..provided it comes out well!!

By Deepa G Joshi on Feb 18, 2010

wohoaa..such lovely clicks..could eat them..love the detailed clicks..nice great presentation..too good. :)

By Cynthia on Feb 17, 2010

I want a large mug of tea and 2 slices please! :)

By CurryLeaf on Feb 17, 2010

Wow.Sweetie,i had seen the same recipe and gave it a pass as I was lazy to shell hazelnuts if at all there are any in my nut bag.Looks GREAT.I can imagine the taste.Valentine effect.... :wink:

By vanamala on Feb 17, 2010

wow awesome..lovely pics

By sailaja on Feb 17, 2010

wow!!!!!! very interesting..

By Asha on Feb 17, 2010

Amazing combo, love it. MM is still going on? Didn't know that but I haven't baked any bread with chocolate lately, will skip it. I think I have a MW bread somewhere!:D Great entry.

By simplyfood on Feb 17, 2010

This bread looks amazing and I love the superb step by step instructions.

By Fiona on Feb 17, 2010

Hi, this looks soooo good. Is it possible to replace the egg whites with something vegan? Thank you.

By Priya on Feb 17, 2010

Cant take my eyes from the click, just love it..very cute bread..

By Jamie on Feb 17, 2010

I LOVE this bread! A fantastic quick bread all nutty and chocolatey has got to be a favorite! And I love the lower calorie changes you made - definitely what I would do, too. And the bread is perfect - gorgeous crumb! I have got to try this recipe out! Yum! Thanks a million for baking this for my Monthly Mingle!

By Divya on Feb 16, 2010

I am so making this Dhivya..might replace hazelnuts with walnuts or maybe almonds?Absolutely loved the crumb texture..yum!!

By AshaLAtha R K Prasad on Feb 16, 2010

I simply love those hazelnuts...... they are such crunchy munchy's..... & that piece of cake is surely yummy with all those yummy ingredients being a part of it...... Ash.... (http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

By Vandy on Feb 16, 2010

It looks so yummy... :wink: I will definitely try this one.

By Soma on Feb 16, 2010

Just got done with my chocolate and nut bread a couple of hours back:).. with zucchini, the plan triggered by excess zukes. Not closely as beautiful as yours tho'. Hazelnut and chocolate makes a valentine pair :-)

By Soumya on Feb 16, 2010

I love Nutella, I am looking fwd to do this.Thanks for the recipe and must-try pics.

By rachel on Feb 16, 2010

Now you got me caving to make this! And I think your pics are beautiful in the natural light. With no frills attached the subject is more in focus. I like that!

By Pavani on Feb 16, 2010

Looks awesome DK.. Glad that you had this chocolate craving otherwise we would have missed yummy bread recipe. :wink:

By Anu on Feb 16, 2010

Lovely and delicious!! I love your baking recipes.