Guinness Chocolate Cherry Bread & Guinness Brown Breads

With St. Patrick's Day just a few days ahead, this is the perfect post for today--and, it's all about bread! If you want to make your own Irish Soda Bread, try this recipe. But if you want to try something new, try one of these dark breads.

The first recipe for Stout Chocolate Cherry Bread is a yeast bread, so because it has several rises, you'll want to get started early.

Moving along, I thought I'd post come classic Irish Brown Breads. You can use a Guinness Bread Mix or make your own from scratch. With the Brown Bread Guinness Mix, you usually would add raisins, but I think it works well with chopped dark chocolate (or dark chocolate chips). You add treacle (yes, you can substitute molasses, but you can find treacle online or at specialty food stores).

The Guinness Brown Bread from scratch recipe doesn't use chocolate chips, and I would spread Nutella on the bread to keep with the theme of this chocolate blog. Your choice. It's a lovely brown bread.

GUINNESS CHOCOLATE CHERRY BREAD

This recipe first appeared in CookingLight in January 2003. Thanks to the Internet, it's still available to all. I've made it about four times, and it's really delicious. The Guinness adds a special flavor. Chocolate and dried cherries are staples here at my house!

Ingredients
4 1/4 cups bread flour, divided
1 (12-ounce) bottle Guinness Stout
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon water
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour, beer, and yeast in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Remove mixture from refrigerator; let stand 1 hour.
Add 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, and salt; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky). Knead in cherries and chocolate.
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press 2 fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)
Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Shape dough into a 9-inch round; place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly coat dough with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Uncover the dough. Combine water and egg white, stirring with a whisk, and brush over dough. Make a 1/4-inch-deep cut down the center of dough using a sharp knife.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bread is browned on bottom and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.

GUINNESS BROWN BREAD MIX 

Thanks to The Nibble, I was alerted to this Guinness Bread Mix. You have to add a few delicious ingredients, but it's worth it. As I mentioned above, I add chopped chocolate instead of raisins, but that's up to you. Since I add chocolate chunks to the bread, I suggest serving it with mascapone or goat cheese or plain. This mix is available in specialty food stores and online. There are 3 packets in each Bag which is a good value. The ingredients in the mix include Whole Meal Flour, Plain Flour, Oatmeal, Baking Soda, Brown Sugar and Salt. You need to add Butter, Black Treacle (dark molasses), Chopped Dark Chocolate (instead of raisins), milk, and a 1/2 cup of Guinness.

No time to get the mix, try this recipe from Jump into Ireland (Discover Ireland) for Guinness Brown Bread. It's not as sweet as the recipe above, so instead of adding chocolate chips or chunks, serve it with a Hazelnut (Nutella) spread.. just to keep it in the chocolate family! I've changed a few things in the recipe, but I know you'll like it.

GUINNESS BROWN BREAD from Scratch

Ingredients
4.5 cups Bread Flour
1.1 cups Steel Cut Oats
A pinch of salt
A pinch of sugar
3.5 ounces sweet butter
34 ounces buttermilk
12.3 ounces treacle (molasses)
5 ounces Guinness Stout
1 level teaspoon of baking soda

Directions
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together well and set aside.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the buttermilk, and heat until tepid.
Now add the treacle to the saucepan and stir slowly until well combined through the buttermilk.
Remove the pot from the heat.
Add Guinness and stir.
Make a well in the middle of  dry ingredients, add the liquid and stir gently to make a moist paste.
Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare baking pan by brushing inside with butter and dusting with flour.
Pour mixture into pan and place in preheated oven for ten minutes, then reduce heat to 275°F and bake for 40 more minutes.
After removing bread from oven, allow to cool on a bread rack for 10 minutes.
Serve with Nutella.
  
Happy St. Patrick's Day!