Chocolate Cinnamon Wholemeal Bread

Needed a chocolate fix, hence I made a chocolate loaf bread with some extra bites.

The cranberries and almond flakes were actually not meant to be the bread toppings. I had wanted to incorporate them inside the bread!!! Guessed it right? Yup, I was too engrossed with punching down the dough and rolling it up for final proof that I forgot to add the dried fruits and nuts.  Laziness got the better of me, and so I decided to just make do with it and sprinkle them on top after a milk glaze and finally sent it to bake. I thought the "decorated" loaf looked good! Heehee!

15 minutes into the baking time, I took a peep. The heavily laden loaf top sank. My heart sank too!  Oh well, not my day. Fortunately, the end product did not look too bad especially for one with a sunken top.  Softness stayed till the 3rd day, and this was all that matters, at least to me :)

Lesson learnt. Never use dried fruits on loaf tops!

Recipe by Kimmy-cookingpleasure
I made some variations (in blue) to it though.
I halved the recipe to make 1 loaf.

Cinnamon Walnut Loaf Bread

Ingredients for Overnight Dough

150 gm bread flour

150 gm plain flour

3 tsp instant yeast [actual is 3.5 tsp]

250 ml water

• Mix all ingredients in a mixer bowl into a soft rough dough.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to proof for several hours or overnight at room temperature. 

Ingredients for Bread Dough

300 gm bread flour [I used 270 gm bread flour and 30 gm wholemeal flour]

2 tbsp milk powder (I used cocoa powder)

1 tsp cinnamon powder

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp  salt

80 gm chopped toasted walnuts (I used 2 tbsp almond flakes and 2 tbsp of dried cranberries)

150 ml water [keep some first, if all is used, the dough may be sticky and difficult to handle]

60 gm butter [I used about 50 gm]

Soak the dried cranberries in water for 5 minutes, drain and leave aside for use.

1. Add all the ingredients [except butter and walnuts] to the overnight dough.  Knead until well combined and dough is soft for about 10 minutes then add in butter.  Continue kneading until soft, smooth and elastic.  Knead a further 3-5 minutes and dough does not stick to the fingers when touched or window pane stage.
2. Shape into a ball and cover with a clean cloth to proof for 15 minutes or until double in size. Punch down dough.
3. Divide dough into 2 equal portions.  Roll and fold each portion into thirds, then roll into a rectangular piece.  Sprinkle all over with chopped walnuts (almond flakes and dried cranberries) then roll up  tightly like swiss roll style into a roulade.  Seal the edges well.   Place in baking tin [Pullman's tin] and leave to proof in oven for an hour or until double in size [almost reaching the rim of the baking tin]. 
4. Bake in preheated oven at 170 degrees C for 30 minutes.  Remove to cool on rack immediately after baking.