Welcome to the wonderful world of cottage cheese. Today we'll be baking it into a big round loaf of nut and chocolate chip filled Cottage Cheese Chocolate Bread. This is a chewy, toastable yeast bread that's sweet, but not super sweet. It's maybe too sweet for breakfast and not sweet enough for dessert or maybe that's your business what it's sweet enough for. All I know is I ate a lot of it yesterday and am excited to share the recipe.

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Chocolate Yeast Bread with Cottage Cheese

You don't see a lot of chocolate yeast bread recipes. I first learned about it via David Lebovitz, and then over time adopted and played with his recipe. This is what it's evolved into. It's a round loaf which includes the cottage cheese for extra flavor, structure and protein. When I first started making this I used a loaf pan, but it's unnecessary because this is not a bread you'll be making sandwiches with. It's perfect for a snack, brunch or breakfast, if you like your chocolate early in the day.

Variations

What's fun about this recipe is how much you can change it. The base yeast dough for Cottage Cheese Chocolate Bread probably shouldn't be altered unless you're an experienced bread maker, but the nuts, chocolate and dried fruit you use are all open to improvisation.

Here's the recipe as I've been making i. I also have a gluten-free chocolate bread (sans cottage cheese) which I'll post later.

Note on SAF Instant Yeast

I have only tested this bread with SAF gold label instant yeast, which I buy and store in the freezer. Any instant or fast rising yeast should work, but SAF works especially well and is designed for breads with sugar in the dough. Even though it's formulated to work well with sugar, I buy it and use it for all loaves regardless of how much sugar there is.

Recipe

Cottage Cheese Chocolate Bread

Anna

Cottage Cheese Chocolate Bread is a chocolate bread made yeast. You can make this as one large loaf or two small loaves. I couldn't settle on the perfect amount of butter. I liked the loaves best made with 2 tablespoons of butter, but the loaves were richer and more dessert-like with 4.

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1

Rising 1 30

Total Time 3

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings slices

Ingredients

2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour (280 grams)
⅓ cup sugar, slightly rounded (70 grams)
2 ¼ teaspoons quick rising yeast or 2 teaspoons SAF instant yeast
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (20-25 grams)
¾ teaspoon salt reduce to ½ if using salted butter
½ teaspoon espresso powder optional
2-4 tablespoons butter, unsalted (see note) (28 grams)
3 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup cottage cheese (228 grams)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water as needed
½ to ⅔ cup bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup chopped hazelnuts or any other nut
½ cup dried cherries or cranberries
Chocolate for garnishing

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, cocoa powder, salt and espresso powder (if using). Mix very well with a spoon or with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter and the chocolate together over low heat. For a richer dense loaf, use 4 tablespoons. For a lighter and slightly fluffier loaf, use only 2 tablespoons butter.
Mix the cottage cheese and egg together in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup and heat on 50% power for about a minute, stopping to stir halfway through, until warm. Be careful not to cook it, you just want to warm it. Stir the warm cottage cheese mixture into the saucepan with the melted chocolate. Heat together until very warm to touch. The point is to get it hot enough to activate the yeast, so don't let it boil.
Add the warm cottage cheese mixture and the vanilla to the dry mixture. Use the paddle attachment or a spoon to mix. The dough will look speckly from the cheese curds and dry. It will soften as you knead.
Switch to the dough hook and let the machine knead the mixture until it forms a slightly dry dough. Drizzle in the remaining water as needed just to loosen it up a bit, but continue kneading. Knead for 5 minutes or until dough has some elasticity to it and is not too sticky. You may need to scrape it from the sides of the bowl.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 30 minutes. It will not double.
Work in the chocolate chips, nuts and dried cherries (if using). Shape into one large round or two small rounds (I recommend two). As you form the rounds, try to keep the chocolate chips buried in the dough or set aside a little of the dough to patch the exposed ones and keep them from drying out in the oven.
Set your dough rounds on a piece of parchment. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for about 60-75 minutes. It will not double during the rise, but it will puff up substantially.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the bread on the center rack for about 45 minutes (for small loaves) and 60 minutes for one large loaf, shielding with foil the last 20. If you have an instant read meat thermometer, bread is usually done when it's a little over 200. I try to bake mine to 205 F.
If you'd like, you can lay some chocolate disks or pieces on the hot loaves and let them melt into the top as the bread cools.
Let cool for at least an hour, preferably longer. Slice and serve, or wrap it in plastic and freeze.

Notes

For the butter, use 2 tablespoons for a lighter textured bread and 4 for a richer, denser, heavier (more cake-like) bread. I like the bread better with less butter.

Keyword Chocolate Yeast Bread, cottage cheese

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!