Chocolate Cherry Buckwheat Bread is a riff on the Gluten-Free Teff Bread that I eat almost every single day. I was having a slice at breakfast and wondered what it would be like with cocoa powder, chocolate and nuts. It took a couple of tries to get it right, but the result is a chewy, chocolaty, gluten-free yeast bread. You won't believe it is gluten-free!
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Flours for Gluten-Free Yeast Bread Baking
This bread requires gathering the special gluten-free flours, so if you are new to gluten-free baking you'll have to round up buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch and psyllium husks. But don't worry. You will fly through them once you continue with gluten-free baking. Also, a quick note about the buckwheat flour -- I use mild rather than dark. The light kind has the hull removed, while the dark (Bob's Red Mill) does not and has a stronger flavor.
Baking Times and Temperatures
I sometimes bake gluten-free yeast bread in a Dutch oven, but since this recipe makes two loaves, I experimented with baking the loaves on a regular baking sheet. Baking at 400 for an hour and letting them sit in the oven for another hour did the trick. The outside crust was chewy and the interior was not gummy. If you'd like to try baking in a Dutch oven, you can use 425 degrees F. in a closed oven for 30 minutes, then another 20-30 minutes with the lid off at 400, plus an hour in the off oven. Here's one of the first loaves I made using the Dutch oven. The crust was overdone, but I kind of liked it that way. You can see how the uncovered chocolate chips burnt, so be sure to cover them with dough.
Variations and Changes
You can experiment with different types of chocolate, dried fruit and nuts. I've been using dark and bittersweet chocolate chips, dried cranberries and walnuts, but hazelnuts would be good too.
Chocolate Buckwheat Bread Ingredients
- Anthony's Goods Buckwheat Flour -- Really great, mild, buckwheat flour!
- Brown Rice Flour -- Again, Anthony's brand or one that says it's superfine. I use Vitacost.
- Tapioca Starch -- Any brand should work. I use Vitacost's house brand.
- Psyllium -- Definitely recommend Now brand as it does not turn baked goods purple. I use the whole husks for this recipe, but powdered should be okay too.
- Cocoa Powder -- I have tested with natural and Dutch process and a mix of the two. For a really dark bread, replace about a tablespoon of the cocoa powder with black cocoa powder.
- Sugar -- I've tested with granulated sugar and brown sugar and both work, with brown sugar adding a little more flavor.
- Molasses really bumps the flavor without making it taste too molasses-y.
- Espresso Powder -- Intensifies the chocolate flavor but you can leave it out.
- Nuts -- Hazelnuts, walnuts and pecans are all good choices.
- Chocolate -- Chocolate chips are ideal because they won't melt quickly if the dough is still a little warm, but if you are careful to let the dough cool you can use chunks of dark chocolate.
- Dried Fruits -- Dried cherries are ideal, but dried cranberries work in a pinch.
Recipe
Chocolate Cherry Buckwheat Bread
Ingredients
- 150 grams buckwheat flour
- 24 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 120 grams tapioca starch
- 60 grams brown rice flour
- 135 grams light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon salt plus a pinch
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)
- 1 ½ teaspoons molasses (6 grams)
- 2 teaspoon quick rising yeast (I use SAF gold label)
- ¼ cup psyllium husks (not powder, but whole husks) (24 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 14 oz water (130 F)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, slightly generous
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips or chunks (use more or less to taste)
- ⅓ cup dried cherries or cranberries
- ⅓ cup chopped nuts
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the buckwheat flour,cocoa powder, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, sugar, salt, espresso powder and yeast. Stir until very well mixed, then put the molasses on top of the dry mixture.
- Put the psyllium in a second medium size bowl.
- Heat water to 130 degrees F. Pour exactly 1 cup ( oz/228 grams) of warm water into the bowl with the psyllium and stir to make a gel. Add the vinegar to the gel.
- Add the psyllium gel to the flour mixture along with the olive oil. Give the mixture a stir. It should be dry and crumbly. Add remaining 4 oz more water gradually, stirring by hand until it's cohesive, but still dry and crumbly.
- Put the mixer on the stand and use the paddle to mix. It should come together to make a soft dough that may break apart. If it feels too dry and doesn't hold together, add a little more warm water.
- Turn the dough onto a pastry mat lightly slicked with oil. Press into a rectangle and scatter in the chocolate, fruits and nuts. Roll up so that the add-ins are enveloped in the dough.
- Divide dough in half and shape into two balls. Try to make sure no chocolate chips or chunks are poking out, as they will dry out from the heat.
- Set the two dough pieces on a large tray lined with parchment paper. Cover with a greased piece of plastic wrap and let rise for about 40 minutes. Loaves will not double in size.
- While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- When ready to bake, bake at 400 degrees F. for one hour. Turn off heat and let the loaves sit in the off oven for another hour. This helps to dry the interior and prevent gumminess.
- Let cool completely before slicing. This is very important.
- The bread is best served toasted, in my opinion.
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