Chocolate Bread Recipe
Looking for a delicious way to start your day? Check out this chocolate bread recipe. Imagine toasted chocolate bread topped with peanut butter? Yum!!
Last Updated on June 20, 2022 – Originally Posted March 29, 2010
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I just made this today and it’s DELICIOUS!! It tastes so decadent without all the sugar of a sweet bread. This might be my new favorite chocolate fix. ~ Kristen
Chocolate Bread Recipe for the Bread Machine
Let’s talk about a decadent way to start your day. I’m talking toasted chocolate bread topped with peanut butter? Yes, it’s as good as it sounds.
Soften the Butter?
I’ve had people ask if they should soften the butter before adding to the bread pan. The answer is that it depends.
My Zojirushi has a preheat cycle. So I cut the butter (straight out of the refrigerator with no softening) into 4 pieces and put one in each corner of the bread pan. The machine warms all the ingredients before it starts kneading.
I don’t have an image of that for this recipe, but here’s how it looks for my buttery dinner roll recipe.
Homemade, Buttery Dinner Roll Ingredients in the Bread Machine
If your machine doesn’t have a preheat cycle consult the owner’s manual to see what it says about heating butter and liquids before adding them to the bread pan.
Don’t have a bread machine manual? I have a list of online bread machine manuals for several types of machines.
Chocolate Chips
Note that this recipe calls for chocolate chips.
Different people will have different results with this recipe in terms of how much the chocolate chips melt. It all depends on how hot your bread machine gets. Also, if you use mini chocolate chips then they’ll melt more than the regular kind.
While we’re talking about chocolate chips, I’ve just got to share this. I love history and the history of chocolate chips is tied to one of my favorite foods, chocolate chip cookies!
In 1937 Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts added cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestlé chocolate bar to a cookie recipe. The cookies were a hit!
Eventually, Nestlé found out about these cookies and developed chocolate chips to more easily work with the cookie recipe.
The Add Beep
And here’s a tip for working with chocolate chips in this chocolate bread recipe.
Technically speaking, the chips should be added at the add beep. However, you don’t want the chips clumped all around the edge of the bread loaf.
Check out this image of raisin bread.
The above photo is a close up of the manual that came with my machine. I’m sure that they put the raisins in at the add beep.
To avoid this, I add the “goodies” to the recipe at the very beginning.
I’m just not satisfied with the mixing that occurs when things are added during the add beep.
If you like chocolate bread, you might also want to try this chocolate coconut bread recipe.
How to Make Chocolate Bread in the Bread Machine
I make this recipe in my two-pound machine. Note that you’ll be using the basic cycle with the medium or light crust.
Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first. (My Zo says to add the liquid ingredients first.)
Check on the dough after five or ten minutes of kneading. Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.
It should be a smooth, round ball. If it’s too dry add liquid a teaspoon at a time until it looks OK. If it looks too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK. Most of the time though, the above amounts should be just right.
Chocolate Bread Recipe for the Bread Machine
Again, this makes a two-pound loaf. I recommend using the basic cycle with the medium or light crust.
1 3/8 Cup milk
1 Egg, lightly beaten
4 ¼ Cups bread flour
2 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
2/3 Cup chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Success!
I use weight as much as possible, and I’ve had very good luck getting consistent unattended results from the Zojirushi BB-CEC20WB. Full disclosure: I use all purpose flour at 144 / grams per cup. King Arthur Flour says it should be 120 grams / cup. I don’t know why my flour weighs differently, but I’m not arguing with success.
I put my chips in at the beginning.
234 grams 1% milk
1 Egg, lightly beaten
612 grams AP flour
2 TBLs butter
47 grams sugar
12 grams salt
126 grams chocolate chips
6 grams unsweetened cocoa (Hershey’s Natural)
8 grams active dry yeast
Would be great if you could show metric measures as well as cups. Your recipes look so delicious.
I’m working on getting the metric measures added to all the recipes. Stay tuned!
I have a question about my new zojirushi virtuous plus. I have made the pound cake as per instructions….after first knead, scrape down any bits of flour & press start to resume kneading. All went as it should. However, today I am making the chocolate cake & after the first knead & beeps, I scrapped down the bits of flour, closed the lid pressed start & although the display said knead….the blades did not move. I checked that the blades were in place, they were but did not knead. Instead after a few minutes it went to bake. Is this okay or is it a malfuncrion?
That doesn’t sound right. Hopefully it was a one-time incident.
I just made this today and it’s DELICIOUS!! It tastes so decadent without all the sugar of a sweet bread. This might be my new favorite chocolate fix. I only had mini chocolate chips and they did melt a little but it made a gorgeous marble sliced.
Thanks so much for letting me know your opinion of this recipe. Now I want to get some chocolate chips and make another loaf. 🙂
Quick rise yeast is all I have ever used in my bread makers…
I’ve owned them for years. I hope this helps..
can you use quick rise yeast instead of active dry yeast
Great question! See my article on yeast for instructions on how to convert recipes for different types of yeast.
I love this recipe! I am going to try it with rasinettes for a chocolate raisin bread..hope it tastes like I imagine it would
That sounds great! Let me know how it turns out!
If I roll choc chips in little of flour would it help?
You mean to prevent the chips from melting? That may help.
However, while some people have a problem with the chips melting, I’ve never had an issue. I think it depends on the machine and the brand of chocolate chips.
First, this looks GOOD! Can’t wait to give it a try..
My machine has an auto add-ins dispenser..
If I put the chips in the add-ins dispenser, do you think
they’d just melt in there…?
Or should I try ½ of the chips in the beginning and put
the other ½ in the add-ins dispenser??
I’ve never had a machine with an add-in dispenser, but I imagine it would be fine.
My machine has an add beep. The problem that I’ve had is that items that get put in at that point don’t really mix into the bread enough. While some people have had problems with melted chips, that hasn’t been my experience.
Can I add more cocoa powder? I want it to LOOK like chocolate 🙂 Can’t wait to try!
I haven’t tried that, but it should work. Let me know what happens.
Should the butter be melted or softened?
Great question! I’ve added that information to the recipe.
I always use the dough setting on my bread machine because I like to shape the bread myself. Can I do this with the chocolate bread recipe?
That should work!
My bread machine calls for dry milk. Should i substitute or should i make it as written. If i should substitute how much should i use? thanks
Hi Stephanie, I’d use the recipe as written. Let me know how it turns out.
I have the zojirushi bb-pac20 bread maker that I absolutely love. This is a bread that I have tried to make but I’m having problems. When I add the chocolate whether in the beginning or even when the beep to add beeps,for some reason the chips melt and the bread comes out funky. What do you suggest when it comes to adding the chocolate chips so that it turns out as pictured ? I want so badly yo make a bread with chocolate chips but I’m scared to now lol please respond. I’m a desperate mommy lol!
Hey Jen, I understand your longing for chocolate! 🙂
I’d use the white bread with light crust setting on this. I put the chips in at the beginning to make sure that they were properly blended.
If you’re still having problems I might try a different brand of chocolate chips. You never know.
I’d try freezing the chips And adding at the beep, this may keep them from melting.
I was going to try this recipe, but I did not see on here what settings you should use for this bread. I am assuming the white light setting that is on my machine. I am new to this, as i just got a bread machine handed down to me. I have found a lot of your ideas great. And am looking forward to trying them out. Also, loved the breakfast bar recipe!! My daughter had me had chocolate chips to it for her which came out great!
Chocolate chips in the breakfast bars sounds great! I’ve got to give that a try.
Yes, use the white bread on the light setting for this recipe. Let me know how it turns out.
If I wanted to make a chocolate banana variation of this when should I put in the banana? And should I mash it or do you think bits would be better?
Or… what about a peanut butter version?
Hi Kathryn, If I were adding banana I’d mash it first. If you do this, or the peanut butter version, let me know how it turns out. I’m wondering if you might need to adjust the liquid down a little bit with the banana version.