This post and recipe was created for #Choctoberfest! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine. #ad
If you love coffee & chocolate, you'll adore this White Chocolate Mocha Braided Bread! Espresso-flavored dough is twisted with chunks of white and dark chocolate for the perfect combination.
It's day two of #Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar! Woohoo! I hope you guys have been enjoying the festivities so far 🙂 Today, I have a bit of a two-for-one as this recipe covers both #Choctoberfest and World Bread Day! This White Chocolate Mocha Braided Bread is made of a sweet coffee-spiked dough, wrapped up with espresso powder, sugar, and pieces of Forte Chocolate White Swan and 64% Dark bars! It's seriously like a warm, cozy hug in a loaf. Let's go make it!
First things first, let's talk about Forte Chocolates for a minute! They generously sent us bloggers some of their amazing gourmet chocolate to bake with for #Choctoberfest. And, of course, they are including some yummy bars in the big giveaway prize! My variety pack included White Swan, which is a an espresso white chocolate bar, a 64% Dark Chocolate bar, and Sea Salt in Milk Chocolate bar. They are all amazing, but I think this White Swan bar is my favorite! If you're a coffee lover like me, you'll become obsessed. It works perfectly in this white chocolate mocha braided bread!! If you want to try their chocolate for yourself, they currently have a Buy 3-Get 1 free promo with the code CHOCTOBERFEST2018.
You are all experts on #Choctoberfest now, so let's talk about World Bread Day! This mini event is hosted by the fabulous Karen over at Karen's Kitchen Stories, and we are just a bunch of bloggers who decided to bake some bread for the occasion! A few of us are doing both Choctoberfest and world bread day, so I'm not the only one with a sweet bread recipe! 🙂 This White Chocolate Mocha Braided Bread is made of a super simple yeast dough {actually, my go-to cinnamon roll dough!} and it's so easy, even I can do it. If you didn't know, I am actually terrible at baking bread but this dough never lets me down.
Because I love you guys so much, I tried to really take step-by-step pictures of the process so you can make your own perfect white chocolate mocha braided bread! It is so much easier than you would think. You start by rolling out your dough into a big rectangle, covering it with butter, sugar, espresso powder, and chocolate chunks. Then you roll it up like you would for cinnamon rolls! The next step seems weird but... you have to cut your roll in half length-wise to reveal all the layers! Turn your two pieces so that the layers are facing up, and then just overlap the two pieces to make a braided appearance. Finally, grab a 9x5 loaf pan and just squish your bread in there. That's it!
Be sure to check out all of the other wonderful bread recipes my foodie friends baked up today! And don't forget to enter the big #Choctoberfest giveaway!
- Bao Buns from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Cheesy Garlic Sourdough Focaccia from Cooking with Carlee
- Chocolate Babka from Amy's Cooking Adventures
- Chocolate Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Sourdough Rye Bread from Caroline's Cooking
- Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Dinner Rolls from Cooking for My Soul
- White Chocolate Mocha Braid from The Baking Fairy
- Yemarina Yewotet Dabo (Ethiopian Honey Bread) from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- *for the rolls*
- 1 cup milk {dairy or non-dairy}
- 2 cups white flour {+ ½ cup, separated}
- ¼ cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ½ tablespoon instant active dry yeast {about ½ a package}
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- *for the filling*
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoon espresso powder
- 1½ bars Forte White Swan Chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1 bar Forte 64% Dark Chocolate
- In a large nonstick pot, combine the milk, oil, and ¼ cup of sugar. Heat up to about 120F {warmer than body temperature but NOT burning hot} over medium heat, then remove from burner and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes to allow the yeast to activate.
- Afterwards, mix in the 2 cups of flour, cover the pot with a clean tea towel, and let the dough rise for about 1 hour.
- After the first rise, add in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and additional flour. Knead until all the flour has been absorbed, and add more if needed. You want the dough to be soft and smooth but not too sticky! Using a sharp knife, cut an X on top of your dough {this helps it rise }, cover with a tea towel again, and let rise for an additional 3+ hours. You can let it rise overnight at this point, or you can also wait until the next step!
- After the second rise, lightly flour a clean surface, and dump the dough on top. Knead it for 2-3 minutes, adding more flour as needed. The dough should be smooth and easy to work with, so add flour if it's too sticky!
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rough rectangle, making sure you don't roll it out too thin (somewhere between ½-¼ inch). Spread the melted butter all over the surface, and top with the sugar, espresso powder, and Forte Chocolate pieces. Starting on the long side closest to you, roll up the dough.
- Cut the log of dough length-wise to form two long pieces. Turn them so that the cut side faces up, and carefully overlap the two pieces to create a braided effect.
- Spray or butter a 9x5 loaf pan, and gently transfer the braid into the pan (you may have to squish it a little)!
- Let the loaf rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, then preheat oven to 350F.
- Bake bread in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. If it seems like it's getting too dark, cover with a piece of foil as it finishes cooking.
- Let cool slightly before turning out of pan and cutting. Enjoy!
Check out all of the other #Choctoberfest creations for today!
Karen says
You have bread braiding skills!!! This loaf is gorgeous and sounds delicious. Thanks for baking along!
valentina says
Thank you so much, Karen! Thanks for organizing this for us! 🙂
Wendy Klik says
Such an amazing looking loaf of bread.