Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Brioche

Prior to last weekend, I had only made brioche once.  I had made a loaf of a nice, light brioche bread though.  I wanted this time to make individualized brioche as a dessert. I looked long and hard for chocolate and/or chocolate chip brioche recipes.  I reviewed many, many brioche recipes before coming up with my own that suited my desires of what I hoped to get out of this recipe - muffin tin dessert brioche for brunch.  The end result was delicious and pleasurable - definatly  a dessert but not overwhelmingly sweet.  But don't be fooled, these brioche, like any other contain quite a bit of butter, so they are a special treat and to share with friends - not something I suggest eating three of in one sitting (which I could have done if I let myself).

Sasha's Chocolate Chip Mini Brioche (makes 1 dozen)
1/4 cup plus 2 T milk ( I used Stonyfield Farms Fat Free Milk, my favorite organic milk)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp (two packages) active dry yeast
1 1.4 cup plus 2 T unbleached bread flour (I used King Arthur Flour)
1 1/2 cup plus 2 T all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
5 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk for egg wash
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine the milk, sugar and yeast.  Warm the milk for about 15 seconds in the microwave first.  Allow to sit for about 10-15 minutes until the yeast is activated (it will become frothy and bubbly and will double in size).

Using a stand mixer, with the dough hook attachment, combine the yeast milk mixture with the flour, eggs, chocolate chips mix well.  Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and the butter is incorporated for about five minutes.  If you need to you can add some extra flour (I added a tablespoon or two extra at this point).

Coat a large bowl with PAM and transfer the dough to the bowl.  Allow to stand in a warm place for about an hour and a half until the dough doubles in size.  This is just the same as if you were making my recipe for Challah bread.

Punch down the dough and recover.  Refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours and punch down the dough again. The preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a silicon muffin tin with PAM.  Evenly divide the dough into 36 small balls, like 36 little ping ping balls. Then, place three of the balls inside each of the muffin tin molds, to make a total of 12 brioches.

Loosely cover the mold with plastic wrap and allow to sit in a warm place for about 30 minutes.  Then brush the tops with the egg yolk wash.  Bake for 10 minutes at 425 and then reduce the heat to 350 and bake until golden brown - the time will vary depending on your oven but it took me another 15 minutes or so.  Allow to cool and enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Brioche

Sasha's Kitchen: Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Dessert Challah

I love baking Challah; certainly it is my favorite Jewish recipe to prepare.  There's something both relaxing and spiritual about making Challah that always leave me in a good mood.  This recipe, like any Challah recipe, does not require a breadmaker - I always use my KitchenAid Artisan mixer to prepare fresh, light homebaked Challah, and it works like a charm.  Challah is one of my signature recipes - one of the feats in the kitchen that I am the most proud of.  My favorite part of Challah making is checking the Challah after the dough rises.  I love waiting for the dough to rise and braiding the bread.  I love the polished, professional and glossy look it has when it comes out the the oven.  And finally, I love the warm, fresh taste of a beautiful soft Challah straight out of the oven.  Few things are more gratifying! My all-time favorite meal consists of Challah, homemade caesar salad, Asian Sake marinated chilean sea bass with papaya salsa and my husband's green apple risotto.

I have already made regular plain Challah and cinnamon raisin Challah for this blog.  So I decided that the next direction to go with this egg-based bread would be to prepare a dessert Challah.  I decided that chocolate and cinnamon would be a natural combination for the perfect dessert bread.  There's certainly other possibilities - I have a pumpkin variation up my sleeve for a rainy day.


Sasha's Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Challah (makes one medium sized Challah)
2 1/4 cup King Arthur Bread Flour
2 small packets dry active yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
4 egg yolks plus 1 egg yolk for the glaze
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

This dessert recipe is very loosely adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe for plain Challah from her Baking Handbook.  Basically, I looked at that recipe, not for direction, but to make sure I got some of the basic proportions right.

  

To prepare this recipe, first activate the yeast by placing the dry active yeast in warm water and waiting about 10 minutes for the yeast to activate into a frothy, bubbly form.  Then, combine the water, flour, salt, sugar, canola oil, four egg yolks, cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips in your breadmaker or artisan mixer and combine into a dough.  You can add an additional couple of tablespoons of water if you need to (I did this time, no big deal).

Place the challah in a well oiled bowl covered with a damp cloth and allow it to rise in a warm place for an hour.  My trick is allowing the oven to heat to about 150 degrees and then turn it off before placing the bowl inside the slightly warm oven.  I found that this allows the dough to rise faster and more completely.  Braid the Challah and put on a baking sheet sprayed with PAM.  Cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap and allow to rise for another hour.  At this point, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Before you bake the Challah, glaze with an egg yolk using a pastry brush.  This will give the Challah a nice, shiny egg washed color when baked.  Bake the bread for about 20-30 minutes and enjoy!  Mine was sweet, soft and delicious.

Sasha's Kitchen: Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Dessert Challah