Take Out Fake Out: Chocolate Candy Cane Pull Apart Bread
Welcome to the first ever Christmas Edition of Take Out Fake Out. I mean, how much Christmas-ier can it get? Candy and chocolate all crammed into a delicious loaf of carby goodness, then drizzled with a sugary glaze? Makes me wanna deck the halls, ya’ll.
If you’ve ever had the classic Pull Apart Bread, which can be found at tons of different restaurants year round, you would know that the classic is a cinnamon sugar flavor. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of cinnamon sugar, and the original is very tasty. I just wanted to put a bit of a Christmas spin on things! Especially because this time of year, people are always searching for new baked goods to try. And really, what other time of the year can you literally slather bread dough with chocolate and crunched up candy canes, bake it, dump frosting over it and call it a day?
You could even consider this a breakfast food – it is bread, after all.
Have a wonderful day everyone and as usual, please comment below if there is something you would like to see on an upcoming edition of Take Out Fake Out.
Chocolate Candy Came Pull Apart Bread:
Makes one loaf pan
Total time: 2.5 hours
Total time where you’re actually doing things: 30 minutes
What you’ll need:
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup sugar, divided use
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 cup cocoa
- 4 cups flour plus extra for needing if needed
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1/2 cup crushed candy canes
- 1 cup mint chocolate chips
- 1 cups icing sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
Microwave 2 cups of the milk until very warm to the touch, add the sugar and then sprinkle with the yeast. Allow that to sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Then pour into the mixing bowl. Add the oil, cocoa and two cups of the flour. Mix until it forms a sticky dough, then turn out onto a board and continue adding the remaining flour slowly, kneading the flour into the dough, until the dough turns soft and elastic. You may not need all the flour or you may need a bit extra. Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for one hour.
Once the dough is risen, transfer it to a floured board, and then roll out to a large rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.
Grease a standard sized loaf pan and set aside. In a bowl, mix together the crushed candy canes (reserve about 1 tbsp for garnish) and 1/2 cup sugar, set aside.
Spread the dough with the softened butter and then sprinkle with the sugar/candy cane mix. Finally, sprinkle on the chocolate chips and then press the chocolate chips into the dough with your palms. Cut the dough into long strips, about 4 inches wide, and then cut across the other way so you create a bunch of squares of dough. Stack up the squares of dough and then place them sideways into the loaf pan. Make sure you don’t stuff them in there, you want to have a little wiggle room, you may have some squares leftover.
Now cover the pan and return it to a warm place to rise again, for 30 minutes or so. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and once the bread has risen, bake it in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. While it is baking, mix together the icing sugar, melted butter, vanilla and remaining milk, until smooth. Once the bread is finished backing, remove and place on a wire rack. Drizzle the frosting over the warm bread, allowing it to melt into the crevices. Sprinkle with the remaining crushed candy canes.
Serve warm or let cool to room temperature.
Enjoy!
