Starbucks Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

Chocolate and cinnamon, two of my favorite ingredients! I don’t think I’ve ever made any baked goods combining those two ingredients, and boy, was it time. Apparently I have been missing out. Why haven’t I done this before? Chocolate and cinnamon go great together, and I will be seeking out more recipes like this in the future. This bread isn’t really a bread. It is more like a chocolate-y pound cake, with a crunchy topping. This recipe comes straight from the Starbucks website.

Confession: I’ve never actually tried any of the pastries at Starbucks. I usually consider the coffee itself enough of a treat, since I am incapable of ordering plain coffee. Coffee purist I am not. I like the chocolate-y, creamy coffees and frapps. Made with whole milk. Whipped cream on top? Yes, please! So you can see why it might be overkill to have a pastry too. Or is it?

This was actually my second attempt at making this bread. The first time around, I thought I would use a mini-loaf pan to make four super-cute mini loaves. About 10 or 15 minutes in to the baking, we smelled burning. The mini loaves had risen, overflowing out of the pan and all over the bottom of the oven. I tried to salvage them by putting a cookie sheet under the loaf pan, but the batter just kept continuing to pour over the edge of the pan, and off the cookie sheet onto the bottom of the oven. Seriously, it was like a volcano of chocolate batter. What a mess! Here it is a week later, and we still have a faint burning smell every time we use the oven.

That batter sure did taste great though, and I really wanted to try this recipe again. For my second attempt, I used regular size loaf pans, and made sure not to fill them up too much. No disasters this time around. This is a delicious chocolate cake, but it is really the crunchy sugar and spice topping that makes me like it so much. The hint of nutmeg and clove in the topping, combined with the chocolate and cinnamon of the bread is genius. My only complaint is that my sugar topping didn’t stick to the top of the cake very well, and I hate to see any of this delicious topping wasted! Also, my loaves look nothing like the Starbuck’s picture. Mine wasn’t nearly that dark, perhaps because I didn’t use Dutch processed cocoa, but just the regular cocoa I had on hand. This would be great for a brunch, bake sale, dessert, breakfast for company….or just because! I’ll be sure to grab a slice next time I go to Starbucks, too…..you know, for my research.

Starbuck’s Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

Chocolate Batter Ingredients:

• sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups granulated white sugar
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups Dutch-processed cocoa
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cocoa Spice Sugar Crust:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 cup decorating or sparkle sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Make the Chocolate Batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed, until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to butter, beginning and ending with the flour and beating just until blended. Divide the batter between the two pans, shake the pans to even the tops and set aside.

Make the Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust: In another small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves. Sprinkle the surfaces of both batters with the decorating sugar. Sprinkle with the cocoa sugar mixture, dividing evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely, run a thin knife around the sides to release the breads and remove from pans.