Thank goodness it’s a long weekend! I’m glad to have the extra time to relax, recharge and, most important, mess around in the kitchen. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.
On Friday, I prepared a simple sheet-pan dinner to enjoy at home (and later headed to Dog Haus to satisfy a tater tot craving). The following morning, I turned out this big and beautiful dark chocolate coconut star bread, a twist on a favorite creation.
Other tasks on my culinary to-do list:
- Recreate Bryant Ng’s shredded chicken salad with creamy miso dressing
- Whip up Bryant Terry’s rigatoni with sunchoke-tomato sauce
- Make use of some items in a recent Cal-Organic Farms delivery, which included red beets, red onions, red radishes and two types of red lettuce
While I’m cooking, you can bet that I’ll be snacking on pieces of dark chocolate coconut star bread. It’s truly the perfect treat to eat any time of the day (if you’re a carb lover like me).
Dark Chocolate Coconut Star Bread
Makes 1 12" round loaf
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup milk
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour (see notes)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Filling and finish:
- 5 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar, plus more for finish
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In a large bowl, heat milk until warm - about 30 seconds in the microwave should do. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar. Whisk together until thoroughly combined and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining sugar, butter, egg, 3 cups flour and salt to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Continue adding flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together to form a shaggy ball; it should be tacky but not sticky. Then knead the dough by hand (or with a dough hook attachment) until it's smooth and elastic - this will take about 10 minutes (or less if using a stand mixer). Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Make the filling:
- In a food processor, pulse the chocolate and sugar until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until combined. Transfer mixture to a microwave-safe bowl; microwave for 20-30 seconds and stir until spreadable. Set aside.
Shape and bake the loaf:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into 4 equal pieces.
- Using a rolling pin, roll one piece into a circle, about 12 inches in diameter, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Spread one-third of the chocolate filling in an even layer over the top of the dough, leaving a 1” border around the edges. Sprinkle on one-third of the coconut. Repeat with remaining portions of dough, leaving the last circle bare. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
- Place a 2" round cutter in the center of the stack of dough. Use a sharp knife to cut dough into 16 wedges, leaving the area inside the round cutter intact.
- Using your hands, gently twist two adjacent wedges away from each other a few times and pinch ends to seal. Repeat with remaining wedges of dough.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Let dough rise for 30 minutes and then brush top of loaf with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
I used a mix of all-purpose and Central Milling organic High Mountain bread flour.
