Chocolate Chocolate-chip breakfast bread

One of my girls’ favorite breakfast treats are the chocolate, chocolate-chip muffins that are sold in a Duncan Hines mix.  Now, while the box says that it is a whole-grain recipe, I have been pretty sure I could make them more healthy if I made them on my own. Heck, just using my freshly-ground flour and eliminating the preservatives the box mix has will make a huge difference, I think.

So, I started hunting for a recipe to play around with.  This morning, I experimented and I think I’ve come up with a pretty close replacement to the box mix.  I made it as a bread loaf today, but I think the next time I make it I will make the muffins the girls love so much.

Doesn’t that just scream yumminess to you?

I can tell you that, fresh out of the oven, it was gooey, decadent and delicious. The girls scarfed it down and I didn’t mind indulging them in the sweets, because I knew it had wholesome ingredients.

Now, if I can just figure out how to sneak some more protein and/or a veggie or two into the mix, I’d be really happy.

Just in case you want to try this out with your family, here’s the recipe. I think it would make a great first-day-of-school treat for breakfast.

Oh, and warmed up later in the day with some ice cream? Oh, yum!

Chocolate, Chocolate-Chip Breakfast Bread (or muffins)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup Honey Granules & 1/2 cup Sucanat)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, here are a few tips to make this anyway)
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan or muffin tin.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter & sugar together.
4. Add the eggs & mix well.
5. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
6. Add those to the sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk (half of the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup buttermilk, the other half of the dry ingredients, the rest of the buttermilk) until incorporated well.
7. Mix in the chocolate chips.
8. Pour mixture into loaf pan or muffin tin.
9. Bake for 1 hour (loaf pan) or 20-30 min (muffins) until toothpick comes out clean.
10. Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.