Vegan chocolate bread
It is winter, sometime in January, I am not quite sure about the dates as all days seem to blend into a gray affair. The country is in lockdown and I miss the cozy café times. As I generally do not bake at home – the sweet indulgences were reserved for gatherings and outings. But I seem to have run out of choices! When the chocolate cake mood strikes I become a slave to the kitchen. A vegan chocolate bread with nutty undertones seems to be just the thing.
The rewards are sweet and dangerous. As there is no one to tell me that I should not eat that third slice! Luckily I have an aversion to overly sweet cakes, and I also seem to have convinced myself that chocolate by itself – without the dairy – is actually wonderful for my general health! So no guilty feelings or unwanted side effects – just pure enjoyment.
The recipe – vegan chocolate bread
This vegan chocolate bread with bananas and hazelnuts is smooth, sweet, and hearty. A low-sugar recipe for guilt-free indulgence.
This is a perfect baked item for a brunch when you are not sure if people want sweet or savory. It is a bit more neutral than cake – yet much sweeter and decadent than a piece of sourdough bread. Also, you can indulge in a slice without feeling you just ate your quota of sugar for the week. (If you do have a stronger sweet tooth – you can just increase the amount of sugar used in the recipe)
I am not sure if this classifies as bread. Probably not. But I do not think it is necessarily a cake either. Let’s call it a breake? (pun intended)
The ground hazelnuts make it nice and chewy. The banana makes it smooth and cakey and the melted chocolate chunks are nicely decadent. The salt adds more depth to the flavor. If I happen to have it I use my favorite Fleur de sel dark chocolate. Otherwise, I use regular dark chocolate and add some nice salt flakes to the batter.
Vegan Chocolate Bread
Equipment
- oven
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 200 gr white spelt flour (or other flour of choice)
- 30 gr pure cacao powder
- 70 gr Hazelnuts (ruffly ground in the blender)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 50 gr Vegan chocolate (70%) chopped into small chunks
- 1 tsp salt
Wet ingredients
- 2 medium or large ripe bananas
- 15 gr crushed flax seeds (mixed with 20 ml water)
- 30 gr coconut oil (melted)
- 70 gr sugar
- 200 ml oat milk (or other vegan milk of choice)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
chocolate sauce topping
- 50 gr vegan dark chocolate
- 20 gr vegan butter
- a small sip of oat milk
Instructions
- In a small cup mix the flax seeds with 20 ml of water and let it sit for 10 min
- Preheat the oven at 180°C fan force
- Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a whisk
- In a separate bowl crush the bananas with a fork, add the remaining wet ingredients, including the soaked fax seed mixture and mix well
- pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and blend well
- Pour the finished batter into a medium size bread tin (oiled, so that the bread is easy to remove) and bake for approx. 40 min.
- 10 minutes before the cake comes out of the oven, melt the remaining chocolate together with the butter and tiny sip of oat milk – mix into a smooth paste
- spread the chocolate sauce over the cake as soon as it gets out of the oven, let it cool and enjoy!