Peanut Butter & Mocha Swirl Yeast Bread

It's been a while since I've made bread - I forgot how therapeutic it is! This loaf is adapted from a King Arthur Flour recipe and swirls a peanut-butter infused layer with a mocha one. It's visually stunning, simple to make, and of course - delicious!

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With the weather swinging all over the place these days, I try to capitalize on the cooler days by baking a bunch! We just finished the slew of birthdays (though, come to think of it, I still owe my dad some mincemeat tarts in lieu of a cake) and the summer gardening prep has ramped up, so healthy and delicious options for breakfast are a must! 

I loved the look of the Spiraled Wheat Loaf from King Arthur Flour (which is no longer on their website - the Wayback Machine has you covered though!) and wanted to bring more flavour to the party. Rather than a whole wheat dough spiraling with white, I came up with the idea of having a peanut butter-y layer swirling with a mocha-flavoured one. 

Visually, the two layers were stunning together - and the taste didn't disappoint either! The bread is dense like a sandwich loaf (making it fantastic for toasting too!) and both the peanut butter and mocha flavours shone through. This won't be like eating a Reeses Cup - the notes are more subtle than that - but you will definitely notice them! For colouring the inner layer, Selefina Spices came through with their black cocoa - intensely dark but not super bitter, it made the inner swirl of the mocha layer pop!

Peanut Butter & Mocha Swirl Yeast Bread

Serves 12

Peanut Butter Dough

2 tbsp canola oil

1 cup milk of choice (I used soy, for the rise)

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat bread flour

1/4 cup PB2 (or your preferred peanut butter powder)

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp instant yeast (I used SAF Gold)

Mocha Dough

2 tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup milk of choice (I used soy for the rise)

1 tbsp black cocoa (you can also use Dutch-process but it won't be as dark)

2 tsp instant espresso powder

1 1/2 cups whole wheat bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tbsp dough conditioner / bread improver (I used Fleischmann's Bread Booster, but King Arthur Whole Grain Bread Improver works)

1. In a bowl (I used a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook), mix together the oil, milk, flours, PB2, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix until an elastic, cohesive dough comes together (add more water or milk if necessary!), then knead for 8 minutes. Cover and place in the fridge while preparing the second dough.
2. Mix the Mocha Dough ingredients together and knead as you did for the Peanut Butter Dough. Cover with plastic wrap.
3. Remove the Peanut Butter Dough from the fridge and let both doughs rest 1 1/4 hours, until doubled.
4. Knock both back. 
5. Lightly flour a large surface and roll each piece of dough into an approximate 16" x 12" rectangle.
6. Brush the Peanut Butter Dough with water and top with the Mocha Dough. Press down lightly, then lightly brush with water.
7. Cut the dough in half crosswise so that you have 2 blocks of 8" long dough.
8. Roll each up like a log, pinching the seam and ends closed.
9. Grease two 9" bread pans and place each dough log inside them. Cover with plastic and set aside. 
10. Allow the bread to rise for about 45 minutes, or until the dough fills the pans and is starting to rise upwards.
11. Brush tops with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional).
12. Remove the plastic and place the pans in a cold oven.
13. Set the heat to 425°F, and bake for 15 minutes.
14. Reduce the heat to 350°F, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, tenting the loaves with foil for the last 15 minutes.
15. Bread is done when it reaches 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.
16. Allow it to cool completely before slicing.