Dark Chocolate Cherry Pocket Bread

While these Dark Chocolate Cherry Pocket Breads may look like muffins, they are actually little crusty sourdough rolls baked in a muffin tin.

The flavor in these mini loaves is distinctly sourdough, and the cherries and the dark chocolate unexpectedly play so well together with the sourdough flavor in these tiny babies.

Yes, they could be shaped into regular loaves or rolls, but aren't these way cuter?


I bake bread almost every weekend. I love the rhythm of the process. This bread fits right into that rhythm. I refreshed my sourdough starter on Friday night, created the preferment on Saturday night, and spent a leisurely Sunday mixing, shaping, and baking these rolls, finally finishing Sunday night.

My only issue with this schedule is that I had to take these photos on Monday morning right before going to work. I do a lot of that.... so that big brown thing peeking out of the top of the roll that I didn't notice until now is chocolate. I used large chocolate chunks in these rolls, and some of them decided on a failed escape plan. Rest assured, the semi-escaped bits were still tasty.

Is it a dessert? Is it a bread? I'd say it's an amazing breakfast bread. It's way too crusty for dessert.

The concept of pocket breads comes from Josey Baker, a northern California based bakery owner and the author of the amazing book, Josey Baker Bread. When he was first starting his business, he developed these small loaves for potential customers who didn't want or need to buy a large loaf of bread. This was his most popular flavor. He says that his customers get upset if he runs out of them. He coats his with cornmeal, which I skipped. If you don't have time for all of the long rises, just add a small amount of yeast to the final dough to speed up the process.

I've also made his Golden Raisin and Fennel Pocket Bread. If you are new to bread baking, this book will teach you how to make the most amazing artisan loaves. His enthusiasm for baking bread is amazing.

After the recipe, you definitely need to check out the rest of this month's amazing #BreadBakers chocolate themed bread recipes. The theme was chosen by Shireen from Ruchik Randhap.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Pocket Bread

Makes 12 Pocket Breads

Ingredients

Cherry Soaker

1/2 C (90 g) dried cherries, chopped

1/2 C hot water, about 100 degrees F

Mix the ingredients in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for about 8 to 12 hours. Drain before using. 

Sourdough Pre-Ferment

15 g (1T) active sourdough starter

1/2 C cool water

105 g (3/4 C) whole wheat flour

Mix the ingredients in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for about 8 to 12 hours, until bubbly. 

Final Dough

All of the pre-ferment

1 1/4 C lukewarm water

450 g (3 C) bread flour

12 g (2 tsp) fine sea salt (or regular non-iodized)

All of the cherry soaker, drained

45 grams dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

Instructions

1. Scrape the pre-ferment into a large bowl.
2. Add the water, bread flour, salt, cherry soaker, and chocolate chunks, and mix with a wet hand until combined. 
3. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. 
4. Do four "stretch and fold" sessions, folding the dough over itself about 8 to 10 times (check out this post for a video of the stretch and fold method), every 30 minutes, covering the dough in between. 
5. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled, about 3 hours. 
6. Spray a muffin tin with spray oil.
7. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts, about 100 grams each. 
8. Form each into a ball (the dough will be sticky so flour your work surface and wet your hands). 
9. Place the dough balls, seam side down, into the cavities of the muffin tin. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until puffy, about 3 hours. 
10. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. 
11. Slash the tops of the breads, and spray the tops with water.
12. Bake the rolls for 5 minutes, open the door of the oven, and spray the rolls once more with water and close the door. 
13. Bake for another 25 minutes, until nicely browned.
14. Remove the rolls from the oven and turn them out onto a cooling rack. 

To make in advance, wrap with plastic wrap after they have cooled and freeze. 

Breads with Cocoa, Cacao or Carob in any form

• Chocolate & Cherry Swirl Breads from The Bread She Bakes
• Chocolate and Vanilla Brioche from Kidsandchic
• Chocolate Buttermilk Quick Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Filled Bundt Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Croatian Povitica - Chocolate Walnut Swirl Bread from Herbivore Cucina
• Double Chocolate Espresso Scones from Wholistic Woman
• Eggless Chocolate Babka from I Camp in my Kitchen
• Eggless Chocolate Swirl Buns from Seduce Your Tastebuds
• Eggless Triple Chocolate Scones from Spill the Spices
• Four-Chocolate Sour Cream Quickbread from What Smells So Good?
• Leopard Print Bread from Spiceroots
• Pain Au Chocolat (Chocolate filled Croissants) from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Pane Al Cioccolato - Chocolate Bread from Ruchik Randhap
• Petits Pain au Chocolat - Mini Chocolate Croissant from Sneha's Recipe

This month we are making Breads with Cocoa, Cacao or Carob in any form.

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.