Chocolate Walnut Butter Bread

Chocolate Walnut Butter Bread The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham

"According to the author this bread also makes extraordinary french toast-just be sure to dip the sliced bread into the egg only briefly so the slices don't get soaked through."
Makes 2 loaves


    1/2  cup Warm water
      1  pk Yeast
  3-1/2  cup Flour
      1  Tbs Sugar
  1-1/4  tsp Salt
      4  Eggs, room temp.
     12  Tbs Butter, softened
      1  cup Walnuts, chopped(lg. pieces)
      6  oz Chocolate, semisweet*

*Use 6-one ounce squares, broken or chopped in large pieces. Put the water in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Stir and allow to stand for 5 minutes to dissolve. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and eggs to the yeast mixture and beat vigorously until well blended. Beat in the butter in Tablespoon sized pieces until it is all incorporated and the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rise to double its bulk. Stir the batter down and add the walnuts and chocolate pieces. Spoon the batter into two greased 8 1/2x4 1/2x3-inch loaf pans (the pans should be half full so the loaves will have nicely rounded tops when they finish baking) Bake in a preheated 350°F. oven for about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes, then turn loaves out onto racks. Makes 2 loaves; about 16 slices each.