Perfect for holiday breakfasts or brunches all year long, this warm and gooey Chocolate Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread is a whole-grain treat.

Are You Here for the Recipe? Let’s Talk Chocolate Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

A warm, flaky, whole-grain bread with layers of nutty browned butter, warming spices, and chocolate make this Chocolate Cinnamon Pull-Apart bread a real treat. Serve it for a special brunch or as a daily indulgence with a big mug of coffee. If you don’t have the requisite tube pan to achieve the wreath shape, not a problem. Simply, convert your cake pan to a tube with a glass jar at the center.

Are You Here to Connect? Let’s Talk Time with Friends & Warm Treats

This Chocolate Cinnamon Pull-Apart bread was a centerpiece for a festive brunch in our old dining room. It serves as a pleasant reminder of warming our home with bread baking in the oven, and a fully, cozy room. We celebrated winter, and time together.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about friendship – what draws us together, how we take the original, vulnerable steps to say “I like you, and I want to hang out more.” I’ve been thinking about relationships that build me up, and support me wholeheartedly, and those that, unfortunately, leave me empty. There are friendships that have left me as equally heartbroken as severed romantic relationships have.

Friendships, like this Chocolate Cinnamon Pull-Apart bread, require effort. They are layered and nuanced, but they are also sweet and spicy and meant to be savored. They are worth the effort.

If you too have been reflecting on friendships, I highly recommend the book Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make–and Keep–Friends by Dr. Marisa G. Franco.

You Might Also Like: A Cranberry & Goat Cheese-Swirled Sheet Pan Pancake

Eliminate the stress of flipping individual pancakes with this one-hit-wonder. This Cranberry & Goat Cheese-Swirled Sheet Pan Pancake means you get to spend more eating alongside your brunch friends instead of hovering over a griddle. Made with nutty. whole-grain and gluten-free buckwheat and millet flour, this brunch treat is hearty and indulgent. Find the recipe and many more in my book, The Gluten-Free Grains Cookbook.

Photo Credit: Noah Purdy, Styled by me. 

Are You Here for the Dogs?

Speaking of friendship, how endearing is the bond between Maple and Pepper?

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Chocolate Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

A festive wreath with a nutty, spiced, chocolate filling. Perfect for holiday breakfasts or brunches all year long. Adapted ever so slightly from Half Baked Harvest to make this a whole-grain treat.

Course: Breakfast

Keyword: bread, brunch, whole grain

Author: Tieghan Gerard

Ingredients

For the Dough:

• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
• 3 large eggs
• 3 1/2-4 cups 336 - 384 g whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Filling:

• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter
• 1 1/4 cups light or dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• ½ tablespoon Chinese Five Spice
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

For the Dough:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the warm milk, yeast, and honey. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until bubbly on top.
• Add 4 tablespoons butter, eggs, 3 1/2 cups flour, and salt. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. If the dough is still sticky, add the additional 1/2 cup of flour, adding more as needed until the dough is smooth to the touch.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, prepare the browned butter and filling.

Brown the Butter:

• Melt the butter in a medium light-colored frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally to be sure the butter is cooking evenly. As the butter melts, it will begin to foam. The color will progress from lemony-yellow to golden-tan to, finally, a toasty brown. Once you smell that nutty aroma, and the butter is the color of graham cracker crumbs, take the pan off the heat and transfer the browned butter into a heatproof bowl.

For the Filling:

• Butter a tube pan or a cake pan with a glass jar in the middle. Set aside the pan.
• In a bowl, combine the brown sugar and spices.

To Assemble:

• Transfer the dough to a work surface and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Working with 1 dough piece at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle (roughly 14x10 inches).
• Spread 2 tablespoons butter over the dough, then sprinkle with 1/4 cup cinnamon & spice sugar and 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips.
• Gently press the chips into the dough. Cut the dough lengthwise into 3 strips. Cut the strips crosswise into 4 strips each, making 12 squares.
• Stack all 12 dough squares, 1 on top of the other. Repeat with the remaining 3 dough pieces and remaining butter.
• Arrange stacks in the buttered tube pan, standing up like little books, allowing gaps between dough pieces.
• Cover the pan with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until the dough almost reaches the top, about 1 hour.

To Bake:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake until the bread is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully remove. Serve warm.