I don’t eat a lot of chocolate bread in general, so I wasn’t sure if this was going to land somewhere between dessert and breakfast… or just be weird. I have actually never made focaccia bread either so this was my first attempt.

This is definitely not a “throw together in an hour” kind of bake. It’s time-consuming, yes, but not difficult. The stand mixer does most of the heavy lifting, the time consuming part is passive as you have to let the dough rest several times.

I do like bread recipes because most of the time you just put all of the ingredients together into a stand mixer and then go and this is no exception (though you do hold the chocolate chips out until a little later). After an initial mix just to ensure everything is incorporated the dough rests for 20 minutes. Come back and let it mix for another 15 minutes and then add in the chocolate chips, and let the dough rest again for about an hour in a warm spot.

I prepped my pan with butter instead of olive oil because I just prefer the flavor in sweeter bakes. After resting, the dough gets moved into the pan and rises again for 2 to 3 hours. I went with the full 3 hours since our house tends to run a little cold and I wanted to give it every chance to get nice and puffy. After the rise, it looked bubbly and fluffy so that was exciting.

I drizzled a little melted butter on top and gently dimpled the surface with my fingers. I didn’t have any Swedish Pearl Sugar, so I just left that part out and then popped it into the oven.

We tried it two ways: first, still slightly warm with just a little powdered sugar dusted on top. It was soft, chocolaty, and kind of like a cake-bread hybrid. Then we reheated slices the next morning and had it with coffee—and that somehow made it even better. I love the texture of focaccia bread and in this particular recipe is truly felt like a marshmallow in that it was very soft and pillowy. It was delicious and while I had originally intended to share with a few others we ended up eating the entire thing.

Absolutely worth the time, especially since the actual “work” is so easy. Very very delicious and fun since it’s not something you really expect.

Baking Ease	10
Time Spent	7
Taste	10
Visual	10

Recipe Used: King Arthur