I made this way back on Mothers’ Day, and, even though it was really friggin’ good, I just have been tooooo lazy to type it up since then. But it’s too good not to share, gotta get posting!

Ingredients:

Bread Starter:

• 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Red Velvet Yeast Bread:

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce – you can get 1 ounce bottles at the store) red food coloring plus 1 tablespoon water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup minus 3 tablespoons lukewarm water (100-110 degrees F)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• vegetable oil for lightly oiling bowl

Filling:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cream Cheese Glaze:

• 2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• about 3 tablespoons milk as
• mini chocolate chips for sprinkling (I totally forgot these, it wasn’t a big deal)

To start off with, you make the bread starter by dissolving the yeast in the warm water and letting it sit about ten minutes. Stir in the flour, cover loosely, and let sit 6 hours.

When your starter’s ready, in a different small bowl combine the cocoa powder, red food coloring, and tablespoon of water.

In a medium bowl, combine the red paste, the flour, sugar, yeast, water, and 1/4 cup of the starter and let rest for 15 minutes. Save the rest of the starter for other recipes – I used it for my salted caramel apple sourdough challah.

Knead in the salt and butter, then knead a further 10  minutes, if by hand, or 4 minutes with a dough hook, until smooth and elastic.

This looks goopier than it was in person, I think.

Lightly oil a large bowl and turn the dough into it. Cover loosely and let rise until doubled, about one and a half hours. Leaving the dough in the bowl, fold it in thirds like a letter to deflate, then recover an let rise a further half hour.

The recipe then calls for greasing two 7X3″ loaf pans. I used one 9X5″ pan and thought it was a good size, so that’s an option as well.

Turn half the dough out onto a floured counter and roll out to a roughly 15X12″ rectangle.

“Roughly” indeed.

Brush half the melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle with half the sugar and chocolate chips. It may not seem like the dough has a ton of room to let the chips in, but if you pat them down they will actually stick into the dough a bit.

Cut the dough into 6 strips in one direction, and then cut each strip into 6 squares. Pile the squares on top of each other, cramming any chips that fall out back in. Lay the squares on their edges in your prepared bread pan, then repeat with the other half of the dough.

Cover your bread pan(s), and let the dough rise 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the dough has risen, uncover and bake 30-35 minutes, until the top is dark brown. If you only used one bread pan, it could take a bit longer, just keep an eye on it. Cool in the pan until it’s a temperature you can eat without getting internal burns. Distract yourself by making the glaze.

To make the glaze, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and vanilla, then use the milk to thin it to a drizzling consistency. Drizzle some on top of the loaf, and save some for the separate slices. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.
There’s a whole lot of waiting in this recipe, but it’s totally worth it. The bread was a bit tangy, from the starter, and deliciously chocolatey. I’m really into it.

Red Velvet Pull-Apart Bread With Cream Cheese Glaze

From Willow Bird Baking.

Bread Starter:

• 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Red Velvet Yeast Bread:

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) red food coloring plus 1 tablespoon water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup minus 3 tablespoons lukewarm water (100-110 degrees F)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• vegetable oil for lightly oiling bowl

Filling:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cream Cheese Glaze:

• 2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• about 3 tablespoons milk as
• mini chocolate chips for sprinkling

Make the bread starter by dissolving the yeast in the warm water, letting it sit about ten minutes. Stir in the flour, cover loosely, and let sit 6 hours.

When your starter’s ready, in a different small bowl combine the cocoa powder, red food coloring, and tablespoon of water. Combine this red paste, the flour, sugar, yeast, water, and 1/4 cup of the starter in a medium bowl and let rest for 15 minutes. Knead in the salt and butter, then knead a further 10  minutes, if by hand, or 4 minutes with a dough hook, until smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil a large bowl and turn the dough into it. Cover loosely and let rise until doubled, about one and a half hours. Leaving the dough in the bowl, fold it in thirds like a letter to deflate, then recover an let rise a further half hour.

Grease two 7X3″ loaf pans.

Turn half the dough out onto a floured counter and roll out to a roughly 15X12″ rectangle. Brush half the melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle with half the sugar and chocolate chips. Pat the chocolate chips into the dough lightly.

Cut the dough into 6 strips in one direction, and then cut each strip into 6 squares. Pile the squares on top of each other, cramming any chips that fall out back in. Lay the squares on their edges in your prepared bread pan, then repeat with the other half of the dough. Cover your bread pans, and let the dough rise 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the dough has risen, uncover and bake 30-35 minutes, until the top is dark brown. Cool in the pan until just warm.

To make the glaze, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and vanilla, then use the milk to thin it to a drizzling consistency. Drizzle some on top of the loaf, and save some for the separate slices. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.