Streusel-topped ChocoChip Almond Pull-Apart Bread!

"Long name, amazing results!"  That's the tag for a business here in northeast Ohio, but it could also be the "tag" for this bread - LOL! I only put all that in the title to cover all my bases......The chocolate lovers, the nut lovers, the pull-apart bread lovers....you get it! I wanted you readers to get the idea that this bread does, indeed, cover a lot of bases. It is a sweet bread, but surprisingly not tooooo sweet. (The older I get, the less I enjoy "super-sweet" things, so you'll find very few extra-sugary recipes here) The streusel on the top can be adjusted, amount-wise, to your tastes...... or perhaps you'd rather not put it on at all! As usual, this bread was created for my friends at an early-morning meeting I was attending (I have to bribe them somehow to come out to  these early meetings!) . It got the thumbs-up from everyone there.....I hope you'll give it the thumbs-up too!

Streusel-Topped Almond Choco-Chip Bread!

Dough:

1 1/8 Cup warm water

1 Tbsp./Pkg. Red Star Platinum Instant Yeast

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

½ tsp. vanilla

3 Cups unbleached bread flour

1/2 Cup mini chocolate chips

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. powdered milk

1 tsp. salt

1/3 Cup toasted slivered almonds (almonds can be toasted by briefly cooking them over med-high high in a skillet, stirring until they are golden and releasing a wonderful aroma)

 Streusel:

¼ Cup sugar

3 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. cold butter

Combine sugar and flour. Cut in sugar and set aside in a cool place until ready to use.

Place warm water and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated. Remove dough from bucket, spray bucket with cooking spray, “smooth” dough and replace in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a large rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, then make five cuts width-wise. Stack the small rectangles on top of one another and place width-wise in a greased 9x5” loaf pan. Let rise. Before baking, sprinkle with streusel topping (you may not need all of it). Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes, or until golden. You may wish to cover the streusel with aluminum foil halfway thru baking to prevent over-browning.

 

Streusel-topped ChocoChip Almond Pull-Apart Bread!