This was supposed to be a variation on Joy of Cooking's Coffee Icebox Cookies, but the day I tried the recipe, I was constantly distracted by having to take care of the puppies, plus various other goings on, so it ended up a little different. I gave this the cutesy name "Delicious Distraction" because first I was distracted while preparing this recipe, and then later I was distracted from all my distractions by warm, delicious chocolate chip coffee bread.
I originally varied the recipe because I didn't have any "coffee liqueur" or instant espresso (the book's recipe calls for a tablespoon of each). Below I'll give the recipe as I made it.
INGREDIENTS
1 c. flour (I used white whole wheat.)
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. sugar (I think. I may have used 3/8 c. This was a week ago.)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. very strong coffee
as many chocolate chips as you desire (I used 1 oz. dark chocolate chopped fine. Two ounces would have been even better.)
(The faintest dash of cinnamon.)
(I hope I've listed the ingredients correctly. I meant to write down what I used immediately, but the puppies had to go to the vet that day, and then Ginger (their mom) went to live with my mom, which meant I had to get all her stuff together (Ginger has a lot of stuff for someone who only weighs ten pounds!))
To make the "very strong coffee," I put 3 tbsp. ground coffee in a measuring cup and added 8 oz. boiling water, then let it steep for 15 minutes. (I was going to let it steep 10 minutes, but like I said, I had a lot of distractions. I was also only going to use just a small amount of the coffee, but forgot, which is how I ended up with a runny batter that had to be made into cakey bread instead of cookies.)
Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, then add the sugar and wet ingredients and mix well. Then pour the flour on top and add the baking powder and salt. Mix those into the flour, then mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients thoroughly. Add at least 1 oz. "mini" dark chocolate chips or finely chopped baking chocolate. (I think 2 or 3 oz. would be optimum for chocolate lovers.)
This makes a short cake-like loaf, so I poured the batter into a small metal dish (about 7" X 9") lined with parchment (a pie pan would work well also, I think). I believe I cooked it at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. It should rise just a little bit and be soft and springy once cooked (I stuck a fork in it and it came out perfectly clean except for smears of melted chocolate).
Here it is right out of the oven:
(This is a shallow pan. The recipe is adapted from half the cookie recipe, so it doesn't make that much.)
Here's a little serving, a cross-wise slice cut in half:
My mom was the only person besides me who tasted the bread. She said, "It definitely tastes like coffee!" I ate the whole loaf--for breakfast and lunch the first day, and breakfast the second day. It didn't get me wired, but it did keep me energized! It is equally excellent with tea or hot chocolate. (If you want to try it with coffee, go right ahead, but don't come crying to me if your heart pounds out of your chest like a cartoon character's.) This bread got more delicious the longer it was wrapped up, and I bet it would have been mind-blowing if I'd wrapped it as soon as it cooled and just let it be for a couple of days (Ha! Fat chance!!).
A+
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