Panettone
Chocolate chip Panettone bread for the holiday season.
This panettone is a tender, sweet bread with a rich chocolate flavor, and beautiful to look at. These breads are not only attractive but, delicious too. They make a wonderful gift for those special people in your life. Panettones are a favorite of the Christmas season throughout Italy and France even here in North America they are becoming more popular. This panettone bread recipe can easily become a family favorite and a new tradition in your home.
Ingredients
The night before :
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
Day of:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup buttermilk (room temp.)
- 3 - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Method
The night before you make your panettone combine in a bowl 1 1/4 cups of flour, 3/4 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast. Beat together with a wood spoon, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 15-20 hours in a cool dry area. The next day prep all your ingredients.
In a large bowl add your butter and sugar. Beat together with a wooden spoon till smooth.
Add in egg and egg yolks, beat till smooth. Add in night before mixture and beat till smooth.
Add in vanilla and buttermilk. Mix well
Add in about 2 cups of flour and the salt, mix together till well combined.
Add in instant yeast and mix. Allow to rest uncovered for 20 minutes.
Add about a 1/2 a cup of flour on a flat surface. Pour out the dough mixture onto the flour.
Add 1/4 of a cup of flour on top of the dough. Start to knead the dough.
Slowly add flour as needed. Knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes. You want the dough to be on the sticky side.
After kneading the dough take a little piece of dough and stretch it out to create a thin membrane. This will help tell you if you kneaded the dough enough. Place some of the chocolate chips on to the dough and knead in.
Continue to add in the chocolate chips till you have no more left.
Shape into a large ball. Add a little oil into a large bowl.
Place the panettone dough into the bowl and turn to lightly coat all sides of the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours in a cool dry area.
Prep your containers. I'm using a 1 1/2 qt. round casserole dish and a 6 cup Molten lava tin. You can use the Panettone paper pans or for individual mini panettones you can use 3-4 inch ramekins.
You can also use muffin tins. Spray the containers with oil spray this will help to hold the parchment paper to the sides. Cut parchment paper to fit the bottom and the sides of the containers.
Pour out the dough and cut in half.
If you are making mini panettones cut half the dough into 6 equal pieces, shape into small round balls and place into prepared muffin tins. Repeat other half. If you are making 2 large panettones shape into two large balls and place into prepared casserole dishes.
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Bake in a 325F oven for about 50-55 minutes for the large panettones and 20 -25 minutes for the mini panettones. I would suggest you use a heat thermometer to check the temperature of these loaves, it's the easiest way to check the doneness of the bread. You want the temp. to be between 180 - 185F when placed into the center of the loaf. Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack.
