Although Italian Panettone is typically a holiday bread, this light Chocolate Chip Cranberry Italian Panettone is a delicious dessert that you need to make and enjoy all year long.
I have ALWAYS wanted to try my hand at making an Italian Panettone. It’s truly one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. Something about the light flavor, the bits of fruit and nuts in the middle – there’s really nothing quite like it. Give me a slice of thick and delicious panettone for breakfast with coffee. Or an afternoon snack. Or dessert…it’s perfect for anything all year long.
So when I decided to give my own version of panettone a whirl, I had to do quite a bit of research on exactly how to make it. And to my sheer amazement, I uncovered a plethora of methods. Some of the recipes I found had bread rising upside-down. Some had it baking in certain dishes. Some even had the bread prep at more than a full day! Although I do love panettone, I don’t think I could commit to a full day of bread preparation.
I settled on using this nice little recipe as my inspiration. Not too hard, and although the bread takes some time to rise, it is definitely not a multiple day project. Rather than using typical candied fruit, I went with dried cranberries and chocolate chips, because – let’s face it – that combination is just awesome. I also used my mixer bread hook for the first time, but you can definitely knead the dough by hand too! I baked this panettone in special panettone paper baking molds, mainly because those molds hold the shape of panettone so well, but you could give it a try in a bundt pan or a regular loaf pan. You may need to adjust your rise and baking times if you do change up your baking dish.
The result is truly a divine bread. And even though panettone usually only makes its appearance over the holidays, I plan to enjoy this panettone year round. It’s just too tasty to make only a few months of the year!
- cooking spray
- 1 small packet (1 tablespoon) of active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup lukewarm water
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups flour (and maybe up to ½ cup more to flour the surface when you knead the bread)
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- Stir the lukewarm water and the yeast together until the yeast dissolves in the water.
- Once dissolved, add the sugar, the eggs, and the vanilla, and whisk until fully mixed.
- Add three cups of flour to the yeast mixture, and stir together until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape the sides to get all the ingredients fully mixed.
- Flour your surface (or mixing bowl if using your bread hook), and knead the dough for 3-5 minutes.
- Spray a medium bowl with cooking spray, and place dough in bowl. Cover with towel, and place in a dark, room-temperature, or even slightly warm place. Let dough rise for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, remove the bread and add chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Knead these into the dough for 3-5 minutes. You may need to add a bit of flour to the surface or bowl for this second knead.
- Place dough in sprayed paper panettone mold, and cover with a towel. Let dough rise for 4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and place risen panettone in the mold in the oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes, keeping an eye on the top. I like my top a bit brown, but if you find the top browning fast, you can cover with foil.
- Cool, slice, and enjoy!
We hope you enjoy this delightful recipe for Chocolate Chip Cranberry Italian Panettone from SoFabFood Contributor, Paige from Where Latin Meets Lagniappe, as much as we do. If you enjoyed this delicious dessert idea, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss another one like it. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, and stop by our Google+ Community to see all of the amazing recipes our community members are sharing. Enjoy!
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