December is here. That means one thing. Cinnamon. On everything. The festive season is great, mainly due to the food. I always put on a ridiculous amount of weight. But man is it worth it. I’ll be baking my Cranberry & Orange Loaves as gifts for a bunch of people, but other than that I’ll be keeping things fairly themed. These Cinnamon Swirl Chocolate Chip Loaves are just as delicious. They have just enough cinnamon for it not to overpower everything. The recipe, which I found on Sally’s baking addiction (the things she can do with cinnamon!) is fantastic. So I thought I’d kick off my festive baking with this. The loaves are perfect to go with a cup of hot tea or coffee. They are warming and moist.
I haven’t much more to say about these (I’m having a bit of writer’s block at the moment), other than you really need to try them.
- 250g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 120g mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 150g light brown sugar (or dark brown)
- 50g granulated sugar
- 240ml buttermilk
- 80ml vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the Cinnamon Swirl
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup (65g) granulated sugar
- Preheat the oven to 175°C(155°C fan) and grease a loaf tin (I used butter but a spray works just as well.
- Mix together the ingredients for the swirl and set aside.
- Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and chocolate chips until combined, set aside.
- Whisk the sugars and egg together until there are no lumps of brown sugar left.
- Whisk in the buttermilk, oil and vanilla.
- Slowly pour the wet ingredients in to the dry. Mixing until they have only just combined. Be very careful not to overmix as it will lead to a very tough bread.
- Pour the first half in to the prepared pan. Using about ¾ of the cinnamon mixture, cover the top evenly.
- Add the rest of the batter, using the remaining cinnamon on top along with any extra chocolate chips, if desired.
- Cover (very) loosely with foil and bake for between 45 minutes and 1 hour. It can take anywhere between this time. It’s done when a tooth pick inserted in to the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
