Gingerbread Loaf With Dark Chocolate and Spiced Crumble

Who doesn’t love gingerbread during the holiday season?

I can’t help but love the classic, comforting, gingerbread flavor and smell. As much as I love it, I can’t say I always enjoy making, refrigerating, rolling out, then rolling out, then rolling out, gingerbread cookies. Instead of all the work that goes along with the gingerbread cookies, I found another way to enjoy all those cozy flavors…in the form of a loaf…with chocolate!

I’m a sucker for all things involving breakfast pastries, especially when it has a crumble on top. This Gingerbread Loaf With Dark Chocolate and Spiced Crumble is a “MUST MAKE” this holiday season. It is actually very simple to bake up, and packs a lot of flavor. The crumble on top adds a really nice crunch to the soft gingerbread loaf. You can definitely leave the chocolate out, but it really does make it special. I love using dark chocolate for this, because I find that it tends to be more rich instead of overly sweet, which works really well with the earthy molasses flavor.

Tips for the perfect Gingerbread Loaf With Dark Chocolate and Spiced Crumble

*Make sure to spray the loaf pan with cooking spray to make it much easier to remove the loaf once it cools.

* Make sure to evenly distribute the batter and the crumble between the two loaf pans.

*Check to see if the gingerbread loaf is finished baking by inserting a toothpick, or cake tester, into the loaf. If it comes out clean it is finished, if it still has batter on it, it needs to make a few minutes, or so, longer.

*Allow to cool before cutting

Gingerbread Loaf With Dark Chocolate and Spiced Crumble

Serves:

2 medium loafs

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (if you don’t want to use whole wheat you can use entirely all-purpose)

• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 cup brown sugar

• ½ cup melted butter; cooled

• 3 eggs; room temperature

• 3/4 cup sour cream; room temperature

• 2 tablespoons molasses

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1½ cup chocolate; chopped if using a bar of chocolate or you can use chocolate chips

• Topping

• ½ cup butter; melted and cooled

• ½ cup oats

• ¼ cup brown sugar

• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon

• ¼ cup sugar

• ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. *Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. *In a large bowl combine the flours, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and brown sugar into a bowl

3. *In another bowl combine the sour cream, molasses, vanilla, and eggs

4. *Stir the sour cream mixture and the melted/cooled butter into the flour mixture

5. *Stir until just combined

6. *Fold in the chopped chocolate

7. *Spray the two loaf pans with a good amount of cooking spray

8. *Pour half of the mixture into each pan

9. *In a small bowl get the crumble ready by combing the oats, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and flour together

10. *Stir with a fork and gradually pour in the melted butter

11. *Distribute the crumble evenly over the top of each loaf

12. *Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until the middle is set and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted

13. *Allow to cool for about 10 minutes or so before taking it out of the pan