Starbucks Copycat

I like Starbucks. I don't like everything they serve, but I'm sure that's the same for most people and places. A few months ago, I stopped into Starbucks with my Mom and I got a slice of their chocolate cinnamon bread. It was divine! My MIL laughs at me when I use that word, but it was. Since it was a seasonal recipe, they don't carry it all the time. I was searching through some blogs and came across the recipe from the chef who created it- Marcus Samuelsson. I was excited to make it and tried it out for Christmas. It was good and my family loved it, but it's not quite like I remember it in the coffee shop. If you like dark chocolate and cinnamon- then it's perfect. It reminds me of Abuelita's hot chocolate. Abuelita means grandmother in Spanish and my grandmother used to make us hot chocolate brewed with cinnamon sticks. It was so good, perhaps that's why I like this recipe so much. It's rich, chocolaty, spicy, sweet and just plain yum!

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread from Starbucks

Chocolate Batter

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs, at room temp
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cocoa- Spice Sugar Crust

• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa
• pinch of ground ginger
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1/4 c. decorating or sparkle sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed, until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to butter, beginning and ending with the flour and beating just until blended. Divide the batter between the two pans, shake the pans to even the tops and set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves. Sprinkle the surfaces of both batters with the decorating sugar. Sprinkle with the cocoa sugar mixture, dividing evenly.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes. Let cool completely, run a thin knife around the sides to release breads and remove from pans.

NOTE: This recipe makes 2 loaves. I did not line the loaf pans with parchment paper and they turned out fine. I made this recipe in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer. It worked fine, but you need to use a LARGE bowl or it can get messy. If you have a stand mixer, use it.

I did not have ground cloves or ginger, so I added a couple pinches of pumpkin pie spice, which has those two ingredients in it as well as cinnamon. It did not produce a noticeable difference. Also, since I did not have decorating or sparkle sugar, I doubled the granulated sugar. I think that was a mistake. There was too much sugar and after the baking, most of it fell off anyway. If you don't have the decorating sugar, just omit it.