Chocolate-Mint Bread: A Healthy Answer to Thin-Mint Cravings

This year for Valentine's Day, Matt was on call at the hospital. This meant that when he quietly crept out of the house in the dark, early hours of Valentine's morning, I wouldn't see him again until two days later. Of course I wanted to leave him a treat that would make him think of me during his long, exhausting, and hunger-inducing shift.... A snack that would be like a giant Valentine's hug to both the stomach and heart.

Cue these delightfully moist, rich chocolate-mint breads. I baked them in small heart-shaped spring-form pans that I use for all love-related baking. The batter an easily be used in any size from cupcake to loaf. In fact, I used some left over batter to pop out a few cupcake sized breads that I ate warm out of the oven. I needed to taste test and make sure that they were as delicious as I hoped they would be!

You might be thinking, "chocolate-mint bread? You mean cake, right?" Nope. Bread it is. It's got the perfect hint of sweetness from a touch of sugar, as well as chocolate chips folded into the batter, but otherwise this bread is wonderfully spongy and dense like any other breakfast loaf... Oh, and I've been withholding the best part. It's healthy. 

What? I don't want to contribute to fatigue, weight gain, or clogged arteries in my husband? Surprise! Let's feed the man a snack he can really dig into and never know it's made without any fats from oil or butter.

Chocolate and mint are one of M's favorite flavor combinations. This bread is spot on. The chocolate flavor pervades, while the little bit of peppermint extract hits the right cooling note there at the end. Every bite is filled with the flavor of classic Thin Mint cookies, just in a soft, super-comforting texture.

And isn't that what love is? Comforting, cool, sweet, delicious, and good for you.

Chocolate-Mint Bread
Ingredients:
1 cup plain unsweetened Greek yogurt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1/4 t. peppermint extract
1/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup white whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup minus 2 T. white flour
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting pan
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 to 1/3 cup each of semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or wipe pan of choice with cooking spray, then dust with cocoa powder. In a medium bowl stir together the Greek yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla and peppermint, and milk. Combine thoroughly. In a large bowl combine white-wheat flour, white flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure they are blended completely, then make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Stir to combine, making sure not to over-mix. Gently fold in the semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips.

Pour into the pan and even out the top with a spatula, then drop the pan on the counter from about 6" high a few times to release air bubbles. Bake 20-25 minutes for cupcakes or mini-loaf pan, and 45-50 minutes for a large loaf. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack in the pan, then release from the sides with a knife and cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap to store.