Chocolate Gingerbread

Originally from this site.
By the way, this is basically the best thing ever. It’s much more like cake than a sweet bread, but I usually bake it in a loaf pan. The times I’ve made it in the regular sized loaf pan it’s taken about twice as long to bake as the original recipe requires.

Chocolate Gingerbread

135 grams (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2-3 teaspoons ground ginger
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup molasses (you can use honey if you’re desperate…like me…)
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal (optional)

2 tablespoons crystalized ginger chips
3/4 cup chocolate, coarsely chopped (I’ve made it either with or without these. Both are good.)

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a baking pan—I usually use a full sized loaf pan, but the original recipe allows for two small paper loaf pans or an 8 inch round cake.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter & brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Mix the buttermilk, molasses and flaxseed meal (if using) together, and add all at once to the butter mixture. Don't worry if it looks a bit curdy. Add the flour mixture and mix just until you get a smooth batter. Fold in the crystalized ginger and chocolate chips being careful not to overmix.

Bake until a cake tester comes clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. (Though if you make it in a regular sized loaf pan, it takes about twice that long to bake, between 45 minutes and an hour. Cool on a wire rack before serving.