I know I am not alone when I say that one of my very favorite Christmas traditions is the holiday baking. I remember when my first son was just 6 months old, one December evening I put him in his bouncy chair on the kitchen floor, cranked the Christmas tunes and danced around the room while baking “with him.” He was too little to get it at that time but it was my first time getting to be the mom baking Christmas treats with my kids. And now it’s a HUGE tradition in our house. Bet it is in many of yours too!
Today I am going to share a fun new recipe with you that you can bake for the holidays AND turn into a cute neighbor gift if you want. It’s a Chocolate Bread with White Chocolate Chips and Toffee Bits. It tastes amazing!
Trust me on this. It’s GOOD! (Recipe below.)
But the best part….I’ve made it into a cute neighbor gift idea for Christmas for you. (With a free printable tag for you.) Check it out:
Chocolate Bread with White Chocolate and Toffee Bits Recipe (& Neighbor Gift Idea):
Supplies Needed for Gift:
- Mini loaf tins
- Cardstock to print on
- Baker’s Twine or Ribbon
- Recipe ingredients (see recipe below)
To make this bread I used some fun new products that I just got from West Elm Market. I got these cute little mini loaf tins. LOVE LOVE LOVE them!
(I think they would also make a fun Christmas gift for a baker!)
They make the cutest little loaves! And work perfect to make a cute little neighbor gift.
The other option is to get these cardboard mini loaf containers from West Elm. You can bake the bread right into them and then it’s ready to give:
Here’s the recipe (and then we will talk about the tags):
- 2 C flour
- 1 C cocoa powder
- ¾ sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1¼ C buttermilk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- ⅓ C vegetable oil
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- ¾ C semi sweet chocolate chips
- ¾ C white chocolate chips
- ¾ C toffee bits
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix dry ingredients in bowl and set aside.
- Mix buttermilk, eggs, butter, vegetable oil, and vanilla.
- Gently mix in dry ingredients. (Do not over mix.)
- Fold in chocolate chips and toffee bits.
- Pour into mini loaf tins. Fill the tins about ⅔ full. (In my tins this made 5 loaves.)
- Bake for 17-20 minutes.
Now, want to make it into a cute neighbor gift? I’ve got the cute tags ready for you to print. They say “A Special Treat For While You Are “Loafing” Around This Holiday Season.” Cute and cheesy. Just what a neighbor gift should be right?
Here’s the tag that you can save to your computer and use as needed: (click on it to open it larger, then save to your computer)
Or, here is a PDF that has 6 of them on one sheet if you prefer. Printable “Loafing” Around Tags
Or, if you prefer a more simple tag, I also made this one that says “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!”
Grab it here:
Or here it is in a PDF with 6 tags: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Printable Tags
Let’s talk about packaging it up now.
I mentioned the paper bakeware loaf pan option which is so cute and so easy! Or, wrap it in brown paper or cellophane and then use ribbon or, my favorite, baker’s twine to package it up! Get this at West Elm too:
One other fun option-make it in a bundt: (paperware bundt pans)
You need to know that West Elm has all of their tableware at 20% off right now! Great chance to grab some things before the holidays. The sale last through November 26th. Shop West Elm now!
I hope you enjoy your holiday baking this season!
What’s your favorite holiday tradition?!
I love this!!! I always make cookie plates for my neighbors at Christmas, but I think I will make chocolate bread instead. I love the recipe and the gift tags!! Thanks so much!! I’m sure my neighbors will thank you too!!
THANKS for sharing. What a nice, warm idea to share with friends and neighbors!
I spotted this on Pinterest and it look AH-MAAAA-ZING!!!!
This looks so good! Can you tell me what type of toffee bits you used? Do they sell those or just break up a toffee bar of some type?
They sell Heath Brand toffee bits in the baking section of the grocery store with the chocolate chips.
Love the “loafing around” tag. I’m a sucker for punny stuff like that. I would love it if you linked it up to the Handmade Holiday Link Party! http://persialou.blogspot.com/2013/11/handmade-holiday-link-party.html :)
Delicious recipe and equally delicious packaging and presentation. Lovely idea. Thanks for sharing.
I made this bread today and I just wanted to let you know that the time it says, to cook, I added another almost 10 minutes to. It was still gooey on the inside. But I love the bread and the little tags. Thank you!
Oh that’s strange! I actually tested this bread out at several different cooking times and the one I posted was the best. The others were dry for me. I guess it probably varies by oven and by the size of your bread pans.
baker’s twine–this item is no longer available at West Elm!! Its a real shame too because its an awesome product!! but I get my twine from http://thetwinery.com/ they have an awesome site with tons of beautiful twines in all colors, perfuct for any craft or wraping!
Ki Amber!
This recipe looks so yummy. How long do you suggest baking if I do a regular size loaf? I want to try to make this tonight. :)
Thank you!
I don’t know. I only did mini
I love these, we are hosting a Crazy Christmas Sweater party and have a gifty grabbers game. This will be a fun idea for it.