Orange Chocolate Chip Bread

When one of my friends is celebrating...well, anything...I normally give them the gift of food. Since I'm not a crafty person, I feel that something homemade and edible is always a personal, thoughtful gift to give to those you love. With that being said, when one of our friend's birthdays rolled around last week, I knew I wanted to make him something sweet and delicious - but cupcakes, brownies and cookies seemed so overdone to me at the moment. So instead, I baked him a loaf of a bread. 

Orange Chocolate Chip Bread

Yields: 1 loaf

Adapted from allrecipes.com

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 cup sugar

-1 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1 egg

-2 tbsp. butter, melted

-1 tsp. orange extract

-1 cup vanilla soy milk

-1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.) In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat egg, butter, orange extract and soy milk; mix well. 

2.) Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.

3.) Pour into a greased loaf pan; baked at 350 degrees for about 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing bread from pan to a wire rack.

This was a total experiment, so I was relieved when the bread turned out as well as it did. Although it was a bit dry (I'd probably add a little more soy milk next time to see if that helps), the flavors were still spot-on (I love the combination of chocolate and orange). Warmed up with a bit of butter, a slice of this would be heaven with a cup of coffee in the morning. 

Do you sometimes bake gifts for your friends/family? What's your favorite edible gift to give?

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