Chocolate Covered Panettone

Ingredients

Panettone

• ¾ cup milk
• 1 ½ Tablespoons yeast
• 4 ½ - 5 cups all purpose flour
• 12 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 3 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon orange zest
• 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 Tablespoon orange juice
• 1 ½ cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 egg for egg wash

Coating

• 1 cup chocolate chips, melted
• 1/8 cup sprinkles

Directions

1. Heat milk on low heat until warm remove from heat. Stir in yeast and 1 cup flour. Mix well and set aside, covered, for 15-20 minutes.
2. Add sugar, salt, eggs, vanilla, orange juice, and butter to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until butter is mixed in and broken up and mixture looks curdled.
3. Add yeast mixture and pulse briefly. Add remaining flour, one cup at a time, and pulse until dough starts to come together.
4. Pour dough (it will be sticky and wet) onto lightly floured counter and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Use a dough scraper or a large spatula to fold and knead dough, adding a little extra flour if necessary, until dough is well mixed and smooth (it will still be sticky).
5. Using floured hands, shape dough into a ball and place dough inside of a 6-7 inch diameter panettone mold (or a coffee can - something with tall sides).
6. Place in a warm place to rise. Let dough rise for 2-4 hours, until almost doubled in size. Brush with beaten egg.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
8. Bake panettone until it has risen, is golden brown, and sounds slightly hollow when you tap on it gently, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
9. Melt Chocolate and pour over top and smooth down sides.garnish with sprinkles. let harden.