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The most fashionable loaf of bread is a Leopard Milk Bread. A soft orange and chocolate milk bread, made with layered rolls of dough to create leopard spots. The use of milk instead of water is what makes this enriched dough so wonderful. A delicate springy textured with chocolate leopard spots, that look like paw prints when sliced.
Spotted bread is a great recipe activity to bake with kids. Rolling out the different colors of dough into logs is a lot like playing with clay. This simple pattern makes a simple loaf bread way more exciting for snacking with peanut butter or a chocolate hazelnut spread.
Leopard Bread or Giraffe Bread
Some people say it looks like Leopard Spotted Bread and others say its more of a Giraffe Bread. What do you think?!
The best part about this recipe is the surprise when you cut the first slice. I love the excitement of seeing all the different leopard spots, every slice is unique. It may look difficult at first, but it’s basically rolling up three flavors of dough into logs and stacking them into the loaf pan.
Key Ingredients & Test Notes
- All Purpose Flour & Bread Flour: I’ve tested this recipe over the years using only bread flour, only all purpose flour, and with a 50/50 blend of both.
- The bread flour with a higher protein level of 12.7-13% provides a nice structure to the final bread, making it easier to slice and hold its shape. Where the lower protein 11-11.7% all purpose flour gives the bread a softer final texture, but almost too soft when used all on its own. The blend is the best of both worlds!
- Test Note: Always weigh flour when making bread to prevent adding too much and drying out the dough.
- Whole Milk: Warm milk replaces water in the dough for a soft crumb.
- Melted Butter: Added fat helps to tenderize the dough, similar to brioche and dinner rolls.
- Cocoa Powder: To make the multicolored spots throughout the bread, part of the dough will be kneaded with cocoa powder. I also add al ittle espresso powder to amplify the chocolate notes.
- Test Note: Use natural cocoa powder or dutch processed cocoa powder for the chocolate dough. To make the dark chocolate dough even darker, try using black cocoa powder.
How to Make Leopard Print Bread
- Add warm milk, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of a mixer until frothy. Them, mixing in the melted butter, vanilla orange zest, and remaining sugar.
- Slowly mix in the flour and salt with the dough hook attachment.
- Mix just enough to form a shaggy dough, then let it rest for about 10 minutes.
- Work the dough on medium speed for 6-8 minutes until smooth and shiny.
- Weigh the dough and divide in half. Then divide one half into two equal parts, for a total of three dough balls.
- Place the large dough ball in a bowl, cover and set aside to rest. Knead one small ball in the light chocolate paste and the other in the dark chocolate paste. Cover and rest to double in size.
- Divide each dough ball into 6 equal portions for a total of 18 balls. Roll into balls with a cupped hand on a non-floured surface. If the dough at anytime feels like its getting dry, wet your finger in water and dab lightly onto the dough.
- Roll the light chocolate balls into 8-inch logs.
- With a rolling pin roll out the dark chocolate balls into 8 to 9-inch ovals. Place a light chocolate log on top, then wrap the dark chocolate around the log and pinch the seam.
- Roll out the white dough balls into 9-inch ovals. Place the chocolate log inside, wrap and seal into a long cigar shape.
- Roll the logs out to twice the length of the baking pan, about 16 to 18-inches. Cut the logs in half, then stack them alternating with each one into a greased baking pan. Let the dough rise for about 40 minutes until puffy. It’s going to look really weird, I know.
- Lightly brush the top of the dough with egg wash and bake until golden brown. The internal temperature of the bread should read 190°F (88°C) when fully baked.
Leftovers & Storage
Room Temp: My favorite methods for storing yeast bread loaves are a paper bag or aluminum foil. Hold onto those brown paper shopping bags, or order a cloth bag specifically designed for storing bread. Keep your loaf on the counter at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
Freeze: Wrap cooled bread in freezer safe plastic wrap and place inside a sealable plastic bag. Frozen bread can maintain freshness for three months. When you plan to enjoy a slice, simply allow bread to warm to room temperature on the counter. Or pop those frozen slices right into the toaster!
How to Serve Leopard Bread
My favorite way to enjoy this chocolate and orange milk bread is a warms slice with a thin slather of peanut butter or chocolate hazelnut spread! You can also use it for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
If you feel the bread has gotten stale or no longer fresh, try turning it into bread pudding or french toast casserole. The extra moisture from these two recipes will give it new purpose. After all that work, these spotted crumbs should not be wasted.
★★★★★ Please leave a star rating and review below if you make this recipe! THANK YOU!!
Leopard Milk Bread
Ingredients
Bread Dough
- 16 grams (2 Tbsp) cornstarch
- 250 grams (1 cup) warm whole milk, 110℉ (43℃) – plus more for brushing on dough
- 6 grams (2 tsp) active dry yeast
- 70 grams (⅔ cup) granulated sugar, divided
- 56 grams (¼ cup) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons orange zest, optional
- 1 teasponn fine sea salt
- 188 grams (1 ½ cups) all purpose flour, 11-11.7% protein
- 188 grams (1 ½ cups) bread flour, 12.7-13% protein
Dark Chocolate Paste
- 2 ½ Tablespoons natural, dutch processed or black cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 ½ Tablespoon whole milk
Light Chocolate Paste
- 2 teaspoons natural or dutch processed cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons whole milk
Egg Wash
- 1 teaspoon whole milk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Stir cornstarch in cup of warm milk until dissolved.16 grams cornstarch, 250 grams warm whole milk
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine milk mixture, yeast, and 2 Tbsp of the sugar. Gently stir together and let sit for 8-10 minutes until frothy.6 grams active dry yeast
- Add melted butter (cooled to room temp), the rest of the sugar, salt, vanilla and orange zest to yeast mixture.70 grams granulated sugar, 56 grams unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract, 2 Tablespoons orange zest, 1 teasponn fine sea salt
- Using the dough hook attachment mix on medium-low speed. Slowly spoon in flour until fully incorporated. Increase speed to medium for about 1 minute.188 grams all purpose flour, 188 grams bread flour
- The dough should be very slightly tacky, with a soft and smooth texture and cling to the entire bottom of the bowl. Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquid.
- Turn the mixer back on to medium speed and beat for 6-8 minutes to knead the dough until smooth and shiny.
- Windowpane Test: Tear off a small piece of dough and stretch out gently with your fingers. If the dough becomes transparent without breaking its ready. If not, beat for another 2-3 minutes and test again.
- Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Weigh the dough and divide into two equal halves.
- Plain Dough: Lightly dust one dough half with flour, place in a bowl, loosely cover with wrap in plastic wrap. Set in a warm location to double in size, about 2 hours. This will be our natural colored.
- Chocolate Dough: Take the second dough half and evenly divide it into two equal halves. We will use these two halves for the chocolate spots.
Make Chocolate Pastes
- Use a separate bowl for each paste. Stir the cocoa powder and milk together with a small spatula.
- You should have one dark chocolate paste and one light chocolate paste.
- Place on half in the dark chocolate paste and the other half in the light chocolate paste.
- Work the chocolate into the dough with your hands. Transfer to a work surface and knead to incorporate all the chocolate into each dough until its homogenous in color.
- You should now have one dark chocolate ball of dough and one light chocolate ball of dough.
- Transfer each chocolate dough ball into a bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm location to double in size. About 2 hours.
Divide the Dough
- After all three doughs have doubled in size, transfer them to a lightly floured work surface.
- Weigh the light colored dough and divide into 6 equal pieces.
- Repeat with the dark and light chocolate dough balls.
- You should now have 18 pieces of dough.
Make Logs
- Start by rolling each of the light brown pieces into an 8-inch log.
- Then using a rolling pin, roll each of the dark chocolate dough balls into 9-inch flat ovals.
- Place one light chocolate log onto a flat dark chocolate oval. Using a pastry brush lightly coat the edges of the dark chocolate with milk.
- Then fold the dark chocolate over the light chocolate as if you were wrapping a hot dog bun around a hot dog. The result should look like a chocolate cigar.
- Next, take a natural dough ball and roll into a 9-inch oval with the rolling pin.
- Repeat the process by placing the dark chocolate wrapped ‘sausage’ onto the white dough oval.
- Paint the edges of the white dough with milk and then fold it over the dark chocolate, closing the seems.
- The result should now look like a log with a light chocolate center, a wrapping of dark chocolate, and then a final wrapping of white dough.
- Repeat this process with the remaining dough until you have 7 logs.
- Now, roll each log lengthwise with your hands, until it becomes doubled in length. Like a long snake. Slice each log in half for a total of 12 logs.
Line Pan and Proof
- Prepare a 9×5-inch loaf pan with a light coating of non-stick baking spray.
- Stack the dough logs into the pan, alternating ends with each log.
- Cover with a light tea towel and place in a draft free warm location to puff and double in size. At least 1 hour.
Bake Loaf
- Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃).
- Beat the milk and egg together in a small bowl to make an egg wash. Lightly brush a thin layer across the top of the dough.1 teaspoon whole milk, 1 large egg
- Reduce oven temp to 350℉ (176℃) and place the pan on the middle oven rack.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown and when the inner temperature reaches 190℉ (88℃) on an instant read thermometer.
- Place pan on a wire rack to completely cool. Invert pan to remove the loaf.
Hi, What is the size of pan you have used for the leopard bread recipe?
I made this yesterday and it turned out great! Thank you for the recipe!
I’m going to try morph this into a sourdough recipe. Can you share what role the cornstarch plays for the recipe?
the cornstarch helps create a lighter texture to the bread by softening some of the protein in the flour.
Oh goodness! This recipe is a keeper! I made it last night for the first time as this pattern bread was in my checklist. It was almost 9.30 p.m I finished baking this and it’s 1 p.m for us right now and I don’t see a crumb of this bread at all. All gone in less than a day.
My family LOVED it. I have replaced bread flour with unbleached all purpose flour and sugar with light brown sugar as I didn’t have bread flour and white sugar handy. Thank you so much for the recipe and detailed instructions.
Hi Sirisha!! I’m so glad you liked the recipe!! Thank you so much for giving it and try and letting me know your feedback:)
I tried this in my home as your steps you write in this article and this is so easy to make this recipe. It is amazing to make and very interesting.
Very useful and helpful for me to make recipes like that very easily in my home.
Thank You!!!
Would this work with regular all purpose flour?
Any suggestions for leaving out the orange zest? I don’t have any oranges (I don’t really like them anyway), but I’m thinking of either substituting lemon, or going completely off book and throwing in a little cinnamon or even instant coffee instead. Has anyone else made a substitution like that?
I was wondering the same thing. Cinnamon or coffee sound great, I don’t think you can go wrong with either, but would either change the color at all?
If you flavor the chocolate parts with the cinnamon it shouldn’t change the color. Lemon goes with chocolate, I think you could even use a little grapefruit zest. Any citrus zest will do. Meyer lemon would be brilliant if you can find it!
Thanks for sharing the recipe, Jenn. I am adding it to my “Must Try” recipe collection.
I am guessing anything you think goes well in a chocolate bar would go great in the bread instead of orange, just be aware some are more wet than others and so you need to watch the amount of other liquids you add.
All your ideas would work if my brain is picturing the taste right 🙂 Let us know how it goes.
Is there a pre mix you can buy so you don’t have to make all the dough? Cheating I know but I don’t have a mixer!
HaHa! No, I make everything from scratch. But if you don’t have a mixer, just knead by hand:) Little elbow grease will do the trick!
I wish there was a video or picture tutorials! My 10 year old would love to try this. Look very pretty.
Hi Anca, there is a step by step video in highlights on instagram @twocupsflour titled Leopard Bread.
Such a great idea!! I had so much fun doing it and so did my kids. Already the name was fun for them and they were waiting with great anticipation how it will turn out when baked.
I was a bit sceptic if they will eat because I put the zest of the whole orange inside. ( my kids are extra picky 🙈🥺) but it turned out great and so tasty! The kids said it’s very yummy !
Approved ✔️ Yaaas!🙌🏻
Thank you for such a great inspiration! 🐆🐾
Hi! I just made this. It looks and tastes so good! One question: It took me what felt like forever to get the cocoa pastes kneaded into the doughs. I also felt that my pastes were a little too dry and I had to add a bit more milk and more paste to get the doughs coloured all the way through. I am thinking that I must be doing something wrong. Thank you for any advice you can give me.
Hi! Do you think you could post a video of the process of making this? The instructions are bit complicated! Thanks!
Hi Bella! There is a step by step video on Instagram @twocupsflour in the highlights titled Leopard Bread ..Is there a certain part you are having trouble with?
Great recipe but mine came out more giraffe than leopard. Please explain the stacking stage. Great hit with guests!
Hi Zeina!! I just stack the logs on top of each other, no particular order:)
Thanks! I’ll try it again and keep you posted!
Thanks so much for posting. It was so much easier than it looks. I used a sourdough bread recipe and it turned out great. I wish I could post a picture here to show you.
Thats wonderful!! I would love to see it. Send a pic via email!