Lately I’ve gone faux British and am hooked on my afternoon tea. That is to say, I “fancy” it. I make myself a whole pot — sometime black, sometimes green, sometimes herbal — and pour it cup by cup into my delicate little china cup with the lavender flowers.

And of course, I have a light snack with my tea. A small piece of healthy quick bread (defrosted from “the vault,” aka freezer), or toast with butter. Basically, a small serving of carbs. Carbs = treat.

Here’s a bread machine recipe I tried recently that makes a good healthy treat with a dash of decadent: Chocolate Bread, or Pane Alla Cioccolata if you want to get fancy. Although when Italians have a 4-o’clock snack, it tends to be savory, not sweet. (And involve booze, not tea.) In fact, this bread is not sweet, but it doesn’t have any cured meat in it. So I think it’s out for Italian aperitivo.

Chocolate Bread
Recipe Adapted from: Rustic European Breads from Your Bread Maker

• 1 packet bread machine yeast
• 2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• scant 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoon Dutch process black or natural cocoa, unsweetened
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup + 1 tbs. warm water
• 1 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sweet butter
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, highest quality

Put liquids, butter, and salt into the bread machine first, then everything else. Yeast goes last; form a well in the flour and pour it there.

Use wheat or rapid whole wheat setting for a 1-lb loaf.