Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I have been wanting to make cinnamon bread for a while.  And, well, as you can tell by my choice of themes for this month's Bread Baking Day, I like a bread with a pretty swirl in it. So, while this isn't my official swirly bread for BBD, I did finally try my hand at cinnamon bread.

I had originally intended to make cinnamon raisin bread, and found this beautiful and delicious looking recipe to try. But when it came time to actually make it, little miss asked if it could be just cinnamon bread, without the raisins. And seeing as she eats plenty of fruits (dried and fresh) outside of baked goods, I had no problem agreeing.

The dough came together... interestingly.  The butter must have cooled a little, despite the temperature of the milk, and the yeast... well... it looked like it clung to the butter, so it was tough to see if it activated fully...

But I continued with the dough, and soon had a very soft and sticky ball of dough.

But, after a few hours of resting, it was clear that the yeast was working just fine!!

The dough was then rolled out, brushed with butter and sprinkled with a cinnamon sugar mixture.

I then rolled the whole thing up and carefully placed it into my greased loaf pan.  Now, either my loaf pan is too small (possible, though not probable...), or this recipe makes a tad too much dough for just one loaf. Because after its one hour rise, well, it was bursting from the pan.

I was a little nervous to bake it as it was, worried that it might overflow the pan even more, but I proceeded, just making sure to watch the top of the loaf (which I wound up covering loosely with foil part way through to make sure it didn't burn). Within ten minutes, the house smelled amazing. And after 40, it was ready to come out.

Okay, so the shape is a little funny. And it was a little too much dough for just one loaf.

But the bread was beautifully swirly.

And absolutely delicious.

Everyone loved it. Little man had two pieces. Sitting at the front door. In a laundry basket.

If that's not high praise, I don't know what is!



Cinnamon Swirl Bread
(from Alaska From Scratch)


For the Dough:
1 cup milk, warm
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

For brushing on loaf prior to baking (optional):
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Combine the warm milk, melted butter, and yeast in the bowl of a stand-mixer. Stir gently and allow to stand for ten minutes.
Add eggs and sugar to to milk/butter/yeast mixture and mix to combine.
Gradually add the flour and salt. Knead with the dough hook attachment for 10 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the base, cover with plastic wrap (spray the plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray first), and allow to rise in a warm spot for two hours.
Grease a loaf pan.
Flour your work surface. Turn dough out onto surface and roll into a rectangle, using your loaf pan as a guide for width. The rectangle should be about 18-24 inches long.
Brush 2 tablespoons of softened butter over the dough rectangle, then evenly sprinkle your cinnamon and sugar.
Beginning from far end, roll the rectangle into a loaf, rolling toward you, and place seam-side down in prepared loaf pan.
Place pan back in rising spot and allow to rise another hour.
Preheat oven to 350.
If desired, whisk together milk and egg. Spread lightly over top of risen loaf until evenly coated (this gives it that shiny, golden crust). (I skipped this on mine to maintain a soft crust all around.)
Bake for 40 minutes.
Allow to cool on wire rack.
Enjoy!

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