Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Cinnamon Bread


Lately I've been quite obsessed with The Pioneer Woman blog.  So when I saw this recipe she had posted for homemade cinnamon bread I wanted to stop everything I was doing and bake it.  Unfortunately, I was at work when I stumbled upon it so stopping everything wasn't exactly an option. 
  
If you're in the baking mood but have a lot of work to do around the house, bread is the perfect thing to make.  There is plenty of time to be productive while you are waiting around for the bread to rise and bake.  In my case, being productive meant putting in a load of laundry, watching multiple episodes of How I Met Your Mother and going on Pinterest.  That's productive, right? 

Do me a favor and eat this bread warm with some butter on top. I promise you won't be disappointed. If you are, then mail me your bread and I'll eat it for you! No homemade cinnamon bread should ever go to waste.  Ever.

Ingredients
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 whole eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
egg and milk mixed together for brushing
softened butter for greasing the pan


1. Melt butter with milk.  Heat until warm, but make sure the mixture does not boil. 
2.  Once the butter and milk have slightly cooled, mix in the yeast and let sit for 10 minutes. 


3. Combine the flour and salt. 
4. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar and eggs.  If you are using a Kitchen Aid mixer, use the paddle attachment. 
5. Mix the milk, butter, and yeast mixture in with the sugar and eggs.
6. Add half of the flour and beat on medium speed until combined. Once combined, the remainder of the flour can be mixed in.
7. Again, if you are using a KitchenAid mixer you will need to switch to the dough hook. Knead the dough on medium speed for ten minutes.
8. If the dough is too sticky, add 1/4 cup of flour and beat for 5 more minutes.
9. Warm up a mixing bowl and add some oil.  I stuck my bowl in the oven VERY briefly to get it warm.
10. Add the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit in a warm environment for 2 hours to rise. 

11. After 2 hours of rising, roll the dough out into the shape of a rectangle, about 18 to 24 inches long.
12. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and spread over dough.
13. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle onto the dough.
14. To roll the dough, begin at the far end and roll towards you. Make sure to keep it tight and pinch to close when you get to the end.



15. Coat the bread pan with butter to grease and place the dough in the pan, seam down. I made the mistake of not putting the seam down far enough and my bread opened up a little to much while it was baking.
16. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours.
17. Just before the bread is done rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
18. Mix together some egg and milk and spread it over the top of the dough.
19. Bake for 40 minutes on a lower to middle rack in the oven.
20. When the bread is done, remove from pan and if you have patience, allow the bread to cool.

Slice into your bread and enjoy all of its goodness!  When I cut into my bread the center shape just happened to be a "G", obviously in honor of the Green Bay Packers!     
For the original recipe of this cinnamon bread and many other wonderful recipes, check out the Pioneer Woman's website.

1 comment:

  1. This was the best cinnamon bread i have ever had! Thank you Maria Cocina!!

    sincerely,
    Satisfied

    ReplyDelete