Cinnamon Crunch Swirl Bread

Bread Baking Day (BBD), established by Zorra in 2007, is celebrating it’s 6th anniversary. The theme for BBD #60 is Glazed Bread. 

In honor of this special occasion, I made Cinnamon Crunch Swirl Bread.  My oldest son loves cinnamon so I made this loaf for him. He doesn’t like raisins or nuts in his bread so I omitted them. If you like raisins and/or nuts, feel free to include them for additional flavor and texture.

 

Adding a glaze or wash to the crust of a loaf serves different purposes, depending on the type of glaze you use.  A glaze or wash can be used to provide a crusty exterior, soften the bread or to give it a beautiful color and sheen and to provide added flavor. There are a number of ways to add a glaze to breads. Some of the most common types of glazes are egg wash, melted butter or oil, milk, a mixture flour and water, or plain water.

I used melted butter on the top of these loaves.  To get the distinctive swirls, the dough is rolled out, brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Once the loaf is baked and before it cools, the cinnamon crunch topping is added by brushing the top with melted butter and sprinkling it with additional cinnamon sugar. The topping gives the loaf an extra burst of flavor and added crunch. Simply delicious!

 

 

Cinnamon Crunch Swirl Bread

Adapted from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

Makes: Two Medium Loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons raw sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons melted butter (or shortening)
• 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature (I used almond milk but you can use buttermilk or whole milk)
• 3/4 cup filtered water, at room temperature
• Additional butter for brushing the loaf
• Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling on the dough and on top

 

Directions:

1. Mixing the Dough

Stir together the dry ingredients: flours, sugar, salt, yeast, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the egg, butter, milk, and water.  Stir with a large wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk until the ingredients come together to form a ball.  Add flour or water as necessary to make a workable dough that isn’t too sticky or dry and stiff.

 

2. Kneading the Dough

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel (or bowl) and let it rest for 15 minutes.  After the dough has rested, knead the dough until it is smooth and supple, about 10 minutes.  Add flour as necessary to achieve the desired texture.  If you want to add a cup of raisins and/or walnuts, knead them in during the last 2 minutes of kneading and distribute them evenly.

Clean and wash the bowl and lightly oil it.  Place the dough in the bowl, roll it to cover it with oil, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.

 

3. Bulk Fermentation

Let the dough ferment 2 hours, or until it is doubled in size.  In this hot weather, my dough was ready in an hour and a half.

 

4. Shaping the Loaves

Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces.  Roll each piece out to an 8 x 5-inch rectangle and about 1/3-inch thick.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Roll the dough into a tight sandwich loaf (jellyroll style).

 

Pinch the seam closed with your fingers.

 

Lightly oil two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans and sprinkle the bottom and sides of the pans with cinnamon sugar.  Place the loaves seamside down in the pans.  Spray the tops lightly with spray oil and cover with plastic wrap.

 

5. Final Proof

Proof the loaves at room temperature for about 60 to 90 minutes, or until the dough crests above the tops of the pans.  It should be nearly doubled in size.

 

6. Preparing the Loaves for Baking

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. with the oven rack on the middle shelf. 

Brush the tops of the loaves with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

 

 

7.  Baking the Loaves

Place the loaves on a baking sheet.  Make sure they aren’t touching each other.  Carefully slide the baking sheet into the preheated oven.

 

Let the loaves bake for 20 minutes. Then rotate them about 180 degrees for even baking.  Continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes depending on the oven.  The baked breads should be golden brown on top and lightly golden on the bottom and sides.  The loaves should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

 

8.  Cooling and Serving the Loaves

If you are using glass pans, let the loaves cool in the pans on a wire rack about 10 minutes before removing.  If you aren’t using glass pans, you should remove the loaves immediately after removing them from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.  Let the loaves cool for at least an hour; 2 hours if you can manage it before slicing and serving.

 

Be sure to check out the BBD #60 roundup on Zorra’s blog.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread: July BOM

This bread is “da bom!”  I’m so glad that Phyl (of Cabbages and King Cakes) chose this Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread as the BOM (Bread of the Month) for July for the Facebook Artisan Bread Bakers Group. I mean what’s not to love about this bread?  It tastes like cinnamon toast, but it’s sticky and gooey like monkey bread.

I haven’t had the chance to bake with the Artisan Bread Bakers in a while, but when I saw this bread on the menu, I knew I had to find the time. I had fun making it and even more fun eating it. It’s yummy, sticky and gooey…a great combination!

 

Tracey’s Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

The recipe for this bread is from Tracey's Culinary Adventures. You can find her version here.  Thanks for the treat Tracey!

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting if needed)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

Filling:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I added a little more to make it more cinnamon-y)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used ground nutmeg)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

 

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt.

Add the butter and milk to a small saucepan and heat just until the butter is completely melted.

Turn off the heat and add the water and vanilla to the pan. Let the mixture cool until it registers about 115-120 F on an instant read thermometer.

Add the eggs to the mixer bowl and turn the mixer to low. Slowly stream the milk mixture down the side of the mixer bowl. Continue beating until the dough comes together. It will probably be quite sticky - add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue kneading on low speed until the dough clears the sides of the bowl (it will stick to the bottom). The dough should be tacky, but not so sticky that you can't handle it.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly then shape the dough into a ball.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray then add the dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling by whisking the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a small bowl.

Add the butter to a small saucepan and melt over medium-low heat until it is brown and smells nutty - be patient, it may take a few minutes. Set aside.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press to deflate then cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.

Roll the dough into a rectangle about 12x20 inches (the dough will be quite thin).

Brush the dough with the browned butter then sprinkle it evenly with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. It's a lot of sugar.  I tried to use it all, but I ended up saving some for cinnamon toast.

Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough rectangle vertically into six equal strips.

I cut my strips horizontally instead of vertically so the pieces were really long.  I compensated for this on the next step.

Stack the strips on top of one another and again cut into six equal stacks.

Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray. Layer the dough squares on top of one another and transfer to the prepared pan. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rise for 30-45 minutes, or until the dough is puffy, but not necessarily doubled in size.

 
Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake the loaf for about 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. If the top starts to brown too much, you can tent it with aluminum foil; don't be tempted to pull the bread too early or the center may still be raw. (I used an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature.)

I should’ve tented my loaf like the instructions suggested.  It got a little bit too browned on the outside edges. That was a little bit disappointing but all was not lost.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 20 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread then carefully turn it out of the pan. Serve warm. 

I discarded the outside piece since it was too browned. The rest of the loaf was fine. It tastes great warm, but we also enjoyed it room temperature a couple of days later and it tasted great.

The only problem I had with this bread was refraining from eating the whole loaf myself.  I solved that problem by only eating a couple of slices and giving the rest away.  My BF was planning a camping trip this weekend with a little buddy of his so I sent this Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread with them for breakfast.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Cinnamon Raisin Bread and Rolls: HBinFive

For the May 15th HBinFive Bread Braid, I made Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread and Cinnamon Rolls using the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes Milk and Honey dough.

For the dough, I used a mixture of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour as the recipe suggested, but I added more raisins than the recipe called for and I also added some cinnamon powder.  I let the raisins soak in the warm water a little bit to soften.  The raisins tasted much better that way.


Fermenting the Dough

After the dough had rested on the counter for 2 hours, I put it in the refrigerator to ferment for a couple of days.  Then I took it out and divided it into 3 equal pieces.

Making the Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I used two of the pieces for the cinnamon raisin swirl bread.



Shaping the Loaves

To shape the loaves, sprinkle flour on the counter and use your fingers to flatten and spread each piece of dough into a 5” x 8” rectangle.  Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the top.

And roll the dough up jelly roll style

to form the loaf

Pinch the seams together and roll the loaf until the seam is on the bottom.

Proofing the Loaves

Place each loaf in a 4 1/2 x 8 1/2-inch loaf pan and sprayed them with spray oil and covered them with plastic.

I let the loaves proof for about 90 minutes.

Bake the loaves for about 25 to 35 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack. Brush the loaves with butter and sprinkle more cinnamon sugar over the tops.

This made for an over-the-top flavor.  Yummy!  This bread tastes really good toasted with butter.  It also tasted really good plain.

I still had one more ball of dough left…


So I decided to make Cinnamon Rolls.



Making Cinnamon Rolls

Spread out the dough the same way as for the loaves, but make the rectangle a little bit bigger.  Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top.

And roll it up into a very tight jelly roll.  Then cover it with plastic and place it in the refrigerator for a little while to make it easier to cut.  I ended up keeping mine in the refrigerator overnight because I ran out of time (well mostly energy).

When you're ready to bake the rolls, take the jelly roll out of the refrigerator and cut it into 1-inch pieces.

Place the rolls on a greased baking sheet and cover them with plastic. Let them rise for about 90 minutes or so until they are doubled in size.

Bake them in a 350 degrees oven for about 25 minutes.

Then dribble white fondant (glaze) over the tops.  This is the best part!  I made the fondant with about 2 cups of powered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of warm milk.  Delicious!

These cinnamon rolls were really good.  They taste like cinnamon raisin bread with a delicious glaze on top.

I really liked this dough.  It’s very versatile and tastes great!  I especially like the addition of the cinnamon powder and the extra raisins.  I think walnuts or pecans would enhance it so maybe I’ll try that next time.

Thanks for joining me in the bread-baking blog.  Check out the blog BigBlackDog to see the May 15th Bread Braid roundup.

Happy Baking!
Cathy

About the HBinFive Baking Group

The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. For more information on the new HBinFive baking group, check out Michelle's blog.