Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Time for my first bread recipe on my own! I decided to finally make some bread, but not just any bread: cinnamon swirl bread! I made bread with Jesus at Yuca Bar, so I used some of his techniques and advice when making this bread. I adapted this recipe from the Beginner's Baking Bible by Heather Perine. I didn't want to make two loaves, but the recipe makes two! I didn't have two of the same size loaf molds, so they came out shaped differently, but they still came out looking beautiful! You can eat this with butter, jam, peanut butter, or plain. It is best eaten warm and only a few minutes out of the oven! This bread is flaky, sweet, soft, and delicious. It lasts for up to a week, but eat it before it gets stale! 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread: 

Time: 3.5 to 4 hours

Servings: 2 loaves (9 by 5 inches each)

Ingredients - 

Dough: 

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Filling:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Steps

First to make the dough, combine the milk, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan. Put the saucepan over medium heat and heat up these ingredients together until the butter is fully melted. When you remove it from the heat, let it cool to 110℉ then stir in the yeast. Put this to the side for 10 minutes until it gets foamy. 

        

In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Then by using a stand or handheld mixer, add the eggs, oil, and yeast mixture. Mix on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, then place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic (5-10 minutes). Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl in a ball shape. Then spray the top of the dough in the bowl one more time. Cover the bowl with a dish towel or plastic wrap and put it on top of an oven if you can to let rise to double in size for about 1 hour. 

 

Next make the filling, in a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon and put it to the side for now. Then shape the bread once it's doubled in size, roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half, and roll each portion roughly into a 16-by-8-inch rectangle. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cinnamon sugar on top of each rectangle leaving 1/2 an inch around the edges. Starting on the short side, roll up the dough and pinch along the seem when done to seal. Then spray two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray, and place a piece of parchment paper along the bottom of each pan. Place each loaf into the pans carefully, seam facing down. Put plastic wrap or dish towels on top of each pan, and allow the dough to rise again in the pan for about an hour or until doubled in size and puffy. While it's proofing, preheat the oven to 325℉. When it's doubled, take the plastic wrap or dish towels off and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes then enjoy!