Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

This weekend I’ve been house/dogsitting- AKA Grace has loads of time chilling by herself. Yesterday I had the craving for something sweet, so I decided I’d put some time to good use and make a treat for myself.

Enter Cinnamon Pull- Apart Bread.

I found this recipe about a year ago through Stumble Upon (an excellent way to waste time, and a must see if you haven’t checked it out before). I made it once before and it didn’t turn out very well, I think I set it on a rack that was too high in the oven because the top was a bit overdone but the middle was still doughy. However this time, it went swimmingly: have a look.

 

The original recipe for this bread can be found here: http://joythebaker.com/2011/03/cinnamon-sugar-pull-apart-bread/

She makes it a bit more complicated than it really needs to be so I adapted it a bit.

Here’s my take on the recipe…

Ingredients:

For the dough:

3 cups all purpose flour (don’t add it all in at first, leave 3/4 C to mix in after the wet ingredients)

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 envelope active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

2 large eggs at room temp

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

For the topping/filling:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

5 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

 

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/4 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and set aside.

In the original recipe, it says to melt the butter and heat milk in a saucepan until just melted. I used the microwave instead of phaffing around with saucepans. Melt butter in the microwave, add milk. Let the mixture cool until it is warm but not so hot that it will kill the yeast. Add vanilla to milk/butter mixture.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula.  Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter.

Add in the remaining flour and knead it into the dough. I kneaded the dough in the bowl for two reasons: the first being that I was feeling to lazy to clean a workspace to knead on and the second being that the original recipe said to try not to knead in much extra flour.

This is what happened when I finished kneading in the flour and realized I hadn’t put in any vanilla. I ended up kneading it in and it was totally fine. At this stage, I had also noticed there was supposed to be 1/4 water in the dough, but I said screw it to that because it would’ve been a sticky nightmare to try and add in. This is demonstrating a spurt absent mindedness but also, not to make excuses, the layout of the original blog post recipe and the way it was written did not agree with my mind very well and I found myself not being able to read it thoroughly and missing things. 

Now the waiting comes, place the dough is a large,  greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Place in a warm space and allow to rest for 1 hour. (I allowed my dough to rest in the microwave, just because it was a bit warmer sitting in there than on the counter.) This is when I played the Sims to ease the wait.

*The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning.  If you’re using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below.*

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the filling. Melt 1/2 cup butter.  Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch  loaf pan and set everything aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out.  The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long.  If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay.  Just roll it as large as the dough will go.  Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough.  Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Slice the dough vertically, into equal-sized strips measuring approximately 2 1/2 inches wide.  Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into equal slices once again (I eyeballed this measurement by just looking at my pan, but don’t forget to leave rising room).  You’ll now have stacks of squares/rectangles which you will layer in the loaf pan. I had some extra cinnamon sugar at this point which I just sprinkled over top the dough in the pan; I also sprinkled some plain cinnamon over the top for good measure.

Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (mine took 40), until the top is very golden brown.  The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw.  A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.   Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto  a clean board.

This bread is best served warm the day of, but can be stored if wrapped at room temperature for up to 2 days.

This baking adventure was soundtracked by this 8tracks mix, http://8tracks.com/xeliserose/summersummersummer and accompanied by these little guys.

Enjoy!