If you ask anyone who knows me, they will tell you I am obsessed with cinnamon. Cinnamon oatmeal, cinnamon ice cream, cinnamon graham crackers, cinnamon cereal. If it has cinnamon, I am a fan.
A couple of years ago, I found this recipe for homemade cinnamon bread on The Pioneer Woman’s website. It is by far my favorite cinnamon bread recipe I have I tried. It has just the right amount of cinnamon to bread ratio. Not overpoweringly cinnamony or soggy or too bready. The roll is stays relatively tight with no crazy empty air holes. I have not tried it with raisins, so I am not sure if adding raisins would change the texture or amount of air in the bread.
Look at those amazing swirls! My family loves it as toast or just eaten plain, but I have a couple of friends who make french toast with it. which is probably pretty sweet. 🙂
I let my bread rise in a sunny spot in my house and it doubled in size in about an hour, so keep an eye on your rising. Also, make sure you keep your roll tight and pinch the seam until the seam almost disappears or you will end up with a large air bubble at the top of your loaf.
Last tip, check your bread half way through the cooking time to make sure the top is not burning and tent with tin foil to keep the gorgeous golden crust.
Enjoy!
Ellie
Homemade Cinnamon Bread
From http://thepioneerwoman.com
Time: 5 hours Bake: 40 minutes Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients:
For Bread
- 1 c Milk
- 6 T Butter
- 2-1/2 t Active Dry Yeast
- 2 Eggs
- 1/3 c Sugar
- 3-1/2 c All-purpose Flour
- 1 t Salt
For Filling
- 2 T Butter, melted
- 1/3 c Sugar
- 2 T Cinnamon
- Egg and Milk, whisked for brushing
Directions
- Melt butter with milk on medium hear till very warm, but not boiling, Cool till warm to touch. Sprinkle yeast in yeast and gently stir. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- In an electric mixer with a paddle, mix sugar and eggs. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine.
- Combine flour and salt in a separate bowl before adding half of the mixture into the mixer and beat on medium speed until combined. Add second half and beat until combined.
- Switch to a dough hook and beat the dough on medium speed for 10 minutes. If is overly sticky add 1/4 c flour and beat for an additional 5 minutes.
- Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl until warm. Drizzle with oil and roll dough ball in until coated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
- Turn out dough. Roll into a rectangle with the width being the length of loaf pan you are using, and about 18-24 inches long. Smear with the melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle evenly over the dough.
- Starting at the far end, roll dough towards you, keeping the roll tight and neat, Pinch seam to seal. Place in a butter greased loaf pan, seam down. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours.
- Preheat over to 350 F
- Mix an egg with milk and brush over the top of the loaf. Bake for 40 minutes on the middle or lower rack. Tent with tin foil after 20 minutes if browning too quickly.
- Remove from pan and let cool on a rack.