Cinnamon Swirl Bread

So late last night while the boys were at church and I was at home with a not feeling so hot little girl, I had the urge to bake. And something totally different for me. Cinnamon Swirl bread! I just asked Sam what he wanted for breakfast tomorrow morning and his reply? More of your bread! So I guess that is a score! It was totally yummy and all of my children ate it! Double score.

If you know me, I'm slightly passionate about making healthy foods that are still flavorful. And you know that I wouldn't just make this recipe as it without adding my touch. I totally would've used my Kefir instead of the milk but they (the grains) were still hanging out in my Mum's fridge from our move and camping trip. I also bumped the amount of cinnamon since I love the heavy cinnamon flavor!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 T butter
• 1/2 cup milk (next time I'll use Kefir)
• 1 package of active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 T sugar (I used raw sugar)
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon (I used 1 1/2 t)
• 3 cups of flour (I used white whole wheat, next time I'll do a cup of whole wheat and keep the rest white whole wheat)
• 2 T butter, softened (I let it sit at room temp while my dough did its thing)
• 2 T sugar (Raw sugar)
• 1 T cinnamon (a nice heaping tablespoonful)

Preparation:

1. Warm milk and 1 T butter in a small saucepan until the butter is melted. Let sit until it is lukewarm.
2. Mix water and yeast until the yeast is dissolved. I usually just do this in my 1 cup liquid measuring cup.
3. In a large bowl, add 2 T of sugar, salt and 1 tsp cinnamon (or more!!) Pour in luke warm milk and butter. Mix until the sugar and salt is dissolved and then add the yeast and water.
4. Mix in 2 1/2 cups flour. Turn onto floured surface and knead in remaining flour until the dough is soft and smooth. (Oh Kitchen Aid, thank you!)
5. Put dough in a greased bowl and turn dough so that the top is greased. I just grease the bowl from my mixer and throw it back in there. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until dough doubles.
6. My favorite part of bread/dough making! PUNCH down dough with your fist. Go ahead, take out some frustration. Turn dough out onto floured board and knead for about 1 minute.
7. Roll dough out into a basic rectangle. Spread the 2 T of softened butter on the dough. Evenly spread 2 T sugar and 1 T cinnamon on top of the butter.
8. Roll up dough and form into 1 loaf. Put into buttered bread pan. Cover and let rise until double, about 30 minutes.
9. The directions said to 'score' the dough by cutting three slashes across the top with a sharp knife. This is new to me...but I obeyed and am not sure why? Any insight?
10. Bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees F. I baked more like 42 minutes at 360...I have a difficult time following directions.
11. Turn out on rack, let cool. Then eat the whole thing. I promise you'll be thankful the recipe only makes ONE loaf. Or not. I may double this next time, we loved it that much.

I also added some Confectioners sugar frosting. Of course, I didn't measure a thing. Through a cup or so of sugar in a bowl and then adding french vanilla coffee creamer until I had the consistency that I was looking for.

And I'm hungry for this again. Did I mention your house will smell so delicious?