P-Dub's Cinnamon Bread

Remember last week when I was aghast that I hadn't shared the famous Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond's Cinnamon Swirl Bread with you?

I'm still aghast, I tell you.  Simply aghast.

I made five of these loaves last week.  Five.  I made them to sell at a local homeschool sale and even though I had made it five times and should be absolutely sick at the sight of them, they stilled smelled wonderful and made my tummy growl.  Thank goodness I sold all of them!

This is definitely a staple around our home, especially since breads like these are so stinkin' expensive at the grocery store.

P-Dub's recipe is the hand-kneadin' way, which I love doing.  I love the rhythm of it, the feeling of solidarity with our pioneer mothers.  Truly, I do.  When I have time.

When I don't, however, I cheat and use the bread machine.  I would have made a lousy pioneer woman.

(this is her picture, of course.  I'm not a pioneer, nor am I a photographer.)

I will give you her recipe and then note the bread machine modifications afterwards.

Get ready for your life to be changed.  Oh, yes.  Your life will be changed.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk
• 6 Tablespoons Butter
• 2-1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 3-1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
• Egg And Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
• Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don't boil. Allow to cool until still warm to the touch, but not hot. Sprinkle yeast over the top, stir gently, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs with the paddle attachment until combined. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined.

Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat/knead dough on medium speed for ten minutes. If dough is overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour and beat again for 5 minutes.

Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl so it's warm. Drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and set it in a warm, hospitable place for at least 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the work surface. Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you're going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. Smear with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal.

Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven.

Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool. Slice and serve, or make cinnamon toast or French toast with it.

**Bread Machine Modifications**

*I usually have softened butter on hand, so I don't worry about melting it.  I do however warm up the milk.

*Make sure when using a bread machine that you add the wet ingredients in the machine before all the dry ingredients.  The order of the ingredients will have to be moved around.

*Add the yeast to the bread machine last, as recommended by all bread machine manufacturers.  I'm not sure if that's the case for just dough, though.  At any rate, I add the yeast last and that works out just fine.

Other than that, I do everything else after the dough making just the same.  And oh.my.goodness., my life is so much better because of it.

The End.