Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I love making homemade bread. The whole process of kneading, waiting for it to rise, the punch down, the forming of the loaf, I enjoy the whole process. However, it wasn't until about 4 years ago that I started making my own bread. At first I used the bread machine that my mother-in-law gave me, but I quickly got frustrated by the shape of the loaf and the inability to make certain breads without having to finish the process by hand. Therefore, when my bread machine broke, I started making all my breads from hand and haven't looked back. One of my boy's favorite recipes is Cinnamon Swirl Bread, they absolutely love it and it is very easy to make. The recipe is as follows:

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup dry milk powder
• 2 cups quick-cook oats
• 5 cups flour (if bread is too sticky up to another 1/2 cup of flour can be added)

1. Combine 2 cups of the flour, oats, milk powder, brown sugar, yeast and salt. In a sauce pan melt butter and water and heat to approximately 120 degrees. Add butter and water to dry ingredients, beat until combined. Add egg, beat until smooth. Add remaining flour until a firm dough forms (the amount of flour can vary, add
enough flour so the dough isn't overly sticky, but not too stiff). Stir in raisins.

2. Knead on a floured surface for 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat top and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about an hour or until doubled.

3. Punch down dough. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 18 by 9 inch rectangle. Combine sugar and cinnamon, reserving 2 tablespoons for topping, Sprinkle mixture over each rectangle to within a half inch of the edge. Roll up rectangles starting from the short side and pinch seams to seal.

4. Place loafs into two greased loaf pans. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 375 degrees. If tops begin to overly brown, place a tent foil over top. Makes two loafs.

This recipe is very easy and I has consistent results. It is delicious with butter or makes great cinnamon toast. My whole family has fallen in love with this bread and I make it about once every two weeks. A great, simple bread recipe.



Note: I use bread flour for my bread baking, but all-purpose flour works fine also. I added to the recipe that additional flour can be added if the dough is too sticky to handle and realized when I made this bread last night that I normally use 4 1/2 teaspoons of yeast, not 5 teaspoons. The recipe is now exactly as I bake it.

I adapted this recipe from page 543 of The Taste of Home Cookbook 2009 edition.