Yesterday, I got it in my head that I wanted to bake some bread. I wanted to either bake some cinnamon rolls or make a marmalade glazed loaf. Stupid, stupid move.
I bubbled my yeast, kneaded my dough and then it hit me, it was just too cold and so it would take forever to rise. I was right. It did take forever to rise.
I wanted to snack on the bread at tea-time, but at 4 pm when I checked the dough, all I got was a wistful "ok ok I'm going to rise soon" look from my dough.
Finally at 6 pm, it seemed ok, to go on to the second rise. By then, I was feeling very sorry for myself. Post dinner I felt the dough seemed alright to be bunged in the fridge and be dealt with in the morning.
So last night as I sat around reading about yeasts and all that, I saw a picture of a pull-apart bread. It was lying in my to-make box forever. The more I read up on it, the more I realised I had pretty much made a dough that was versatile enough to become a pull-apart bread on a whim.
Plenty of sugar, butter and cinnamon lying around the house made the decision rather simple and this morning I plodded on. The result? A delectable tea-time snack that smells divine and tastes so lovely. And you can then make french toast with it the next morning. Two for the price of one!
P.S. The tops are the best part, make sure you sugar them out a bit.
Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread
Adapted from Pioneer Woman
Adapted from Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
1 cup Whole Milk
1/4 cup Oil
1/4 cup Sugar
1-1/8 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup (additional) Flour
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoons Salt
100 grams melted butter
1-1/2 cup Sugar
1-1/2 cup Sugar
3 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
Directions
1. Combine milk, canola oil, and 1/4 cup sugar in a large saucepan. Heat it until very hot but not boiling. Turn off heat and allow to cool to warm (not at all hot.)
2. Sprinkle in the yeast and add 2 cups of flour. Stir to combine, then put lid on the pot and allow to rise for 1 hour.
3. After 1 hour, stir in additional 1/2 cup flour, along with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Let it rise
4. Place dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour to make it easier to work with.
5. Roll out dough onto a floured surface. Drizzle on melted butter and smear so that it covers all the dough. Mix together the sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle it all over the surface of the dough. (Dough should look very covered.)
6. Cut the dough into 6 to 8 strips, then stack all the strips into one stack. Cut the stack of strips into 6 slices. Place the stacks sideways into a buttered bread pan. Do not cram the slices into the pan.
7. Cover with a dish towel and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, checking at 20 minutes to make sure it's not getting too brown on top. It's important to bake the bread long enough to ensure that the middle won't be too doughy, because if it is it won't pull apart easily. If the top looks like it's getting too brown, cover it lightly with aluminum foil for the rest of the baking time. REPEAT: IT'S IMPORTANT TO BAKE THE BREAD LONG ENOUGH FOR THE CENTER TO NO LONGER BE DOUGHY.
8. Remove the pan from the oven when it's done. Run a knife along the edges and take the bread out of the pan
