Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread.....

I have only recently entered the realm of baking things requiring yeast.  For some reason, the idea of trying to bake yeast based foods was terrifying for me.  I guess it just seemed complicated and destined to make me fail.  And I hate to fail in the kitchen.  It makes me grumpy, and I would rather not be grumpy.  My husband has been trying to get me to make homemade cinnamon rolls since, oh I don't know, the day after we got married.  And I would respond by breaking out the Pillsbury can. 

I stepped very cautiously into this world of yeast by making my own pizza dough a couple of months ago.  That turned out well, so I thought maybe I would try some other things.  Next up was dinner rolls.  This was also a success, so why not try out this cinnamon bread recipe I had been eyeing for some time?  I finally got around to it last weekend and I'm so sorry I never gave it a shot before!  It was actually really fun to make and turned out sooo gooood. 

It is a bit of a process, so I made the dough Friday night and finished it up Saturday morning.  Ryan and the kids loved it and it made a great Saturday morning breakfast with coffee. 

This is how it looked right out of the oven

Here is how it looked after I slathered it with frosting I made.  :)

Oh, yeah.

Basically, this is a yeast based dough that you roll out, completely slather with melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar, cut into strips, then squares, throw into a bread pan, let rise, and bake.  Time consuming, but ever so worth the effort.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

What you need:

For the dough:
2 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 tsp (1 envelope) active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 oz unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:
1 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 oz unsalted butter, melted until browned

For the frosting {optional}:
3 or 4 tbsp softened butter
1 ish cups powdered sugar
milk

1.  Whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Set aside.

2.  Whisk together eggs and set aside.

3.  Melt together milk and butter in a small saucepan until butter has just melted.  Remove from heat and add water and vanilla.  Let the mixture stand for a minute or so, until it registers 115- 125 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

4.  Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula.  Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorportated.  It will be soupy and you will think the dough and eggs are never going to combine, but they will!  Just keep on stirring.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup flour and continue to stir with spatula for about 2 minutes.  The dough is going to be very sticky.  That is just how you want it.

5.  Put the dough into a large, greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Place it in a warm spot and allow to rest until doubled in size (about 1 hour or so).    After it has risen, you can either continue on or wrap it and refrigerate over night for use in the morning.  If refrigerated, just let the dough rest on the counter for about 30 minutes before rolling out.

6.  While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the filling.  Set aside.  Melt 2 oz butter in a saucepan until browned.  Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.  Set aside.

7.  Deflate the risen dough and knead the remaining 2 tbsp of flour into the dough.  Cover with a clean towel and let rest for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin.  The dough should be about 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long (yes, I used a ruler! lol).  Spread melted butter across all of the dough with a pastry brush.  Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

8.  Slice the dough vertically, into six strips.  Stack the strips on top of each other and slice the stack into 6 squares.  You will have 6 stacks of 6 squares.  Layer the stacks in the loaf pan like a flip-book.  Place a kitchen towel over the pan and let it rest in a warm place for about 45 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.

9.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown.

10.  Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes. 

11. While the bread is resting, cream the butter in a mixing bowl with electric mixer.  Beat in powdered sugar and milk.

12.  Using a spatula, cover the top of the loaf with the frosting and let it sit for a minute or two, until the frosting gets all melty and yummy.  :)

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker and Brown Eyed Baker