{Naughty Alert!} Cinnamon Swirl Bread

One of the things I love about our annual vacation in Idaho is that I can start each day at my own pace. And that usually means quietly enjoying a cup of black coffee and a piece of toast. {Contrary to popular opinion, I’m a simple gal.}

This year though, the toast was anything but ordinary. I’ve already shared how generous some of my new girlfriends from the ranch are, having shared the fruits {well, vegetables} of their gardening labors.

Enter Tanya.

It’s one thing to toss some ingredients into a bread maker, call it a night, and wake up to a fresh loaf of “homemade” bread. It’s another thing entirely to grind the darn wheat that you make the bread with. Painstakingly. By hand. So this year, my mornings started with that cup of black coffee AND a piece of Tanya’s AMAZING homemade cinnamon swirl bread.

Husband and I pretty much devoured the loaf she’d shared with our hosts in just a few days. What to do now?

I had a strategy: I’d send her a message on Facebook, telling her how much we LOVED her bread, and that we had quickly annihilated it. Of course, my thought-process was that she’d read through my “subtlety” and be so flattered that she’d produce another loaf before we were faced with the horrible situation of a morning without it.

{Insert the sound of CRICKETS here.}

Here’s the note I finally got from Tanya: “I am so glad you are enjoying it!! It sounds like you are having a fabulous time…”

So much for subtlety.

{Sigh.}

OK, desperate times call for desperate measures. I’d have to make it myself.

One morning, over my black coffee {sans toast} I consulted my most trusted advisor {Google} in search of a terrific Cinnamon Swirl Bread recipe.

Thankfully, there was no shortage of options. But I wanted something that made me feel less guilty about the butter I’d inevitably slather upon the finished product. I wanted a recipe that incorporated whole wheat flour {though I wasn’t quite ready to grind it myself}. Sometime during my second cup of coffee I’d accumulated enough options to piece together a recipe to try. And after a few attempts, I think I have a version that is close to Tanya’s.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Author: adapted from the Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

1 cup milk (I use almond)
6 Tbs butter
2½ tsp (or one packet) Active Dry Yeast
2 eggs
⅓ cup sugar
2½ cups All-purpose flour
2½ cups whole wheat flour (plus more as necessary)
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs melted butter
⅓ cup sugar
2 Tbs cinnamon
softened butter

Instructions

Heat butter and milk together until butter melts, then let cool until still warm, but not hot (about 110-115 degrees). Add yeast, stir briefly, and let sit for several minutes.
Combine flours and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs until combined. Pour in the the milk mixture and mix on low until combined. Add the flour mixture, 1 cup at a time, until incorporated. Increase mixture speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes. If dough is very sticky, add additional flour, ¼ cup at a time, and knead on medium speed for an additional 3 minutes. (Dough should be slightly, but not overly sticky.)
Turn dough into greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1½-2 hours.
Butter large loaf pan with softened butter.
Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface. Roll into a rectangle, no wider than your loaf pan, and about 18-24 inches long. Spread dough with 2 Tbs melted butter. Mix cinnamon and sugar together, then sprinkle evenly over dough. Starting with one of the narrow ends, roll the dough, keeping it tight. Pinch seam to seal.
Place dough in the pan, seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1½ hours.
Preheat oven to 350.
Brush top of loaf with softened butter. Bake for 40 minutes on middle rack in oven.
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling rack and cool completely.