cinnamon bread

i made cinnamon bread last night. it was kind of an ordeal (because i had NO IDEA what i was doing) but worth it to have a warm piece of cinnamon bread this morning for breakfast.

my mom used to make cinnamon bread fairly often, but i've never made it or even really helped except for the sprinkling on of the cinnamon - which is the best part.

poor justin, i think he heard no less than 3 times, "come in here please. i need your HELP!" the first time i needed him to poor the milk mixture in while i mixed the dough. (you kitchen aid girls wouldn't have this problem, but i'm anti-kitchen aid. i think it tastes better hand mixed.) then i needed him to call my mom and put it on speaker for me so i would get my new phone all dirty. the first questions were, "how much flour do i add? what consistency is the dough supposed to be? oh i was supposed to measure the flour out? oops! i've never kneaded before, this is hard work!" then after i figured all that out and was trying to roll out this mass of super elastic dough i needed to call again. "justin!! help! ok mom, how am i supposed to roll this out. it won't stay! it keeps going back to it's round shape! i'm a pansy and need to put some muscle into it? ok. it's working now, thanks."

so for all you bakers out there who would like an amazing cinnamon bread recipe, here it is! remember to pinch the seam after you roll in the cinnamon. i ignored that step and only pinched the ends but not the bottom seam and some of the cinnamon leaked out and kind of burned the bottom. i'll know next time. and remember, if you want to get to bed before 11 you might want to start before 6. have fun!

Cinnamon Bread

4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups unsifted flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 pkg. Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
2 eggs at room temperature

Melted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, salt
and undisolved yeast. Combine milk and 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan.
Heat over low heat until liquid is warm. (Butter does not need to
melt.) Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium
speed of mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and 1/2 cup
flour, or enough flour to make a thick batter. Beat at high speed 2
minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough additional flour
to make a soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board; knead
until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place in greased
bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from
draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, combine 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon, Punch dough down; turn
out onto lightly floured board. Divide dough in half. Roll 1/2 the
dough into a 12x8 rectangle. Brush lightly with melted butter.
Sprinkle with 1/2 the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Roll tightly from the
8" side like a jellyroll. Seal edges firmly. Seal ends of loaf and
fold underneath. Place loaf, seam side down, in greased loaf pan.
Repeat with remaining dough. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from
draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Bake, in a moderate oven (350 degrees) about 30 minutes or until done.
Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Eat half of first loaf for breakfast.