Hungarian Cinnamon Bread

Breads with fillings intrigue me. I love bread filled with rosemary or cheese or cinnamon and raisins. It's like a surprise when you bite into it. I've been making more bread now than I used to which is so nice, to have the house filled with the smell of fresh baked bread. When I saw the recipe for this bread I put it on my "to do" list which is already a mile long. The swirl adds some fun aesthetically to the bread although I don't find it to be to strongly flavored with cinnamon. My husband thinks this would make some lovely French Toast although we haven't tried that and he thinks all bread would make lovely French toast, within reason :). Happy Baking!

Hungarian Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients:
- 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
- 1 1/4 cups warm milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for brushing
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of the warm milk. Sprinkle with a pinch of the sugar and let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer on low speed and add the remaining 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the 1 cup melted butter, the egg yolks, and salt. Add 2 cups of the flour and turn the speed up to medium; continue to mix until incorporated. Gradually add the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and continue to mix until the dough holds together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl; the dough will be very soft.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put the dough in a large bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Test the dough by pressing 2 fingers into it. If indents remain, the dough is adequately risen.
4. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with melted butter (or spray with non-stick spray).
5. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a rectangle about ⅛” thick. Brush the surface of the dough with melted butter and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly across. Roll the dough up, jelly-roll style, into a long cylinder, and pinch the seam closed. Put the dough in the prepared loaf pan, seam side down. Make sure the dough touches all sides of the pan.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise a second time, until the top of the dough is nearly level with the top of the loaf pan, about 20 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the dough with more melted butter.
8. Bake until your kitchen smells like cinnamon and the bread is golden brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf

Printable Recipe 


Recipe adapted from Epicurious