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I love the little hands that are holding this bread. The same hands that had the idea to make it in the first place and the same hands which are growing up into no longer baby or toddler or kid hands but nearing the point of being a young man. His growing up is bittersweet but something I'm enjoying as I continue back in this space. He's excited to make things to share here and I'm thankful he wants to be a part of it!
This bread came about after we listened to a podcasts the other day in the car. I had tuned into Kelly Minter's new podcast, A Place at the Table and listened to her episode about bread with the boys. I love the idea of bread baking, but reality has other plans. Well, thankfully we had Thanksgiving break to put our science skills to work!
Anderson and I researched some recipes and then made this one our own by adding more sugar and cinnamon to it. The recipe makes 2 loaves which is a good thing because the first one will get inhaled by anyone nearby as soon as it comes out of the oven!
I see a lot more bread baking in our future with Christmas break coming up and then there will be snow days and I'm sure some sick days in between too. While this isn't the healthiest option, it's a fun place to start. I'm excited to try other variations and make a bread that would be really healthy for the morning or one that would be super crusty and yummy with soup at dinner.
Next time you're at the store or shopping on Amazon, pick up some yeast and maybe some bread flour too. Don't be scared and bake along with us!
While baking bread in the winter can be harder with cooler temperatures, we let ours rise right near the fireplace and it did just fine! I also liked Kelly's brothers tip to place the bowl in the oven with the oven light on to let it rise. Maybe we'll try that next time!
Ingredients You'll Need
2 cups warm water
1 TBL yeast
1/4 cup sugar
5 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup powdered sugar (1/3 cup per loaf)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, (2 1/2 teaspoons per loaf)
6 teaspoons of brown sugar, divided
Instructions
Place water in a stand mixture with bread hook. Sprinkle sugar and yeast over water. Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
Add flour, oil, and salt and mix well. Knead 2 minutes with mixer.
Place a towel over the dough and place in a warm place, allowing to rise till doubled in size, about an hour. Divide dough in half, roll one half as wide as your bread pan.
Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and brown sugar. Roll up tightly, place in buttered bread pan, seam side down. Preheat the oven!
Let rise till nearly doubled, about 30-40 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or till golden brown.
I think it should be a rule that you need to enjoy bread as soon as it comes out the oven. I see it as a snack bread though it the second loaf was delicious toasted for breakfast the next day. Fresh bread won't keep long so if you make it you'll want to eat it quickly. You can also wait for it to cool and then store in your freezer in aluminum foil. Enjoy!