BBA Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

We've had an ice storm in Atlanta, but since I have power, I'm just baking up a storm inside!

Yesterday I made the Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread from BBA.  It is absolutely delicious and looks just like Reinhart's photo, so I am well pleased.  I loved raisin bread as a child and today the smell of it toasting warms my heart.

There are two ways to make this bread - as a loaf with cinnamon and raisins studded throughout or he suggests as an alternative, adding a cinnamon sugar swirl to an already delicious bread.  Since the recipe made two loaves, I did one as a loaf and the second as a swirl.

I found it an easy bread to mix and make.  Since I'm used to making breads that add dry ingredients gradually to the yeast raised in warm water, it's always unnerving to me to put all the dry ingredients into the mixer and then add the liquids.  But I'm an oldest child and always follow the rules, so I do what he tells me to.

The dough was quite sticky and I probably added about a handful of flour in tablespoons as it mixed to get it to come together in a bread dough.

Here are the raisins, draining, and the walnuts, chopped.

Here is the dough rounded up before putting it into the greased bowl to rise.

I rolled one half of the dough out to make a regular loaf.  I forgot to take a photo of the cinnamon swirl being created.  I did use a brush and brushed water over the dough before adding the cinnamon sugar to help it stick.  Don't know if that was a good idea or not.

Here are the two loaves in their pans to rise.  The one on the right has the cinnamon swirl.

He suggested that you brush the tops of the baked loaves with melted butter as soon as they are out of the bread pans and roll them in the cinnamon sugar, so I did that with the non-swirled loaf.

Here is the loaf sliced - made absolutely delicious toast,  reminding me of childhood (although the bread we had from the grocery didn't had walnuts in it!)

Below is the cinnamon swirl loaf.  I don't care what the filling is, I can't ever make swirled bread that doesn't have a gap in it when it cooks.  So disappointing.

 Slicing further into the loaf, you can see the gap around the swirl.  Would love it if someone knew how to keep that from happening.  I roll tightly and pinch the seam together at the bottom.  I wonder if wetting the dough surface before I put the cinnamon on makes that happen?

BBA Cinnamon Buns and Sticky Buns

These cinnamon buns sounded really good - not too sweet and gooey - so I was excited to try them.   I decided to make the cinnamon buns rather than the sticky buns and mixed up the dough.  I liked it that they had the zest of a lemon in them.  He said 1 tsp but I didn't measure - just grated the lemon zest and put it into the dough.
 

The dough was a little soft so I had to add a little flour - just a smidgeon, but it came together better after I had done that.  

I have real Ceylon cinnamon that I buy from My Spice Sage.  I put it in my adult children's stockings every Christmas and also get some for me.  It's so much better than what we buy in the grocery store!

The recipe didn't make a ton of rolls - just a dozen.  They rose on the cookie sheet on which they would be baked.

This is how they looked coming out of the oven.  And then I glazed them - I made the recipe's suggested amount of glaze.  Next time I will cut it in half.  I have about 3/4 of a cup in my refrigerator right this minute.

They were really delicious and everyone I gave them to, loved them.

Orange Cinnamon Sweet Rolls

My youngest daughter is getting married in three weeks and I'll have people I need to feed breakfast to on Saturday, the day of the wedding. I've been trying to get ready ahead of time so I won't be frantic on the wedding weekend.

This weekend in preparation for the Saturday breakfast needs, I made orange cinnamon sweet rolls from epicurious.com

Here are the ingredients:
3 T warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp sugar (I used honey in place of the sugar).
5 - 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 T finely grated fresh orange zest
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup warm milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing bowl
4 large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes

Stir together warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp honey in bowl of mixer with paddle attachment and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. While yeast is proofing, whisk 4 cups flour with zest, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

Add milk, vanilla, butter, and remaining 1/2 cup honey to yeast and then mix at medium speed until combined. Beat in 3 of the eggs, one at a time and then add the orange cinnamon flour and mix until well combined.

Change to dough hook and mix at medium-low speed, adding more flour (1 - 1 1/2 cups) a little at a time, until you have a slightly sticky dough, but smooth, in about 5 minutes. Transfer dough to counter and knead by hand until smooth and elastic (about 3 minutes). Form dough into ball and transfer to large buttered bowl, turning dough to coat with butter.

Cover bowl with towel and let dough rise until doubled (about 1 1/2 - 2 hours).

Turn dough out onto work surface and knead several times. Cut dough into 12 equal pieces. If I had done this, the rolls would have been enormous - I cut the dough into fourths, and then cut each fourth into four parts. I made the recipe twice, so I had 32 rolls when I was done.

Roll each roll into a smooth ball, rolling between your hands or on the counter. Arrange balls about 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet on a 17X14 inch cookie sheet.

Cover with damp kitchen towel and allow to rise about 1 - 1 1/4 hours until doubled.

Whisk together remaining egg with 2 tsp water in a small bowl. Snip a 1 inch X in the top of each roll. Brush rolls lightly with egg wash and bake until golden (about 10 minutes for the size I made).



Here's the snip:



These rolls were good out of the oven but my oldest daughter said that she kept thinking they needed some kind of sugar coating. They call for serving with orange butter:
1 stick of salted butter and 1/3 cup orange marmalade pulsed in a food processor.

I went out into the kitchen and made up a honey glaze.

1/4 cup soft butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg white
3 T honey

I painted this onto the rolls. They are beautiful and delicious. I put them in the freezer to stay for the three weeks until the wedding. I'll probably make the orange butter to serve with them, but they are delicious with the glaze.

Cinnamon Orange Swirl Bread - Part Three

As you can see, the loaves came out beautifully. The recipe suggests that you frost the loaves with a mix of 1 cup confectioner's sugar, 1 tsp grated orange peel and 4 tsp of orange juice. I like the bread just the way it is and never frost it.



Below you can see a mild version of what happens when you don't seal the loaf well. At the corner of this loaf you can see the cinnamon sugar mixtures that has leaked out all over the corner.


All in all I was very pleased with this bread and am excited to give it away. Every year at my office we draw names and I always give the same present: a collection of holiday baked goods - usually two kinds of bread or a loaf of bread and sweet rolls, honey from my beehives, apple butter that I made from local apples, and Christmas placemats and napkins.

Cinnamon Orange Swirl Bread: Part Two

Rolling the cinnamon bread is always a challenge. If you don't seal the bread well, it will "leak" cinnamon sugar. This takes away from the appearance of the bread, causes difficulty (sometimes) in getting the bread out of the pan, and wastes all that delicious taste that isn't any longer part of the loaf by virtue of leaking out!


The demo loaf is a small bread pan sized loaf (about a 6 inch by 2 1/2 inch pan). With each turn of the roll, put pressure at the seam to help seal the loaf.

When you have complete the roll, pinch the seam closed from end to end. Then using the side of your hand, press down as if chopping but moving slowly to completely seal the ends of the loaf.

Below you can see the bread rising. I made several pan sizes of this recipe - some are 8 1/2, some are 7 inch pans and one is a 6 inch pan.

For Christmas: Cinnamon Orange Swirl Bread: Part one

This year I decided to make Cinnamon Orange Swirl Bread for gifts this year. The recipe I used is from The Better Homes and Gardens Bread Cook Book published in 1963. I've had this cookbook forever.... one of my first cookbooks. Obviously the book isn't in print any more but you can probably find a copy here. At least at the time of this posting there were several copies available for $4.00!

Here's the recipe (my changes are in blue):

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup scalded milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 T grated orange peel
3/4 cup orange juice
1 egg
6 - 7 cups bread flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 T cinnamon

Soften the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Mix the next 6 ingredients together. Cool to lukewarm.

Stir in 2 cups flour and beat until smooth. Stir in the yeast and 1 slightly beaten egg. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth - I used the dough hook on the mixer and then kneaded on the counter. Place in a greased bowl and turn over. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until double (about 1 1/2 hours).

Punch down. Divide in half and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Roll each half into a 15 X 7 inch rectangle, 1/2 inch thick.

Wisk together the sugar and cinnamon. Spread each rectangle with half the sugar mix. Sprinkle with 1 tsp water and smooth with spatula.

Roll. Seal edge well. Place sealed edge down in greased 8 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

I love to grate oranges with the microplane. It makes perfect grated peel.

Above the orange juice is being poured into the mixing bowl that already contains orange peel, butter and scalded milk.


Here the dough has been rolled out and sprinkled with the cinnamon sugar mix. I used smaller pans so I made the dough into 3 sections and baked it in smaller pans.

Although I sprinkled the cinnamon with the 1 tsp of water, I didn't achieve success with the spatula and simply rolled it up. The water distributed itself as I rolled it.