Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread & A Goodbye

Ever since I first saw this recipe I knew I wanted to make it. However, I was scared because of the yeast. What if I waited all the time it needed to rise only to see that it didn't? I would be a little heartbroken and upset over the wasted ingredients. I gave myself a little pep talk and dove into making this bread. My bread rose and my house smelled divine while it baked away. This bread is worth the wait, especially if you love the warmth of cinnamon and sugar filling up your soul. The bread is also fun to eat and I loved seeing it disappear with each slice we ate.

The recipe below is the full recipe. I halved the recipe and had enough dough for a small loaf of bread and six mini muffins. The loaf baked for about 30 minutes and the muffins baked for about 20 minutes.

And now a goodbye. I hate to do this but I made the decision to leave the Tuesdays With Dorie group. I had been baking along with them for three years so this really feels like the end of a serious relationship. I have baked so many wonderful things and have been introduced to so many fantastic bakers. Life is so hectic and I was having so much trouble keeping up with the baking selections. Not only is my time in the kitchen limited but also the recent recipe selections weren't right for my family and, unfortunately, I just don't have it in me to get creative with recipes. Most importantly though, it's not fair to the group to have someone in it that isn't representing and participating in a way that positively reflects the group.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread
Source: Joy the Baker
Yields one 9x5x3-inch loaf

For the Dough:

2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned

In a large mixing bowl (I used just the bowl of my stand mixer) whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted. Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract. Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees F.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. The eggs will feel soupy and it'll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together. Keep stirring. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be sticky. That's just right.

Place the dough is a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour. *The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning. If you're using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below.

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling. Set aside. Melt 2 ounces of butter until browned. Set aside. Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Set that aside too.

Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long. If you can't get the dough to 20-inches long... that's okay. Just roll it as large as the dough will go. Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. You'll have six stacks of six squares. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book. Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown. The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw. A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto a clean board. Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it's right side up. Serve warm with coffee or tea.

TWD: Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones

There is a debate in our household as to whether I have ever had a scone. I say no and Alex is convinced that I have had one at some point in time. Either way, this is the first time I have ever made scones and was it messy. I didn't expect it to be so messy and eventually ended up giving up on making nice triangle shapes. Instead, balls of dough were scooped out and dropped on the baking sheet. I always thought scones were supposed to be sweeter than biscuits so I added a light glaze to the scones to make them sweeter and to moisten them up. What really amazed me with this recipe is how far a small amount of nutmeg goes.

Thanks to Patricia of Life With a Whisk for making this week's selection. Make sure to head over to the TWD site to read everyone else's thoughts on this week's selection.

TWD: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

I am seriously late on this one. I tried to post yesterday but I kept getting an error message. It was weird and frustrating to be blocked out of my blog. Anyway, I made this Brown Sugar Cake and loved it! I made a few adjustments though out of sheer practicality. I quartered the recipe (1 egg, baked for 25 min in a loaf pan), substituted the buttermilk for heavy cream, omitted the fruits, and added chopped pecans and chocolate chips. The resulting cake was exactly like a chocolate chip cookie cake. You really can't go wrong with a cake that tastes like your favorite cookie.

Thanks to Peggy from Pantry Revisited for making this week's selection. Make sure to stop by her blog for the recipe and the TWD site to see how everyone else fared with this cake.

TWD: Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies

One of the things I love the most about Dorie is how fool-proof her recipes are. Tiny adaptations to the recipe do no harm to the overall taste and quality of the finished dessert. I thought I had everything I needed to make these Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies but I was wrong and I didn't want to make a third trip to the grocery store. Instead, I made little substitutions. All I had in the pantry was coarse corn meal and lemon extract. In went the coarse corn meal and out came a cookie that was buttery but a little rocky in some parts. In went the lemon extract (1/4 tsp for a quarter of the recipe) and out came a cookie that was booming in its lemon flavor.

Thanks to Valerie of Une Gamine dans la Cuisine for making this week's selection. Don't forget to stop by the TWD site to see how everyone else fared this week.

TWD: Strawberry Crisp

It's by chance that I made this week's recipe. I overdid it with the strawberries at the store since they were on such a great sale. Problem is, I don't eat strawberries and I bought them all for Alex. As is customary, he forgot we even had strawberries and the strawberries were nearing the point of going bad. So I halved the recipe, omitted the rhubarb and ginger altogether, and got a deliciously simple strawberry crumble. Alex loved all of it and, as I expected, I loved the crisp and the strawberry sauce. Add a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream and this dessert is truly a keeper.

Thanks to Sarah of Teapots and Cakestands for making this week's selection. For the recipe go to her blog and don't forget to check out the other bakers on the TWD site.

TWD: Pecan Powder Puffs

I really wanted to make this week's selection of Pecan Powder Puffs. Time has been a little hard to come by but I managed to squeeze these cookies in while Cati was distracted by her lunch. Because time was limited, I made a few changes to the technique. Instead of using room temperature butter, I used cold butter and instead of letting the dough refrigerate for at least two hours, I put it in the freezer while the oven heated up. These two little changes allowed me to have delicious pecan buttery cookies in 30 minutes from start to finish. I didn't roll them in the powdered sugar out of sheer laziness but that's ok because the cookies were plenty sweet on their own.

Thanks to Tianne of Buttercream Barbie for making this week's awesome selection. Visit her blog for the recipe and don't forget to head over to the TWD site to check out everyone else's opinions on these Pecan Powder Puffs cookies.

TWD: Corniest Corn Muffins

I'll keep things short and simple. I love this week's selection. This is the first corn muffin I've made from scratch that I actually plan on making again. It was delicious and perfectly corny. Because I like my corn muffins sweet, I added creamed corn instead of the kernels since I find creamed corn to be sweeter in taste.

Thanks to Jill of My Next Life for making this week's selection. Make sure to go to her blog for the recipe and to head over to the TWD site so you can read up on everyone else's reactions to these muffins.

TWD: Chocolate Pots de Crème

I couldn't resist the prospect of making an orange whipped cream to go with these Chocolate Pots de Crème. Something about the orange flavor really seemed to offer the luxurious taste I wanted for these already luxurious sounding and tasting chocolate sweets. A little bit of Cointreau (or Triple Sec) added to the heavy cream before beating did the trick and the desserts had a wonderful taste dynamic between the freshness of the citrus and the richness of the chocolate. Dorie describes the Chocolate Pots de Crème as a cousin to pudding and I agree in terms of technique, but when it comes to taste Alex and I both thought this dessert was closer to a mousse. However, that could be because I think I overcooked mine a bit. Oops, as usual.

Thanks to Christine of BlackCatCooking for making such a great selection this week. Make sure to go to her blog for the recipe and to go to the TWD site to see what everyone else did this week.

TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

I'm playing a little catch up this week with TWD. I really wanted to make the scones because I have never made them before but the main dessert eater in this house is not a fan of almonds. I thought of making them with pecans instead but that would have required a trip to the store and, still feeling sick, I wasn't up for the task. As a result, you are seeing last week's Chocolate Oatmeal Drops this week. These cookies were very good and slightly different because the oatmeal gives it an interesting texture and the cinnamon gives it an interesting flavor. If you want something brownie-like with a hint of otherness then these cookies are for you.

Thanks to Caroline and Claire of Bake With Us for making this selection. I promise to be back on track next week. For now, my apologies to Mike of Living Out West for missing out on his Almond Scones selection this week. Make sure to stop by the TWD site to read what everyone else did this week.

TWD: Bourbon Bread Pudding

I never thought I would be a bread pudding fan but Dorie has turned me into one. Alex and I both enjoyed this week's Bourbon Bread Pudding selection. I will admit, however, that I cheated a bit because I wasn't in the mood to wait around while the pudding sat for an hour. Instead, I stuck the pudding in the oven right after I pour the liquid over the bread without a water bath and baked for about 25 minutes. The pudding looked gorgeous right when it was taken out of the oven because it was all puffed up like a soufflé. The pudding itself was delicious and I thought the bourbon actually gave the pudding a bit of a coconut flavor.

Thanks to Sharon of Simply Southern for a fantastic selection. Make sure to stop by her blog for the recipe and the TWD site to read what everyone else thought about this pudding.

TWD: Swirly Chocolatey Sour Cream Bundt

I took the lazy route with this bundt cake. I quartered the cake recipe, omitted the orange zest, and didn't do the swirl. Instead my swirl was made of chocolate ganache. The cake had such a great buttery, vanilla flavor and the chocolate gave the cake an indulgent and luxurious feel.

Thanks to Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort for making this week's selection. Make sure to head over to her blog for the recipe and don't forget to give some love to the other TWD bakers.

TWD: Midnight Crackles

Happy third birthday Tuesdays with Dorie! I can't believe the group was started three years ago and I've been baking along with them almost as long. To celebrate this milestone, the selection was made by Laurie of Slush and Jules of Someone’s In the Kitchen. The ladies chose Dorie's Midnight Crackles and while I was really curious about this recipe I'll admit that I wasn't too interested in putting cinnamon and cloves into my cookies. I also wasn't too crazy about putting the dough in the fridge and having to wait but that's just me being impatient. Because it was a special selection I planned on following the recipe to the letter. Unfortunately, that plan went out the door when I added baking powder instead of soda. I got a little flustered and threw caution to the wind. By that I mean I added vanilla extract, whiskey, caramel sauce, and more chocolate to the cookies. Then I dropped the dough onto the cookie sheets and baked. This was the BEST thing I could have ever done because the cookies were beyond incredible. Oh lordy were they good. They were chocolaty with a hint of gooey otherness; the caramel was so subtle but every now and then you would get a pocket of goodness. The cookies were very fudgy and, oh yeah, did I mention they were extremely delicious?

Happy Third Birthday TWD! Go to TWD and wish the group a happy birthday!

TWD: Butterscotch Pudding

This week is another rewind week for us TWD bakers. I wanted to go with something I could dress up for our Christmas Day meal so I made the Butterscotch Pudding selected back in December 2008 by Donna of Spatulas, Corkscrews, & Suitcases. I made the entire recipe and filled up 11 little jars with this pudding dessert. I tried to bypass all the back and forth between the saucepan-food processor by making everything in the saucepan. This definitely made the dessert more manageable and quicker to make but I think I'm going to suffer through the back and forth next time I make this because the pudding didn't come out as smooth as I remember it. It was still good though and a delightful after-dinner dessert shot.

 

Don't forget to check out what the other TWD bakers did this week!

TWD: Apple Family Cake

The selection this week was for an Apple-Coconut Family Cake but seeing how much my darling husband despises shredded coconut so much, I left it out. I also didn't do the glaze because I didn't have the jelly on hand and I was afraid this would make the dessert too tart. It's a shame about the coconut because I think the cakes would have tasted a million times better with the coconut in it.  Don't get me wrong, the cake tasted fine with just the apples but it was kind of bland. I tried to flavor-up the cakes by adding powdered sugar and caramel sauce. The powdered sugar didn't do much but the caramel sauce improved the cakes A LOT. The cakes were literally transformed from a bland treat to a tasty delight.

Thanks to Amber of Cobbler du Monde for this week's selection. Make sure to head to her blog for the recipe and to the TWD site to see what everyone else thought about this cake.

TWD: Translucent Maple Tuiles

Ahh tuiles. What have you done to me? You would think this cookie would be super easy to make considering the recipe calls for only four ingredients and only needs seven minutes to bake in the oven. I'll be honest and tell you the cookie is easy to make, it's just not easy to shape. Or at least, it wasn't for me. I rolled up the dough into small pieces and put the pieces three inches apart from each other. As they baked, however, all my pieces decided to come together and have one big tuile party. I ended up with a few large pieces which I decided to either brake up into smaller pieces or mold into abstract pieces of foodie art.

The tuiles were delicious, crunchy, and sweet in the way that only maple syrup can be. I'm warning you now, the cookies are pretty addictive. And, if you are anything like me, you will spend some time thinking about what to pair these tuiles with. I decided to go with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

Thank you Clivia of Bubie’s Little Baker for this week's selection. Make sure to head over to the TWD site to see what everyone else had to say about these tuiles.

TWD: Devilish Shortcakes

I did something wrong. I think I messed this recipe up on a few levels but the biggest mistake was (I think) mixing in the milk mixture too much. My batter was very brownie-like and the cakes were dry. To make up for this slip up and disappointment I served my shortcakes with Neapolitan ice cream and chocolate syrup.

Thanks to Tania of Love Big, Bake Often for this week's selection. Definitely head over to TWD so you can see how this dessert was supposed to come out.

TWD: {Rewind} Almost-Fudge Gateau

Thanksgiving week and today's TWD is a rewind. Meaning I get to pick whatever dessert I want. It doesn't get any better than that. I decided to go with a dessert that was made before I joined TWD, the Almost-Fudge Gateau. If you want something really chocolaty and extremely fudgy then this is the way to go.

Nikki of Crazy Delicious selected this recipe so you can go to her blog for the recipe. Don't forget to head over to the TWD site to see what everyone else chose to make this week.