Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

I had the pleasure of seeing my wonderful sister Leah and niece Kaydence who came to visit today!  It was so good to see them!  I had the day off and we planned on spending the day going to city wide garage sales.  Before we set out on our deal-finding adventure, I made this bread to give us some fuel for the morning!  


Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Yield: one 9 x 5″ loaf
Ingredients:
For the dough:
2¾ cups whole wheat flour, plus more as needed
¼ cup granulated sugar
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
½ tsp. salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 cup soy milk (you can use regular milk as well)
¼ cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs

For the filling:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg

Directions:
To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl (I don't have a mixer so I make my breads by hand - but if you have a mixer with a dough hook you can use that).   Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan and heat just until the butter is melted.  Set aside and let cool briefly.  Add the milk mixture, water, vanilla and eggs to the mixer bowl.  Mix until a cohesive dough forms.  Continue to knead until smooth and elastic, adding additional flour as needed 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky.  Knead about 3-5 minutes.  Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and cover.  Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.  (After the dough has doubled, it can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight.  This is what I did!  If you do, let dough stand at room temperature 30 minutes before proceeding.)

While the dough rises, add the butter to a small saucepan and melt until browned.  Set aside.  Combine the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and mix well.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate.

 Roll into a ball, cover with a clean towel and let rest for 5 minutes.

 Roll the dough out into an approximately 12 x 20-inch rectangle.

 Brush the dough with the browned butter.  Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the dough in an even layer. 

 Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.  Slice the dough vertically into 6 even strips.  Stack the strips on top of each other and again cut again into 6 equal slices.  (not pictured)

 Stack all the squares on top of each other and set into the prepared loaf pan.  Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place, 30-45 minutes.

 Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Transfer the loaf to the oven and bake 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan.  Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen and carefully turn the loaf out, transferring to a serving plate.  Serve warm.

 Enjoy the delicious goodness! - I recommend sharing with friends or family...but I could certainly eat the whole pan myself :) 

Source: adapted from Annie's Eats &  Joy the Baker