Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Ready for your house to smell like a Cinnabon?  

This bread will do the trick. 

I've wanted to make this bread for so long.
I've had it pinned on my Pinterest board for almost a year and thanks to a snow day, I finally had to time to make it and am I oh so glad that I did.

Plus it looks so cool when you cut into it!
How can you resist?

Simple ingredients, minimal work, delicious bread.
Can't get much better than that.

Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients:
2 tbs sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tbs vital wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
2tbs cinnamon
1/2 cup  white sugar
1/2 cup raisins,  plumped*

*boil water let raisins soak in it for about 5 min.

Directions: 
To warm water, place in microwave for 1min.
Add 2 tbs sugar and yeast and let sit until frothy, about 5 min.
Add in flour, salt, oil, and raisins and knead by hand, mixer, or bread machine* for 5-10 min until dough is comes together to form a soft, slightly  sticky ball. You may need to sprinkle in more flour if it's  too sticky. Place mixed dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
*I let the yeast froth in my bread machine pan, added the rest of the ingredients, and then set my machine to "Dough" cycle and let it run the first knead cycle, then stopped it and let it rest for the 1 hour).

Remove dough from the bowl/pan and place on lightly floured surface.
Roll out dough into a large rectangle.
Mix together 1/2 sugar and cinnamon  and sprinkle it over the top of the rectangle.
Carefuly roll up dough width-wise, to form a loaf. Then pinch together the two ends and the seam.
Place loaf in lightly grease pan, cover, and let rise for 30 min until loaf fill the pan.

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Bake loaf for 30-35 min. Until top is nice golden brown* 
* I baked mine for the full 35 min just to make sure it was fully cooked in the center.
* I also placed a piece of foil over the top of the loaf around 15 min to keep the top from browning too much.

Let cool all the way before you cut into it, otherwise it tends to sink in.

Butter it up and enjoy!

It toasts wonderful! And makes fantastic bread for french toast!

ENJOY!!!!

The Dinner Roll

 

 Why not make your own rolls?

It's seriously so easy, especially if you have a bread machine. 
Plus, it's not full of unpronounceable preservatives and nothing beats homemade bread, am I right? 

These rolls were awesome. Soft and yet hearty enough to hold it's own.  I am not a fan of those sweet or white rolls; they are just not dense enough and immediately turn into sugar when digested. 

So do a favor for your glycemic index and makes these.
Oh and they cost about a dollar to make about 32 rolls so save yourself some money too!

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbs wheat gluten
3 tsp bread machine yeast
3/4 cup  water
1/4 cup milk
4 tbs coconut oil,
3 tbs honey
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, whisked

Directions:
Place everything in the bread machine according to the manufacture--Mine asks for liquids to be put in first so I put warmed water and milk (see note), whisked egg, and salt in first (placing the salt in the liquid insures the yeast will not activate too fast and die), then flours, and then made indents in the flour to hold the honey, coconut oil, and yeast.

Set the machine to dough cycle.

After about 5-6 min open the machine--it's okay if it is still running, and check the dough. If it looks dry,  clumping into a tight ball, add 1 tbs of milk at a time until it starts to stick to a side of the machine. If it looks too wet, sticking to all sides of the machine, add in 1 tbs of flour until it 
starts to pull away from the wall.

It is very important to check dough as it kneads. Perfect dough takes precision but each machine, and general temperature of the environments vary, so it's up to you to get it just right for your recipe. (mine needed 2 1/2 extra tbs of milk).
Non-stick baking pans of choice: I used a 9x13 and 7x11.

When dough is finished remove from pan and kneed into a ball.

Slice dough in half and then slice those halves in half and continue slicing halves until you get 32 pieces  (Feel free to slice larger rolls if desired).

Roll each piece into a ball and place in prepared pans. (see note)

Cover with a clean towel and let sit for an hour, until dough has doubled in size. 

Preheat oven 350 F.
Remove towel and place in oven to bake for 10-12 min. Until tops are a nice golden brown. 

Remove and brush the tops with butter, if desired. 
Let cool on a rack for 1-2 min before serving. 

ENJOY!!!!

 Notes:
* I microwaved my milk and water together for 1 min.   
* I rolled my balls and then placed them in the fridge to rise slower overnight  and baked them the next day, letting them sit outside the fridge for and hour or two before baking, until doubled in size.