Forgive-Me-Cinnamon-Sugar-Bread!

We're all human and we all make mistakes sometimes. What better way to say sorry to your man (or sister or Dad, or boss, dog-walker, baby-sitter, whoever!) than with the perfectly chewy and incredibly addictive taste of warm, freshly baked cinnamon bread? Nothing. There is nothing better. It is so amazing, all the love that they'll taste in this bread (Ok, it's so good, it ought to be called cake!) they'll be bound to forgive you in an instant!

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This bread is so comforting and delicious, I have to warn you again. It is addictive. You will eat half of it in the blink of an eye and won't even know what happened to it. Then, you'll have to hide it somewhere or leave the house immediately, as not to eat the rest before you can give it to your hubby.

Thank you Olivia for the idea and for inspiring me with your beautiful picture and sending me this recipe.

My attempt at the pull-apart motion did not go as planned. In fact, I tried to film this one for Eat at Home Tonight and it just got too messy. I'm still new to the baking game, but when I have time, I love to try stuff like this out! Plus, when it's that good, it really doesn't matter what it looks like.

Mine ended up getting layered horizontally with the cinnamon spread, so it looks more like a loaf of bread. It's not the prettiest, but the taste is UNBELIEVABLE! It's just so freaking good. And you can see, it didn't last long enough to get a proper picture. But, I'll be making this again very soon! You don't have to only be asking for forgiveness to make this cinnamon-pull-apart bread, it would make a great gift to bring to someone's house, or just for yourself when you need some good ol' comfort food!

Forgive Me Cinnamon Bread

Makes: one 9x5x3-inch loaf

Recipe adapted from HungryGirlPorVida via Joy the Baker

For the Dough:

3  cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons 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:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 ounces (about 60 g) 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.

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 how it's supposed to be.

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

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. I didn't even have a proper loaf pan (mine broke a couple months ago in an unfortunate dropping-incident) but it still came out amazing. So then, 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. (**this is the part of the recipe, where I started to rush because it was taking longer to make this than I anticipated so I rushed through this next part) 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.I didn't use all of mine that I made but I don't like things too sweet so if you've got a sweet tooth, slather it all on there.

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. (**Yeah, this didn't work out so well for me. I layered the dough out in long layers onto my glass pan and spread the cinnamon mixture over each layer until I was out of dough.)

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. Or if you're like me, just let it rest for as long as you possibly can (10 minutes, if you're me), and then either grab a chunk of it or attempt to slice it nicely. 

Yum.