Cinnamon Swirl Bread Machine Loaf

This recipe is for making your bread dough with a bread machine and then hand-forming the prepared dough into a single swirl loaf. Pretty quick and easy, everyone really enjoyed this a lot.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread Machine Loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• ½ cup milk or buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast or bread machine yeast
• 2 ¼ teaspoons fine salt sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Place the water, milk, honey, flour, yeast, and salt in your bread machine.  Select the dough function, and process according to the manufacturer’s directions.
2. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 bread loaf pan.
3. Dust a pastry mat with flour, and add the dough.  Dust with more flour.
4. Roll the bread dough into an 8 x 16 inch rectangle.
5. Beat the egg and water in a small dish and brush the dough with the egg wash using a pastry brush.
6. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the dough.
7. Start from the short side and roll the dough up.  Pinch the ends together and then tuck the ends under.
8. Transfer the loaf to the prepared pan.
9. Allow to rise for 45 minutes.
10. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Brush the top of the dough with the remaining egg wash if desired.
11. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
12. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack.  Allow to cool before slicing.

Marsha's Notes:

The original recipe called for an "egg wash" in the middle of the loaf along with your cinnamon sugar mixture, and I had never heard of using that when making traditional cinnamon rolls. So instead, I opted to use softened/melted butter like I was familiar with, and as you can see in the cut cross-section, the swirl in the bread is a little loose with some air pockets. In hindsight, I think that perhaps the egg wash might be helpful in keeping the swirl of the loaf connected and closed, so I will try that next time and report if it made a difference.

Rolled out

Spread with butter. Next time I will use the egg wash.

Poured out the cinnamon mixture.

Spread out and then rolled up. I tried to make the dough as wide as my loaf pan (on the short end of the dough). Then I rolled it up starting on the short end.

Rolled and in the pan.

After rising for 45 minutes.

Baked! I topped the loaf with melted butter since I didn't use an egg wash.