Cinnamon Pulled Loaf

hello hello!! i'm so excited to write about this (haha okay i know i say this quite often) because i'm so proud of my cinnamon loaf!!! *big smileeees* :D 

 it looks a bit burnt because i was trying to make sure the inside was cooked and ended up baking it a little too long >.< but it was yummmz ^^ which is the most important! 

it's my first time baking bread, so i'm quite happy with how it turned, out, although there is definitely lots of room for improvement! this is one of the toughest baking recipes i've undertaken so far. one of the most tedious at least. now i know how hard it is to make bread!!! :O do not waste it! haha. it really took quite a long time, with me having to go back every 30-45min or so to do another step. wanted to go running during the wait but i couldn't take myself away from it in the end. 

it's called a cinnamon pulled loaf because it's meant to be nice and fluffy, and can be pulled apart easily! sounds sooo delicious doesn't it! and i was so excited to see my dough rising with all the fluffiness inside because i knew it was en route to something yummy heh ;) i think my end result could have been fluffier though. working on it! :D 

Ingredients:

For the dough

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt

60g unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs

For the filling

1 cup granulated sugar

3 tsp ground cinnamon

60g unsalted butter, melted

1. Activate the yeast by whisking your dry yeast into 3 tbsp of warm water (40-50 deg C). Add a pinch of granulated sugar and allow the mixture to sit for 5 min, until it is foamy and frothy.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, the sugar and salt. Set aside.

3. Beat the two eggs separately and set aside.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the milk until the butter has just melted. Mix well. Remove from the heat and add water. Let the mixture cool slightly.

5. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients, together with the yeast and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and stir until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. It might take awhile for this to happen, keep mixing! Add 3/4 cup of flour and mix it into the dough. It should have a sticky consistency.

6. Place the dough in a large greased bowl. Cover lightly with a cling wrap and a clean wet kitchen towel. Place in a warm place and leave it for 45min-1 hour, till the dough doubles in size.

7. While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon. Grease a loaf pan. 

8. Deflate the risen dough and knead 2 tbsp of floor into the dough. Cover again with a cling wrap and kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 5min. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. (guess what? i don't have a rolling pin despite this whole year of baking and i've been getting by with using an empty wine bottle lol. gonna get one soon when i move back to my house!). Roll it as large as the dough will go. Its texture should be somewhat springy. 

9. Spread the melted butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. (it might look like a lot of sugar, but just do it! my personal experience here because i didn't listen to the recipe and used less sugar than instructed - it somewhat lacked the punch as a result).

10. Slice the dough vertically, into equal sized strips. Stack the strips on top of each other and slice them horizontally till you get stacks of squares. Lay them in the loaf pan packed together (you can see the original here - looks much nicer than mine haha :p)

11. Cover the loaf pan with cling wrap and a wet kitchen towel and leave it in a warm place for 30-45min until almost doubled in size.

12. Preheat the oven to 170 deg C. Place the loaf in the oven and bake for 30-40min until the top is very golden brown (not quite as dark as mine though..hahaha). Pierce a fork into the centre, and if it comes out clean, your loaf is done! ^^

13. Allow it to cool for 20-30min before serving.

this is such an amazing loaf of bread. i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did! (: