Recipe: Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Cinnamon Swirl Bread
alt.bread.recipes/Tim/2004
Yield: 3 loaves

Dough:
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons butter or solid vegetable shortening
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour
2 packages active yeast (I use instant yeast)
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs beaten

Filling:
2 tablespoons butter softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg

Combine milk, sour cream and shortening in a saucepan over low heat, stir occasionally until sour cream and shortening are melted and mixed in.

Remove from heat. Let cool to lukewarm. Combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt in large bowl; mix well. Blend milk mixture, vanilla and eggs into flour mixture; beat about 3 minutes. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 5 minutes, adding flour as needed to make a smooth and elastic dough. Lightly grease the surface of the dough; place dough in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch down dough. Knead 2 minutes to work out the air bubbles. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface or pastry cloth, roll each piece of dough into a rectangle about 14x7 inches. Spread softened butter on dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge. Combine sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; sprinkle over butter. Starting with the short edge, tightly roll up dough; seal the edges. Place in greased 8x4x3-inch loaf pans. Cover with a clean towel and let rise 45 to 60 minutes or until nearly doubled.

About 15 minutes before end of rising time, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake bread 40-45 minutes, or until top is golden and bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Remove from pans and let cool on wire rack. If desired, while loaves are still hot, brush the tops with additional butter and sprinkle with additional cinnamon sugar.

Note: Be careful not to add too much flour, either mixing or kneading, or the dough will be to stiff to roll out. It's better for the dough to be a bit too soft than too stiff. When sealing the edges of the loaf, brush the edge of the dough with a little milk if have trouble getting it to stick.