Mom's Cinnamon Bread

Whenever it finally got to be Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, we knew as kids we could look forward to my mom's incredible cinnamon bread for an amazing holiday breakfast (and subsequent snack throughout the day). She'd always make make no less than 3, if not 4 batches and the whole process would take most of the day going into the evening (I have to wonder if she did this for the same reason I do - pick the best looking loaves and serve them first). We'd feast for days on the seasonal treat and it's great toasted or straight up - with butter, of course. As with most things around the holidays, it's best to be enjoyed without fear of getting on the scale in a few days.

When she was with us, she'd tell me that she always felt closer to her dad when she was painting. Likewise, I always feel she's close by when I make her bread; despite all my cursing. This bread is definitely a lesson in patience and humility and understand that it'll always taste better when someone else makes it.

Again, this recipe is no joke. It takes a long time to complete from start to finish and I've added a few tips I've picked up along the way to make the process less stressful (and more scientific for those of us, like me, who lack the art of baking). The actual recipe comes from a modified white bread recipe from Betty Crocker (my mom made handwritten notations in her very old Betty Crocker Cookbook to follow).

Look at those swirls!

One recipe makes two loaves of bread:

• 1 package of active dry yeast (I cheat and use the quick rise kind, don't skimp if you can)
• 1/4 cup of warm water (110 degrees, measured with a thermometer)
• 2 cups of milk, scalded (we grew up using 2%, I prefer to use whole for the higher fat content; I wouldn't use anything less than 2%)
• 1/3 cup of white, granulated sugar; you'll need more for the cinnamon/sugar mix for the swirls inside
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1/4 cup of shortening (I'll typically buy the sticks of Crisco)
• 5  and 3/4 to 6 and 1/4 cups of sifted flour

Cinnamon/Sugar Mix for the swirls inside the bread:

• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• Mixed well; you will need to make a few batches depending on how many loaves you make

Kitchen utensils you'll need:

• KitchenAid mixer with both the regular paddle and bread hook
• Large bowls 
• Instant read thermometer
• Rolling pin
• Bread pans (the more the merrier so you aren't waiting around forever to re-use)
• Flour sifter
• Silicon brush or cooking brush
• Space heater to keep a small room nice and warm for the breast to rest in; we keep a cold house (because I'm cheap) and keeping a small room warm (72-76 degrees) for the yeast to do its thing has been proven helpful. You can definitely skip this as it's probably more a placebo effect more than anything - but hey, results are results!
• A few hours to kill and shows to watch on your DVR. Or a nap. Or both. Just no chores. This whole baking ordeal is tough enough.

Here's how it all comes together:

1. Soften the yeast in the 1/4 cup of warm water (110 degrees from the tap with your instant read thermometer). Use a small spatula or spoon to make a nice, warm, brown soupy mixture. Too cold and you don't activate the yeast well enough. Too hot and you probably kill it (can you kill yeast?). Mom used to use the old "is the baby bottle too hot or too cold test" by testing the water on the skin between you thumb and pointer finger. Just trust me, if you can measure the water as it comes out of your tap, it's worth it as how well the yeast performs will make or break your bread.
2. "Scald" the 2 cups milk milk in the microwave (or cook it hot enough that it has that weird, top skim coat at the top). I can never remember how long it takes, all microwaves are different, just set it for a minute or two and check until you have that film. When done, remove from microwave and set next to your mixer.
3. In the KitchenAid mixing bowl, combine the 1/3 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1/4 cup shortening, and scalded milk. Turn the mixer on low and mix and cool till lukewarm. You don't want it too hot nor too cold, just a good warmth to keep the yeast happy and popping. I'll turn it on the mixer and turn my attention to sifting flower while it slowing swirls like a soothing whirlpool.
4. While liquid in mixing bowl is cooling, sift the flour with a flour sifter. I'll grab another bowl, measure a cup into sifter, sift into bowl, and complete till I have 6 cups sifted. I'm sure there is a better way to do this, or proper way, like sifting as it gets mixed in. I've tried them all and this works for me.
5. When liquid is lukewarm (between 98-105 degrees), mix two cups of sifted flour into the mixing bowl. Keep the mix on 2 or 4; too fast and flour goes everywhere. Better, if you have that mixing guard that goes on top as you mix, use that.
6. After two cups have been mixed it, add the yeast liquid mix and continue to mix.
7. Continue to add the remaining flour to make a stiff dough (5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups). When you've reached the point of around 5-6 cups, you can switch the bread hook to mix the dough near the end.
8. Once the dough is well mixed with flour, spray the inside of large bowl with cooking spray and wash your hands well. Removed the dough, knead gently in your hands into a ball until smooth and satiny (6-8 minutes). Place dough in greased bowl and flip it to cover and grease the whole surface.
9. Place the dough in its bowl in a warm room with a clean dish towel over the top. I'll use a space heater in a confined space to let it rest. Keep all people away from your little science experiment and let the yeast do it's work. Dough should double (between 1 1/4 hours but I'll let it go as long as 2 hours).
10. Once doubled, punch down and roll the dough around in the bowl as you move from your warm little incubator back to the kitchen.
11. Cut the dough into two equal portions and shape both into two, small balls
12. Here's come the part where you'll probably curse the most and question your sanity. Roll each ball (one at a time) into a long, tall, "rectangle" over a clean and floured counter. Just do your best. Keep the thickness as uniform as you can but once it's around like two feet long and as wide as the width of your bread pan, you're good to go. The recipe says a 15 inch by 7 inch rectangle, mine are longer, like 19-21 inches long. Just do your best.
13. Paint the bread with some lukewarm water using your silicon brush and sprinkle the entire surface with a cinnamon and sugar mixture. The recipe calls one tablespoon of cinnamon per 1/2 cup of sugar. Just pour some cinnamon into a bowl, add sugar and stir. When it looks like a good blend, it's good.
14. Once sufficiently coated with cinnamon sugar, roll the bread into a tight roll to make a loaf. Make the rolls as tight as you can as space between means gaps in the bread. As you roll the dough over, make sure there is no space in the roll. Once done, pinch ends together and smooth out the edges. Place loaf into a greased bread pan. Again, do your best to make it look as best as it can. In the end, the dough rises again and it still tastes great despite how it looks. The most important part is the tight rolls.
15. Complete steps 12-14 with the other ball of dough.
16. Take both bread pans back to your warm little room, cover with dish towel, and let rise. The original recipe says another 45-60 minutes. Double this and let it rise until it looks like a good sized loaf of bread that you'd see at a bakery. I won't bake until I'm happy with how it looks but will give up if it's been over a couple of hours (because again, it'll still taste amazing the people will be impressed with the beautiful cinnamon sugar swirls in the bread). It's at this point where you'll either be patting yourself on the back for a job well done or giving yourself a pep talk that "despite what it looks like, it's going to taste great".
17. Once risen well, bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. If the top of the bread is getting too brown near the end, cover with tinfoil.
18. After cooking, rub top with butter and sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on top. Let cool and wrap in tin foil once cooled completely.
19. The night before, I recommend after everyone has gone to bed, cutting a small slice to make sure the bread tastes as great as it will. You've earned it. Just make sure to re-wrap it well in the foil to keep it from getting dry.