Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Let me start out by saying that yeast is my nemesis. I have always struggled with it, and a few years ago I swore it off completely. When I was a kid my grandmother always made rolls that were amazing and I tried for years to duplicate them and I was unable to. After last Thanksgiving, I decided that I would never be able to, so I QUIT. But, I have a weakness for cinnamon bread, I think it is delicious!! It is sweet, but not too sweet. I went through 3 rounds before I was successful, but I was determined. I had trouble getting it to rise, probably because I keep my house pretty cool, but I researched and found a few tricks. The way that worked the best for me was putting a pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil and then place the water on the bottom shelf, and put the dough on the top shelf, and VOILA! The moisture gets trapped in the oven and makes it rise beautifully.
Here is the recipe!!
(Look how pretty it is)


Ingredients:
(dough)
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 package dry active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra

(filling and glaze)
1/4 cup sugar
5 tsp ground cinnamon
milk for brushing
1 large egg
2 tsp milk

Instructions:
Begin with the dough. Heat milk and butter together in a small saucepan until butter melts. Cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon, stir slowly in a circular motion while adding sugar, eggs, salt and lukewarm milk mixture. Continue stirring a bit more quickly, and add 2 cups of flour until mixed thoroughly, then add remaining 1 1/4 cups flour until mixed through. Add more flour if dough seems extremely sticky. Remove dough from bowl, and knead on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in covered, greased bowl to rise for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until doubled in size. Once risen, punch dough down once in the center, and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix cinnamon and sugar together for filling, and grease 9x5 inch loaf pan. Roll dough into an 8x18 inch rectangle, with the 8 inch side facing toward you. Brush milk over dough, and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over it, leaving a 1/2 inch edge on the side farthest away. Beginning with the side closest to you, roll dough into a log shape, pressing ends together to make sure that it does not become more than 8 inches. Pinch dough ends together to form a tight seam, and push ends of dough toward the center. Pinch outside dough edges together to form a seal. Place the dough seam-side down into the loaf pan, and press down evenly. Let the dough rise more until it is about 1 inch above the edge of the pan (30-60 minutes). Preheat oven to 350, and combine milk with egg. Before baking, brush this mixture over the top of the loaf. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown, and let cool for 45 minutes before serving.

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon

Saturday, September 4 is National Bacon Day!! If there is any food that deserves a day it is definitely bacon. So, in honor of this day I made bacon cupcakes. These cupcakes were born from several different things. A while ago I was watching the Food Network, as I usually am, and they had a show dedicated to bacon, imagine that. And on that show someone made an apple bacon maple doughnut and it looked freakin amazing! I have always been a little against the combination of sweet and salty, but that changed my mind. I made an apple bacon maple cupcake with maple buttercream and garnished it with a little chopped bacon. The result was a yummy salty, mapley (I am not sure if that is a word) cupcake with a great texture. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and when you bite into it you get a little crunch from the bacon and the sweetness from the apples. I know that this sounds weird to some of you, but take it from me, I had my doubts, but they are really good. And, I think because they have bacon in them I can eat them for breakfast too!!
Happy Bacon Day!

Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Apples

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and then cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup milk
10-12 slices bacon (chopped)
1 medium apple diced into small pieces (I sauteed the apples in the same pan that I used to cook the bacon, you need to cook the apples first or they will not cook all the way)

Preheat the oven to 350 and line 12 muffin cupsCombine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl

Beat the sugar, eggs, and butter until light and fluffy. Whip in the maple extract. Alternate adding the flour and milk in 3 batches and mix until everything is blended. Fold in the apples and 3/4 of the bacon.

Scoop batter into pan and bake 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack




Maple Buttercream

2 cups confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon maple extract
Pinch of salt
If the frosting is too thick you may need to add 1-2 teaspoons of milk

Beat butter until light and fluffy, add confectioners sugar, maple extract, and salt. Blend until desired consistency, you may need to add 1-2 teaspoons of milk if the frosting is too thick.

Frost cooled cupcakes with maple buttercream and garnish with the remainder of the bacon