Cinnamon Bun Bread

With Autumn whispering passionate cinnamon-scented promises in my ear, I've been dreaming of snug quilts, simmering soups, and of course, cinnamon rolls. The problem with a cinnamon roll craving is that it takes time to make the rolls. Now I enjoy the process of making rolls, but sometimes I just want my craving satiated without any hassle.

Last week I stumbled upon a recipe at Baking Bites for Cinnamon Bun Bread. It's an easy recipe they adapted from a package of rapid rise yeast, and it's the perfect proxy for cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Bun Bread

Ingredients:

Bread:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 tsp yeast
  
• 2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine)
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Filling/Topping

• 3 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tbsp milk or cream

Directions:

1. Grease an 8×8-inch square baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter and sugar mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and gently fold some of the mixture into the dough.
   
4. Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the sugar mixture is bubbling.
   
6. Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.

(A picture of the bread before being drizzled with icing. The corners contain nuggets of caramelly goodness.)

Serve warm. Leftovers can be gently reheated in the microwave.

Serves 9.

Enjoy,

muddywaters