Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

I'm having another fabulous summer in Los Angeles. My weekends have been filled with birthday parties, urban hikes, and several outings to one of my favorite places, the Hollywood Bowl. Last week we decided to send a friend off to law school in style by having one of our epic picnics before seeing Michael Feinstein and the Singing Stars at the Bowl. Everyone pitched in and we got stuffed before hiking up the hill to catch the show. This bread was my contribution. I should have looked at the recipe before I started baking. It's not difficult, but requires a lot of rising time and since I was in a hurry, I got a little worried. It came out great though, despite being crooked since I was impatient and just shoved the dough into the pan instead of stacking it as stated in the recipe. It's sort of french-toast in taste, but makes an excellent dessert. Plus, your home is filled with the amazing smells of brown butter and cinnamon baking. I was in heaven making this!

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread
(Adapted from Annie's Eats)

Makes 1 9x5-inch loaf

For the dough:
For the dough:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
1/2  teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

For the filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

To make the dough, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat over low heat just until the butter is melted. If necessary, set aside to cool until the mixture registers 115-125 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Add the milk mixture, water, vanilla, and eggs to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until a cohesive dough forms. Knead in the bowl until the mixture is smooth and elastic, adding additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl an is tacky, but not sticky. Knead for about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

While the dough is rising, add the butter to a small saucepan and melt until browned. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and gently punch it down to deflate it. Roll the dough ino a bowl, cover with a clean towel and let it rest for 5 minutes. Roll the dough out into a 12x20-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the browned butter and sprinkle it evenly with all of the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Slice the dough vertically into 6 even strips. Stack the strips on top of each other and cut again into 6 equal slices. Stack all of the square on top of each other and set into the prepared loaf pan. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown. If the top is browning too quickly, cover the pan with tin foil and remove the foil about 5 minutes before the loaf is done baking. Remove the pan from the oven and let the loaf rest in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the loaf to loosen and carefully turn the loaf out onto a serving plate. Serve warm.

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