Cinnamon Swirl Bread: A morning delight

My morning routine is this: wake-up, put toast in the oven, boil water for tea, and sit down with a good book and enjoy it all. I particularly revel in this morning calm when the weather starts to turn crisp in the fall. Nothing better than some cozy blankets and delicious food to get your morning started right. This cinnamon swirl bread is the best addition to my morning routine. Looks can be deceiving though and while this loaf turned out to be airy, perfectly swirled, and tasty, bread is a beast and doesn't always come together so well. 

Believe me, yeast bread and I have been at it for over two years now. The competition has been fierce, tears have been shed, and loaves have been mostly flat dense projectiles in my frustration. This loaf made me dance as it was my greatest success to date. 

Lessons learned in the bread wars? Knead until you can need no more or until that loaf is as springy as a trampoline. A Kitchenaid mixer will make this process more pleasant and save your arms a workout. Another important lesson is how to keep the loaf warm while it's rising. In the name of the environment, we keep our house luke warm in the winter. Certainly not a conducive bread making environment. My secret? I make bread on laundry day and place it on top of the dryer to keep it warm. This works beautifully.

Nothing beats fresh baked bread and I encourage all to try it and if you fail try it again, until you are met with the perfect loaf to enjoy in your morning routine. 

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Bread Dough

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup honey

2 tsp instant or rapid rise yeast

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

3 tbs butter melted and cooled

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/4-2 3/4 wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp salt 

Filling and egg wash

1/4 cup sugar

5 tsp cinnamon

2 tbs milk

1 large egg beaten with 2 tsp milk 

Mix together 110 degree water with yeast and honey. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes. It should become foamy, which is how you know your yeast is activated. Whisk yeast mixture with milk, eggs, and melted butter. 

Whisk all-purpose flour, 2 1/4 cups wheat flour, and salt together. If using a stand mixer with a dough hook, place dry ingredients in bowl and slowly add milk mixture until dough forms with mixer on low. Increase mixer to medium and knead until dough smooth, around ten minutes. If kneading by hand, knead until dough is smooth and springy, around twenty minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover allowing to rise until doubled, around 1 1/2 hours. 

For the filling and glaze: mix sugar and cinnamon. Grease 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. On a floured surface, roll dough out to a 18" by 8" inch rectangle. Brush dough with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll dough into a cylinder and place in loaf pan, seam side down. Cover and let rise until double. About 1 1/2 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush egg mixture onto loaf and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan for five minutes. The remove the loaf from the pan and let cool on drying rack. 

Any Given Sunday

In this household Sunday is a day of hiking, football, and baking. The hiking almost always comes before the latter two, as we justify sitting on the couch watching football and eating a cookie with all the calories we burned earlier in the day. What came out of the oven this Saturday? The best bran muffins and chocolate chip cookies to grace this planet. No joke. 

How many times have you read a blog claiming the best chocolate chip cookies? My guess is every food blog worth its salt makes the claim because whether we are bakers, cooks, or a hybrid of both, like me, we all love a good chocolate chip cookie and why not pursue the best. So I have made many a chocolate chip cookie claiming to be the best and with this cookie there is simply no rival. It's an adaptation of Cook's Illustrated Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie. By the way if you don't own the Cook's Illustrated Cook Book, I suggest you purchase one immediately. All of the recipes are delicious and it's almost guaranteed you will find a superior recipe for whatever you may be craving at the moment. As for their chocolate chip cookies, well, they are unparalleled. Why? Brown butter, of course, and lots of it, and a greater dose of brown sugar, in my opinion, are what sets these babies apart. As far as chocolate chip cookies go, they are complex, yes, complex, like a fine wine. Nutty, caramel delights, with a chocolate punch. My only adaption? I slightly cut the butter and sugar and believe me, you won't miss it. 

Finally, the muffins, I will let them speak for themselves. Fruit makes them moist and sweet so they require little in the way of fat and added sugar to make them superb. What more could you want? Nothing as far as I'm concerned. So grab a cookie, watch a football game or your favorite show, and enjoy a glorious Sunday. 

Sticky Sweet No-guilt Bran Muffin

Adapted from the Gouda Life, make one dozen large muffins

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup bran cereal

3 tbs chia seeds

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 mashed bananas

2 unpeeled apples grated

1/3 cups raisins

3 tbs molasses 

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs beaten

2 tsp vanilla 

Preheat oven to 350. Pulse bran cereal in food processor until course crumbs. Mix together first nine ingredients.

Mix all wet ingredients together. Fold in dry ingredients until just combined. 

Line with muffin wrappers or use nonstick spray on muffin tin and fill with batter. Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Slightly adapted from Cook's Illustrated, makes about 14 cookies 

1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8¾ ounces)
½ teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) dark brown sugar

1/4 cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large (18x12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper.

 In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside.

 Heat 8 tablespoons of the butter in a 10-inch stainless steel or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling the pan constantly until the butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer the browned butter to a large heatproof bowl. Stir the remaining 2 tablespoons butter into the hot browned butter until completely melted. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

 Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to the bowl with the butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk until the mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat the process of resting and whisking 2 more times until the mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in the chocolate chips and give the dough a final stir to ensure there are no hidden flour pockets.

 Scoop the dough into 14 even portions, each about 3 tablespoons, and arrange them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. Bake the cookies until the cookies are golden brown but still puffy, and the edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes. I pull them out slightly earlier than I think to get the perfect chewey texture. Golden brown edges are usually my indicator to pull them. Transfer the baking sheet to wire rack and allow cookies to cool completely before serving. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.