Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart

I have been having an eye on this recipe for long time now, every time when I see this recipe in a foodie blog or foodgawker, it tempts me a lot.  Finally the day has come to make my own Cinnamon Pull-Apart.  Although I have baked so many breads in the past. it was bit challenging for me to work with  yeast after coming to India.  May be it's just because a different yeast and different climatic conditions.

  If you have followed my blog earlier and seen my previous breads, you should have noticed that all my breads are made with fast action dried yeast.  I never follow the package instructions and I never dissolve yeast in warm water to work it first.  I always add the yeast directly to the flour mixture and then add warm water to knead the dough, which actually worked for me.  Now in India I couldn't find fast action dried yeast, so I used just dried yeast which was in the size of couscous.  This cannot be directly used in the flour, so followed the package instructions.  That's where the disaster strikes for me, my dough din't rise :-(

 Din't  give up, tried again.  I wasn't satisfied with the results in terms of rising, I have to work on that more.  Although I had problem with the yeast twice, finally I managed to get the bread good enough to eat, also it's cinnamon, nutmeg and buttery layers, hard to go wrong.  My bread may not look as appealing as the bloggers who did this previously but believe me it tasted great!!

Recipe source: http://annies-eats.net/2011/03/23/cinnamon-sugar-pull-apart-bread/
Preparation Time: 20 minutes+ rising time for the dough
Cooking Time: 30-40 minutes ( might vary for different ovens)
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
All purpose flour- 350 g
Sugar- 60 g
Dried yeast- 2 tsp
Egg- 1
Milk- 100 ml
Butter- 4 tbsp
Vanilla essence- 1 tsp
Salt- 1/2 tsp

Filling:
Butter- 4 tbsp
Cinnamon powder- 2 tsp
Grated nutmeg- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 60 g

Method:
Prepare the dough:
Sift the flour and salt in a large bowl.  Add the sugar to the mixture and mix well.  Add some warm water to the yeast according to the package instructions and let it work.  Add the butter and milk to the pan and heat it until the butter gets melted.  Add the warm milk mixture, vanilla and egg to the flour and start kneading with the electric beater fitted with dough slowly until the dough comes together.
Once the dough comes together, increase the speed and knead it for 5 minutes.  Then turn the dough to the floured work surface and knead it again for 5 to 10 minutes.
If the dough is too sticky add a bit more flour and knead it well.  Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl and let it rise in a warm place for about 2 hours or until the dough looks doubled in size.

Prepare the filling:
Melt the butter in a pan until it gets melted and browned, don't burn it.  Mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and keep it separately.

Prepare the dough:

Roll out the dough into a rectangle.

Brush it with browned butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.Cut them into 3 or 4 vertical strips and cut them again into 3 equal lengths as shown in the picture.
Stack 4 squares together.  Grease a 9x5 inch loaf tin.

Place the stacks one by one in the loaf tin. Lightly cover the loaf tin with kitchen towel and leave it to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.  Bake the rised loaf in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until it looks brown on top.
Take it out of the oven, cool it in wire rack for 5 minutes.  Remove it from the tin and serve warm.

This recipe goes to yeastspotting and Only Baked Event hosted by Tamalapaku originally started by Foodelicious.