Sam's Place: cinnamon rolls

The fall season is fast approaching with cool nights and cool crisp mornings. The leaves on the trees will be beautiful colors very soon, and to me, that means it's time to bake. This Quick Cinnamon Swirl Bread fits the bill.

I found this recipe in our small-town newspaper and just knew that I had to give it a try. Jamie and the boys were on their way home from vacation. I thought, what a nice treat to have one of these ready for them when they got home. It turned out to be a great idea because everybody loved this quick cinnamon swirl bread.

On the way home from Jamie's house I had another great idea. Monday was Giada's first day of kindergarten. Fran and I drove down to see her off with another treat. I made a 2nd loaf that day to take to Sammy's house. And, once again this bread was a hit.

This quick cinnamon swirl bread is so easy to make. The ingredients are simple and I'm sure you already have everything you need in your pantry. The ingredients and instructions are below to make one loaf of this delicious treat.

Prepare the dry and wet ingredients in two separate bowls. Then add the dry to the wet and mix until you have a nice batter. I used my hand mixer but, you can use a whisk or spoon.

Next, I sprayed my 9-inch x 5-inch bread pan with Baker's Joy. I poured in the bread batter and then spooned in the swirled mixture. I used a knife to swirl it all together.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and baked the bread for 45 minutes on the center rack. I used a knife in the center to make sure it came out clean. Place the bread on a rack to cool and just before it cools completely add the glaze.

Quick Cinnamon Swirl Bread:

Ingredients for the Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup milk (I used Skim)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)

For the Swirl

1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons water

The Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients.
In another bowl combine egg, milk, yogurt, and vanilla.
Add the wet and dry ingredients together and mix until batter forms.
Pour the batter into a prepared bread pan.
Mix the swirl ingredients together with a spoon or whisk.
Spoon the swirl mixture on top of the batter and swirl with a knife.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack to cool.
Whisk together the ingredients for the glaze and drizzle over when the bread is almost cool.

Now cut yourself a slice and enjoy. Try not to eat the whole thing at one time! This bread is a sure-fire winner the next time you're having friends over for coffee.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy!

You might also like my Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Maple Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

I do love sweets and these Maple Cinnamon Rolls are a perfect fit. After Fran and I had our children we started a family tradition of having cinnamon rolls every Christmas morning. Even now that our kids have grown up and have their own families we still carry on that tradition.

Every year we buy Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls and pop them in the oven on Christmas morning. All these years I've never tried to make my own cinnamon rolls from scratch before. Yesterday I decided to practice and give it a try.

As you can see from the picture my practice run at this was a huge success. These maple cinnamon rolls are melt in your mouth delicious. After making these there will be no more store bought cinnamon rolls for me, not that Pillsbury doesn't make a delicious cinnamon, roll I'm now hooked on homemade.

I made these in three stages the dough, filling, and the icing following is how I managed all of this.

The Dough:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon honey

I mixed the warm water and yeast in my you guessed my KitchenAid mixing bowl. Next in a small pan combined the milk and butter, bring this to a boil and remove it from the heat to cool.

While the milk and butter cooled I beat the two eggs in a small bowl and added the salt and honey to the warm water and yeast. Now add the milk to the water and yeast, and then add the sugar.

I began to add the flour one cup at a time while the mixer was on low speed. After the dough is formed, knead it on a floured surface a few times and put back in bowl cover it and let rise. While the dough was rising I mixed my filling in another bowl.

The Filling:

1/2 cup butter melted (To be brushed on the dough)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
Raisins or chopped nuts (Optional)

Mix the two sugars and cinnamon in the bowl and reserve the butter to brush on the dough later. Roll out the dough to about 16 inches by 10 inches and brush it with the melted butter. I didn't use all of the melted butter so you may have some left over.

I covered the dough with the filling saving a little for the top of rolls after I sliced them. Roll the dough into a log pinch the ends together then carefully cut one-inch slices.

I prepared a 13" x 9" glass baking dish by brushing the bottom with melted butter and sprinkling it with sugar. Place the rolls into the baking dish close together I got 16 rolls in the baking dish.

Cover the baking dish and them rise for about 30 minutes. Now sprinkle the remaining filling on top and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes on the middle rack.

Maple Cinnamon Roll Icing

4 tablespoons softened or melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon Maple extract or Vanilla (I used Maple)
5 tablespoons milk (room temperature)

Whisk or mix together until combined and it looks like a glaze. After they come out of the oven let them cool just a bit and then spoon on the icing.

You can make these ahead of time after you slice them you freeze these delightful cinnamon rolls and have them whenever you want. These are great for breakfast or anytime treat.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy!