fat bottom: cinnamon pull apart bread

good morning everyone! i hope you all enjoyed your weekend and the beautiful weather we were blessed with yesterday... now it's raining again... booo...

anyways... so if any of you are on pinterest, and you frequent the food and drink section, i'm sure you have come across the delectable cinnamon pull apart bread... one of the best i've seen is by the fabulous "joy the baker"... i love, love her blog... check her out if you get a chance...

so... on saturday afternoon while my boys were busy pretending to be superheros, running a muck saving the universe, i set out to make us something delicious for a sunday morning treat... i love sunday mornings... i love sundays... most people dread the arrival of sunday, but for me... it's the most relaxing, most wonderful day of the week... filled with lots of food, games and crafts, maybe a hike or a fun outdoor activity, sometimes doing some kind of home improvement thingy... you know, full on family time...

so, i knew this recipe had a bit of a prep time, so i figured it would be perfect for sunday... and it was... it really was a delicious treat! a warm, comforting, sweet sunday treat!!

for the dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the cinnamon sugar filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

directions:

1. in a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt, set aside

2. whisk together eggs and set aside

3. in a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted... remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract... let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees

4. pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula

5. add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter... it’ll look like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together, but keep stirring

6. add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes, don't worry the dough will be sticky

7. place the dough is a large, greased bowl... cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel... then place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour *The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning. If you’re using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below 8.while the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling

9. melt 2 ounces of butter, set aside and grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan, set that aside

10. deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough, then cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes

11. on a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out... the dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long

12. use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough, then sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture

13. then slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips

14. stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again, giving you six stacks of six squares

15. layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a book, then place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes until doubled in size

16. now to bake... place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees... bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown

17. remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes... run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread... serve while still warm, and fully enjoy the deliciousness :)

here's the dough after fully doubled, refrigerated, then brought to room temp for about 30 minutes

after it was rolled out, it was smeared with mealted butter, sprinkled generously with cinnamon sugar... the cut into 6 strips (i had a small strip left over... i used that one for a cinnamon roll)