Bon Ton Bakery Cinnamon Bread

Thank you guys for all your nice comments about our wedding video! :) I'll be sharing some photos from our wedding soon too.

But today I want to share this cinnamon bread. I've posted about cinnamon bread before, as well as pecan honey sticky buns. Actually it's surprising I haven't posted about cinnamon rolls and cinnamon breads more often considering that they're one of my favourite baked goods. (My other favourite is napoleons.) Maybe it's bizarre thinking but I avoid making these things because I know if I do it will be hard to resist eating the whole batch myself!

Anyway, I am here to share another cinnamon bread recipe with you. Because it's seriously amazing. I gave one loaf to E's parents, and then warned E against eating too much of the loaf I kept for us. It's probably the best cinnamon bread I've made so far, though I remember enjoying Martha Stewart's. This cinnamon bread is basically like a big cinnamon roll, with nice soft delicious dough.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Braided Lemon Bread
Pecan Fruit Rye Bread
Milk Chocolate Cherry Twist

Bon Ton Bakery Cinnamon Bread
Adapted from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book

Makes 2 loaves

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
3 1/4 cups white bread flour (plus more if needed)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter

Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

In large bowl, dissolve 1 tsp of the sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in egg, vanilla and lemon juice.

In separate bowl, whisk together 3 1/4 cups of the flour, remaining sugar and salt. Using pastry cutter, cut in butter until in pea-size pieces. Usingw ooden spoon, stir into yeast mixture to form soft dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans; set aside.

Punch down dough. Divide in half. On lightly floured surface, roll each half out into 14x8 inch (35x20 cm) rectangle. Brush with 2 tbsp water, leaving 1 inch border along 1 short end.

Filling: In small bowl, whisk sugar with cinnamon; sprinkle half over each rectangle. Starting at short end without border, roll up jelly roll-style; pinch seams to seal. Fit, seam sides down, into prepared pans. Cover with clean tea towel and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Bake in centre of 375F oven until deep brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottoms, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool.