The Tale of Cinnamon Bread Balls
It was a bright and beautiful Sunday morning, and upon waking up I immediately knew what needed to be done with my day. I knew I needed (kneaded? Ha!) to make bread. Not just any bread. Cinnamon bread. And so it was done. I vaguely followed a recipe that was stored in my arsenal from… somewhere. If only I knew.
I made the dough. It was beautiful, the texture was perfect, it smelled amazing. Everything was going well. I oiled a bowl, and even came up with a ground breaking (yes, ground breaking!) system to keep it warm while rising. You see, I put the bowl containing the dough in a slightly bigger bowl filled with warm water. Brilliant, I say!
I put it aside. I did some homework. I picked up boyfriend so we could play some video games. After the suggested two hours, I check the bread.
Nothing had really changed. Uh oh. So I thought, “Maybe I just need to wait a while longer…” So I did some more homework, and made some breakfast cups.
I checked the dough again. No change. My plans for cinnamon bread were ruined. Just ruined!
(Sorry. I think drama is necessary to making my Sunday bread saga more interesting.)
A new plan needed to be devised. So I greased a cake pan and tore the dough into a bunch of little pieces. I then arranged the pieces very, very carefully in the cake pan. Or I may have been impatient and squished them in where I could.
Then I melted some butter. Butter is the key to fixing any baking disaster. I mixed it up with some cinnamon and brown sugar and poured it on the bread bits. Then I threw ’em in the oven.
While they were cooking, I decided that they probably needed a glaze. Yes, a glaze would drastically improve the situation. So I whisked together some milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
I couldn’t resist. I peeked in the oven a few times. Hey, this mash of bread, butter, and sugar was actually looking pretty good…
I pulled it out, put it on a platter, and proceeded to pour the glaze all over the creation. The smell of cinnamon lured Boyfriend away from his Playstation, and I proceeded to frantically warn him that the dough hadn’t risen correctly, the bread may be too dense, it could be awful!
He didn’t listen. My excited, fearful warnings did not stop him. He dove right in to the cinnamony mass of bread.
I impatiently watched for his reaction. After chewing for a second, maybe two, he proceeded to grab the tray of bread balls and walk back to his Playstation.
I took this as a good sign. After chasing him down and wrestling the tray out of his hands, I tried a bite myself. What had I created? Similar to monkey bread in concept, but more like a bread and less like a dessert. Something evil, there was no doubt. This needed to be out of my house before I was licking the tray, wondering where all those little balls of bread had gone and Boyfriend was staring at me with wide, angry eyes. To Boyfriend’s house they go!
If your sweet tooth just can’t be stopped this week, go ahead and give these a try. Let me know if you’re dough behaved!
Cinnamon Bread Balls
Ingredients
Dough:
6 tbsp butter
1 cup milk
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3 1/2-4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Glaze (if desired):
1 tbsp milk
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Directions
1. For the dough, melt 6 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the milk, and heat until luke warm. Stir in the dry yeast and let sit for about ten minutes.
2. In the mean time, beat the eggs and sugar until well combined. Add the milk/butter/yeast mixture and mix until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and the salt and gradually add this mixture to the combined wet ingredients. The flour is an approximation- use enough flour to make the dough no longer sticky and hold together.
4. Lightly oil a bowl big enough to allow the dough to double in size. Set somewhere warm for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray. Tear dough into bite size pieces (about an inch in diameter) and arrange in the cake pan.
6. Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and pour over the dough.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until top of dough is golden brown. While the bread is baking, combine all ingredients for the glaze. Pour glaze on bread immediately after baking.
2. In the mean time, beat the eggs and sugar until well combined. Add the milk/butter/yeast mixture and mix until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and the salt and gradually add this mixture to the combined wet ingredients. The flour is an approximation- use enough flour to make the dough no longer sticky and hold together.
4. Lightly oil a bowl big enough to allow the dough to double in size. Set somewhere warm for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray. Tear dough into bite size pieces (about an inch in diameter) and arrange in the cake pan.
6. Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and pour over the dough.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until top of dough is golden brown. While the bread is baking, combine all ingredients for the glaze. Pour glaze on bread immediately after baking.