Cinnamon Browned Butter Pull-Apart Loaf

Scir Leah Saint

2 ¾ cups plus 2 tbsp Gold Medal™ unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

½ teaspoon salt

½ stick unsalted butter

⅓ cup soy or regular milk

¼ cup water

2 large eggs, room temperature

¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar (for filling)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (for filling)

Ground pinch of nutmeg (for filling)

½ stick unsalted butter, melted until browned

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Set aside.

Whisk eggs in a small bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt butter and milk over medium-low heat until butter is just melted. Remove from heat and add water and vanilla extract. Cool to 115°F.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir on low speed. Add eggs and stir until everything is just mixed, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining ¾ cup of flour and stir on low-medium speed (about #2 or #4 on your stand mixer) for about 2 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky, but that’s OK.

Pour the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

In the meantime, whisk together sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a small sauce pan until just browned and set aside. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and set aside.

Remove risen dough from bowl, punch down and knead in 2 tbsp of flour. Let rest for five minutes, covered with a kitchen towel. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough using a rolling pin into a 20 x 12-inch rectangle. Brush on the butter, then sprinkle evenly the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Slice the dough north to south into six even strips. Stack the strips and slice that stack into six equal squares (you’ll have six stacks of six squares). Prop up the loaf pan on the rolling pin and stack the squares cut-side down into the pan so it looks like a stack of papers. Sprinkle some of the extra cinnamon-sugar mixture that spilled on the countertop on the top of the loaf. Cover the pan and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

When dough is doubled, uncover and bake about 35 minutes, or until the top of the dough is a deep, dark brown.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for about 20 minutes. Then, run a butter knife along the edges of the pan to loosen the loaf, invert onto a plate and then invert again, ride side up, onto a pretty plate to serve. Serve warm.

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