Tasty

Wanting my home to smell delicious and convince anyone walking through our front door of my domestic prowess, I made bread...from scratch. The smell is simply intoxicating and reminds me of home. And not only is the smell something you want to bottle up and spritz it all over your house on the evenings when cereal is all that is planned for dinner, fresh bread is just so tasty.

Last week, I experimented with wheat bread and last evening I tried a cinnamon swirl recipe that I highly recommend. It's from my Shenandoah Valley Mennonite cookbook so you know it's going to be some good eatin'. I've included the recipe below for your own enjoyment. The crust was nice and crusty and the inside was warm, gooey and 100 percent delicious!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe

Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
2 packs dry yeast
1 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
2/3 cup orange juice
7 to 7 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. melted butter

Directions:
1. Combine 1/2 cup warm water, 2 packs dry yeast and 1 tbsp. sugar (from the 1/2 cup you'll use later) and stir until dissolved. Set aside.
2. Combine milk, shortening, sugar (the 1/2 cup less 1 tbsp.) and salt and stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm and then add yeast mixture from step 1.
3. Add egg, orange juice (you may omit orange juice and use milk instead) and 2 cups flour. Mix until smooth. Let rest 10 minutes.
4. Add 5 to 5 1/2 cups more of flour and knead until smooth and elastic.
5. Grease top of dough and place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down. Divide dough into two balls. Let rest until 10 minutes. Roll each into a 7x15 rectangle 1/2 inch thick.
6. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon in small bowl.
7. Melt 2 tbsp. of butter and brush onto dough. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture onto dough.
8. Roll up rectangles jelly-roll fashion and place in 2 greased 9x5 loaf pans sealed side down. Grease tops with oil or melted butter. Let rise until doubled again. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and grease tops with butter while hot.
9. Remove from pans and let cool.
10. Slice and devour. You won't be able to help yourself!