Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Why this recipe works Cinnamon swirl bread always sounds appealing, but this American classic frequently disappoints. Loaves are usually on opposite ends of the cinnamon spectrum: Either they’re flavorless, featuring a bare sprinkling of precious filling, or, just as bad, they’re overly sweet and ruined by gobs of oozing filling. The bread itself is often an afterthought of pedestrian white bread, or else it’s a cakey, dense affair. To make bread worthy of its swirl, we wanted a moderately rich dough, with a lot of structure to encourage a tall loaf and an airy crumb. To achieve these somewhat contradictory goals, we first kneaded our dough until it had fully developed gluten before slowly mixing in softened butter; that way the fat didn’t compromise the structure. For a loftier rise, we added a series of folds into our recipe, which incorporated more air. Our balanced filling combined cinnamon, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla. The confectioners’ sugar thickened up the filling, as did the starches in a hefty amount of cinnamon. To ensure that the filling stayed put and could be tasted with every bite, we traded the swirl shape for an elegant Russian braid. The test kitchen’s preferred loaf pan measures 8½ by 4½ inches; if you use 9 by 5-inch loaf pans, increase the shaped rising time by 20 to 30 minutes and start checking for doneness 10 minutes earlier than advised in the recipe. We do not recommend mixing this dough by hand. If the dough becomes too soft to work with at any point, refrigerate it until it’s firm enough to easily handle.

MAKES: 2 loaves

RESTING TIME: 30 minutes

RISING TIME: 2¾ to 3¾ hours

BAKING TIME: 40 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 5¾ to 6¾ hours, plus 3 hours cooling time

KEY EQUIPMENT: stand mixer, rolling pin, water-filled spray bottle, two 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pans, pastry brush, instant-read thermometer

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE DOUGH

• 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 32 pieces
• 3¾ cups (20⅔ ounces) bread flour
• ¾ cup (2¼ ounces) nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 tablespoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1½ cups (12 ounces) water, room temperature
• ⅓ cup (2⅓ ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1½ cups (7½ ounces) golden raisins

FOR THE FILLING

• 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water and pinch salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. For the dough:
   • Toss butter with 1 tablespoon flour in a bowl and set aside to soften.
   • Whisk the remaining flour, milk powder, and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer.
   • Whisk water, sugar, and egg in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup until the sugar has dissolved.
   • Using the dough hook on low speed, slowly add the water mixture to the flour mixture and mix until a cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.
   • Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
2. Add salt to the dough and knead on medium-low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic and clears the sides of the bowl, about 8 minutes.
   • With the mixer running, add the softened butter, a few pieces at a time, and knead until the butter is fully incorporated, about 4 minutes.
   • Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic and clears the sides of the bowl, for 3 to 5 minutes.
   • Reduce the speed to low, slowly add raisins, and mix until incorporated, about 1 minute.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased large bowl or container.
   • Using a greased bowl scraper or your fingertips, fold the dough over itself by gently lifting and folding the edge of the dough toward the middle.
   • Turn the bowl 45 degrees and fold the dough again; repeat turning the bowl and folding the dough 6 more times (a total of 8 folds).
   • Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 45 minutes.
   • Repeat the folding process, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until nearly doubled in size, for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Press down on the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter, divide it in half, and cover loosely with greased plastic.
   • Working with 1 piece of dough at a time (keep the remaining piece covered), press and roll it into an 11 by 6-inch rectangle, with the short side parallel to the counter edge.
   • Stretch and fold the dough lengthwise into thirds to form an 11 by 3-inch rectangle.
   • Roll the dough away from you into a firm ball, keeping the roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go.
   • Cover the balls loosely with greased plastic.
5. For the filling:
   • Whisk all the filling ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
   • Coat 1 dough ball lightly with flour and place it on a lightly floured counter.
   • With the seam side down, flatten the ball with a rolling pin into an 18 by 7-inch rectangle, with the short side parallel to the counter edge.
   • Mist the surface of the dough with water.
   • Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over the dough, leaving a ¼-inch border on the sides and a ¾-inch border on the top and bottom, and press lightly to adhere.
6. Roll the dough away from you into a firm cylinder, keeping the roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go.
   • Pinch the seam and ends closed.
   • Dust the cylinder lightly on all sides with flour, cover loosely with greased plastic, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
   • Repeat the process with the remaining dough ball and filling.
7. Grease two 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pans.
   • Using a bench scraper, cut 1 cylinder in half lengthwise.
   • Turn the halves cut side up and gently stretch them into 14-inch lengths.
   • Arrange the strips side by side, perpendicular to the counter edge, and pinch the far ends together.
   • Take the left strip of dough and lay it over the right strip of dough.
   • Repeat, keeping the cut sides up, until the pieces of dough are tightly twisted.
   • Pinch the remaining ends together.
   • Transfer the loaf cut sides up to the prepared pan.
   • Press the dough gently into the corners of the pan and push any exposed raisins into the seams of the braid.
   • Repeat the process with the second loaf.
   • Cover loosely with greased plastic and let the loaves rise until they reach 1 inch above the lip of the pans and the dough springs back minimally when poked gently with your knuckle, for 1½ to 2 hours.
8. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
   • Gently brush the loaves with the egg mixture and bake until the crust is well browned, for about 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
   • Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, tent the loaves with aluminum foil, and continue to bake until the loaves register 200 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit, for 15 to 25 minutes.
   • Let the loaves cool in the pans for 5 minutes.
   • Remove the loaves from the pans and let them cool completely on a wire rack, for about 3 hours, before serving.