Apple Cinnamon Bread and Rolls

Aren't recipes that do double duty fun? This one makes a perfect (huge) loaf of apple cinnamon bread AND 9 humongous or 12 big apple cinnamon rolls, just by doubling the recipe. Easy to do, and the result is very impressive! I prefer real eggs to substitutes when making bread, so that's what I used.

Apple Cinnamon Bread

Huge and delicious Apple Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients (may be doubled to make bread AND rolls)

• 2 1/2 - 3 c all-purpose flour
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 2/3 c fat-free milk
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cooking oil (I used 2 tbsp margarine)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1-2 tsp packed golden brown sugar (or more)
• 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp melted margarine
• 1 medium cooking apple (I used Granny Smith)
• 1/3 c powdered sugar (optional)
• 1- 1 1/2 tsp apple juice or fat-free milk (optional)

Talk about a huge loaf of bread! 

Directions

1. Place 1/2 c warm water and 1 tsp sugar in a glass measuring cup or bowl. Sprinkle on 1 pkg yeast and let sit to rise for 10 minutes. Place 1 c of flour in a large mixing bowl. 
2. In saucepan, heat and stir milk, granulated sugar, oil (margarine) and salt JUST until warm. Add to flour mixture along with the yeast and egg. Beat with an electric mixer on low or medium speed for 30 seconds to blend. Increase mixer speed to medium or high and mix and scrape the sides of the bowl for an additional 3 minutes. This gives you the desirable air bubbles to help the dough rise. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. 
3. On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that's smooth and elastic. This takes 5 to 10 minutes. You may need to sprinkle on a bit of extra flour as you work the dough to keep it from being sticky. Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. 
4. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (about one hour). I turned my oven to 150 degrees, let it preheat and turned it off. A couple of minutes later, it proved to be a perfect rising spot for my dough. I wrapped dough and bowl in a clean tea towel to keep it warm.
5. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Cover to rest for 10 minutes. Spray an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan WELL with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. In a small mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. Peel and chop apple into small pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice. 
6. Roll dough into a 12x8 rectangle. Spread with approximately 2 tbsp of melted margarine. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon mixture and then sprinkle apple chunks evenly on top.
7. Starting from the short side, roll carefully like a jelly roll. Seal the edges and ends, placing bread seam-side down in a prepared (cooking spray coated) pan. Cover and let rise until double in side (about 30 to 45 minutes). 
8. Bake in 375 degree F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Mine took the full 30 minutes. You may cover bread with foil during the last 10-15 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning. 
9. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack or clean tea towel. 
10. If desired, stir together powdered sugar and enough apple juice or milk to drizzle over the top of the loaf. This makes one loaf of bread.

TO MAKE ROLLS:

My kitchen never smelled better!

**DOUBLE THE RECIPE.** 

1. Make bread as directed, using half the dough and reserving the remaining half of the dough to make the rolls. I simply chopped up 3 medium apples and a little extra cinnamon and brown sugar to make sure we would have enough to give it that delicious flavor. 
2. Use the other half of the dough to make another roll-up, as you would for the bread. Using a serrated knife, dental floss or thread, cut the roll into 9 to 12 equal sized pieces to form rolls. Instead of placing in a loaf pan, spray a 9x9 or 9x13 baking pan WELL with cooking spray. 
3. Spread bottom of pan with approximately 2 tbsp melted butter or margarine and sprinkle with brown or golden brown sugar. Place rolls in prepared pan, either 3 across and 4 down for smaller rolls (in 9x13 pan) or 3 across and 3 down in 9x13 pan for huge rolls. Place tiny pieces of butter or margarine between rolls to give you a bit of a glazed/sticky bun effect once baked. Your choice.

 

4. Let rise for half an hour, as with the bread and then bake with the bread to give you twice the deliciousness. It should take approximate 20-25 minutes, depending upon the size of the rolls.

5. Once done, remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack or clean tea towel. You may spread with frosting (as above) if desired. This recipe makes wonderful cinnamon apple rolls.

Note: it's better not to frost bread or buns before freezing. If you wish, you may save half to eat now and freeze the rest in Ziploc bags or freezer containers. Thaw and frost before serving. I froze the loaf and kept the cinnamon rolls to eat now :P

•