COLUMN: A bread that will combat every bad day

    Have you had to pull an all-nighter recently to finish a project that you started late because you had no idea how hard it was going to be?

    Did you leave your house wearing open-toed shoes that day last week when it randomly started snowing and didn’t stop until campus was one giant slush puddle?

    Did your professor tell you the wrong chapters to study for the test and when you showed up to take it you hadn’t even heard of the things in the first 18 questions?

    Did you go to register for summer classes only to find out there was a hold on your account and your adviser was booked until the end of next week?

    If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then this bread’s for you. This bread is guaranteed to cure the blues, make everything bad in your life go away and even get you more friends (if you’re willing to share it). This bread is the answer to all of your problems, so you might as well make it today. Go ahead, treat yourself to a little free happiness.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

For the Dough:

2 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast

1/2 salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup cold water

1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Filling:

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter, melted

    To make the dough, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl.

    Combine the butter pieces and milk in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat and cook just until the butter is melted.

    Remove from the heat and whisk in the water and vanilla.

Add the eggs and the butter mixture to the flour and stir until well mixed, about 2 minutes.

    At this point the dough will be really sticky. That’s good. Resist the urge to add flour.

Use a rubber spatula to remove to dough from the mixing bowl and transfer it to a clean, lightly greased bowl. Cover it with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

    When the dough is finished rising, gently remove it to a lightly floured surface and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into it. When you’re done the dough should have gone from sticky to smooth and soft. Form it into a ball, cover it with a towel and let it rest for about 5 minutes.

    While the dough is resting, grease a 9-by-5 inch baking pan and set aside.

    Whisk together the sugar and cinnamon.

    Return the dough to the floured work surface and use a rolling pin to roll it into a rectangle that is approximately 12-by-20 inches. It’s okay if it’s not perfect.

    Brush the rectangle of dough with the melted butter and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the butter.

    Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to slice the dough vertically into 6 strips. Stack the strips on top of each other and then cut that strip into 6 more pieces. You will end up with 6 stacks with 6 squares of dough in each stack.

    Place the stacks of dough into the greased pan, cut sides up. Cover the pan with a towel and let rest for about 45 minutes. It won’t necessarily be doubled in size, but it will be puffier. When the dough is almost finished resting, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

    Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden and the inside is all the way done. If it seems like your bread is browning too quickly, you can tent the top with tin foil and finish baking it that way. (I did this at about the 25 minute mark.)

    Remove the bread from the oven and let it rest for 20-30 minutes before taking it out of the pan. To remove it, run a butter knife around the edges and carefully invert it onto a cutting board or baking pan. Then place a plate on top of it and invert it again so that it is right side up on the plate.

– Jennelle Clark is a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in art. She loves cooking food, taking pictures of food and eating food. E-mail her at jenn.nelle@gmail.com with questions or comments.