ABC - Cinnamon-Apple Twist Bread

Whether we like it or not, summer is over and fall is here. I love baking in the fall. Apples and pumpkin everywhere. The smell of warm spices wafting through the air in the kitchen. While perusing through King Arthur Flour's recipes, I came to a screeching halt when I saw this recipe and knew it would have to be a Fall recipe choice for us ABC bakers.

So this month's ABC recipe for Cinnamon-Apple Twist Bread is like one big braided cinnamon roll with the addition of apples. It looks so beautiful when it comes out of the oven, trumped only by the wonderful taste. For me, and others who tasted it, it was love at first bite :o)

Cinnamon-Apple Twist Bread slices (loaf #2). Yum!

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

I made some tweaks to the recipe. At the bottom of this post, you'll find my entire ingredients list.

Here some step-by-step pictures and my thoughts:

Made the dough in the bread machine and retarded it overnight.

It rose beautifully in the fridge. I let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes. It was still cold when I used which makes for easy handling.

Rolled out both halves of the dough into 12x10 inch rectangles, and covered them while I made the filling at the last minute.

Used two Gala apples with a weight of 12 oz. After shredding one apple, it already looked like I had more than 1 cup. I went ahead and shredded the second apple anyway because it didn't look it would be enough for two loaves.

After mixing the apples with the sugar, flour and cinnamon, it immediately became soupy!

Went ahead and spread the filling over the dough anyway. Once I was about 3/4 of the way done with rolling the dough into a log, the juices started oozing from the sides. I felt like a surgeon, trying to stop the bleeding in the middle of surgery. I finished it the best I could, with a few swear words :o)

The log is done. What? Now I have to cut into it? After all that trouble to stop it from oozing? No way! Ok, I guess I have to. But wait, let's put it in the freezer while I work on the other loaf. Hopefully that'll help.

I found this really good video tutorial and step-by-step pictures on braiding this type of bread on this blog Home Cooking Adventure.

And it did. It still oozed a bit but at least the dough was firm to cut into and hold while braiding.

At this point, I knew I wasn't going to go through that painful process again. So I considered two options: make a faux-braid, like this bread. Or, cook the filling slightly to activate the thickener qualities of the flour. I chose the latter (keeping the first option on the back burner in case "cooking the filling" didn't work).

I nuked it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Yay! It thickened. After cooling it in the garage for a few minutes (one advantage of living in cold MN), I spread it onto the awaiting dough.

Oh what an ease! I had mentioned this "cooking" tip in my chat with MaryJane Robbins @ King Arthur Flour, and she too agreed that it was a good idea. Score! :o)

This time, the rolling and braiding was a breeze. Yay, no more swear words :o)

  After a 1 to 1.5 hour rise, they had puffed up beautifully.

Loaf #1

Loaf #2

My loaves were baked to perfection in only 22 minutes. And my kitchen smelled amazing :o)

Both loaves, side by side. I was curious to see if there's a difference between the two loaves (cooked vs uncooked filling). It's in my "Final thoughts/tips" section below.

Look at that light and airy crumb (loaf #1). Bon appetit!

Final thoughts/tips:

• First, let's talk about the difference between cooked and uncooked filling. Once the loaves had cooled down, hubby and I had one slice of each. We both liked loaf #2 (with the cooked filling) slightly better because the filling was more moist. Loaf #1 was good too but the filling was a bit drier, which makes sense because it lost a lot of its liquid before it even made it into the oven. If you look at the very first "slice" picture and the very last picture, you can actually "see" the difference. The first picture is more "jam-like".
• Hubby loved this bread. It was soft and flavorful. He gave it an 8.5 out of 10 rating.
• I too loved this bread. The reduced yeast and overnight retardation gave it a lot of flavor without an overly yeasty smell. The cinnamon-apple filling was just wonderful. I doubled the cinnamon so the filling created a little party in my mouth. I opted to skip the glaze because the bread was already sweet enough. This recipe definitely goes on the "make again (and again)" list.
• I made a few tweaks like subbing some of the milk with plain yogurt, reducing the amount of yeast as well as the amount of salt. I omitted the Sweet Dough flavor enhancer and the lecithin. In the filling, I didn't measure the volume of the shredded apples. I just used 2 Gala apples with a total weight of 12 oz, and I doubled the amount of cinnamon. I also used half granulated sugar, and half brown sugar in the filling.
• I froze both loaves for about a week. Then:
• I shared one loaf with my friend and her kids. Everyone loved it. Ratings were 5 out of 5 (from N), 100,000 out of a million (from Y - that means awesome), and 10 out of 10 (from W).
• I took one loaf to work where it was devoured. "Awesome!", "really good bread", "so soft".
• The original recipe can be found HERE.
• If you need a video tutorial or step-by-step pictures for braiding the loaf, check out this post on Home Cooking Adventure.
• Don't forget to check out the other ABC bakers' posts.
• I'm submitting this post to Yeast Spotting!

Cinnamon-Apple Twist Bread

(adapted from King Arthur Flour's website)

Dough ingredients:

• 13.5 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1.5 oz potato starch
• 1.25 oz granulated sugar
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 0.5 oz butter
• 0.5 oz vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 7 oz 1% milk
• 1 oz plain yogurt
• 1 tsp salt

Put all these ingredients in the bread machine and run the Dough cycle. Let it rise for about 30 minutes at room temperature, and then retard in the fridge overnight.

Filling ingredients:

• 1.75 oz granulated sugar
• 1.75 oz brown sugar
• 0.75 oz all-purpose flour (= 3 Tbsp)
• 12 oz whole apples (I used 2 medium Gala apples), peeled, grated
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of salt, optional (I added this)

Mix these ingredients together in a glass bowl and cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes, or until bubbly and the mixture has thickened. Cool completely before using (this can be made ahead of time).

For shaping, please check out the instructions on the KAF website.

Baking

Preheat your oven to 375 F (convection mode). Lower the heat to 325 F (convection) immediately after placing both loaves in the oven, on separate baking sheets. Bake for 22 min or until golden brown.