I have come to enjoy baking fresh bread, but often times my family doesn’t eat it before it goes stale so it feels a little bit wasteful. I can happily report that this bread was so delicious that it was devoured in no time, which means it can go on the website! It tastes just like the cinnamon crunch bagels at Panera. Recipe and photo courtesy of sallysbakingaddiction.com.

Dough:

• 1/2 cup  buttermilk, warmed to about 110°F
• 1/3 cup water, warmed to about 110°F
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted + slightly cooled
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups bread flour, plus more as needed for hands/work surface

Filling:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, extra soft
• 1/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

To prepare the dough, add all the dough ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with a paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. (If you do not own a mixer, you can mix this dough with a large wooden spoon or silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle.)

Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.

For the 1st rise, lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1.5-2 hours or until double in size. I like to use the proofing setting on my oven, but if you don’t have that capability, put the bowl on the top shelf of your oven and fill a baking pan with boiling water and set it in the same oven on a lower rack. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

Once the first rise is complete, punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 9×15 inch rectangle (approximately). Spread softened butter all over the top of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border uncovered. The softer the butter is, the easier it is to spread in this step. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly all over the butter.

To shape the loaf, tightly roll the dough into a 15-inch log. Place the log on its seam. Using a sharp knife, cut the log in half lengthwise. I find a serrated knife works best. Criss-cross one half on top of the other half—forming an X. Tightly twist the two together. Pinch the outer edges to seal as best you can. Place in prepared loaf pan and cover with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. (This step can get a little messy!) Allow the covered loaf to rest for 30 minutes. It will slightly rise during this time.

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position. Place a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any cinnamon/sugar that may drip down. Preheat the oven to 350°F. For the cinnamon crunch topping, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Spoon over loaf right before baking. Bake until golden brown and, when gently tapped, the top of the loaf sounds hollow, about 45-55 minutes. The top browns quickly as it bakes, so tent the entire loaf with aluminum foil. (I usually place foil on top after about 20 minutes.) Remove finished bread the oven and place on a wire rack. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan and cool loaf on the wire rack. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature. Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Leftover slices taste delicious when warmed in the microwave for 10 seconds. Topping tends to lose its crunch after a day or 2.

A while back there was a trend on TikTok where you take the somewhat uninspiring tube of cinnamon rolls and jazz them up with extra heavy cream and butter and sugar and cinnamon. I made them one day when all my family was in town and they were so delicious I haven’t made them any other way since. At this point I figured it was high time to get it on the website so I don’t have to troll social media for the recipe any more. I have made this with frozen and refrigerated cinnamon rolls and both work great.

• 2 cans cinnamon rolls
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 pan, then lay out your cinnamon rolls. In a microwave safe bowl, melt your butter. While your butter is melting, pour 1 cup of heavy cream all over the cinnamon rolls. Once your butter is melted, add the cinnamon and brown sugar and stir until well combined. Pour the mixture over the cinnamon rolls and then cover the dish with foil. Bake for about 45 minutes until the rolls are cooked and the cream is mostly absorbed. Serve with the icing that came in the tube.

Over the Christmas break I binge watched Magnolia Table on Discovery plus. One of the most intriguing recipes I saw was her cinnamon squares, which she described as the middle part of the cinnamon roll. I’m glad I watched her make it because if I hadn’t I might not have rolled them out properly. Make sure you use your rolling pin to really meld those layers so they don’t puff up too much in the oven. Also, the recipe makes a huge batch so I plan on freezing the leftovers in pairs to heat up later in the coming weeks.

For the Dough:

• 1/4 cup warm water (105° to 115°F)
• Two 1/4-ounce packets active dry yeast (I used 4 1/2 teaspoons of instant yeast)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk, warmed
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, melted and cooled, plus softened butter for the dough and pans
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

For the Filling:

• 2 cups pecan halves
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter, cut into pieces and chilled
• 2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, stir together the water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let stand until foamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the remaining sugar, milk, butter, eggs, and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add the flour and stir until the dough comes together. Rub softened butter on top of the dough and around the bowl. Cover and let stand in a warm spot for 1 hour. (If you use instant yeast, just put all the ingredients in the bowl and mix.) The dough will not rise very much.

To make the filling: In a food processor, combine the pecans, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and process until the mixture is well blended and paste-like (do this in two batches if necessary). Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Generously dust a work surface with flour. Punch down the dough and place it on the work surface. Roll it out into a 16 x 24-inch rectangle.

Spoon two-thirds of the filling mixture over the dough. Spread it to cover the dough to the edges. Starting on a short side, fold the sheet of dough two thirds of the way, then fold the other side over in a tri-fold pattern, pressing the edges together, and roll it out a little bit, til you approximately a 14×16 rectangle. Spoon the remaining filling on top of the dough and spread it to cover the dough. Starting at a short side, tri-fold the dough again and lightly roll it back into a 12×18 rectangle. Use a chef’s knife to cut the dough into 24 roughly 3-inch squares. Arrange the squares on the prepared pan so that they are touching. Brush the tops of the squares with beaten egg.

Bake until lightly golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve hot. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

While I was visiting family in Dallas a couple of years ago I found a cookbook by the food blogger Joy the Baker. It said it was a celebration of butter and sugar and I can’t think of a better recipe to represent that than her toasted coconut Dutch baby. The Dutch baby is a cross between a pancake and a crepe and is baked in a piping hot cast iron skillet. It is so delicious it doesn’t even need syrup, although I like mine with a dollop of Cool Whip!

• 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 3 large eggs, room temperature*
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup butter

Place your cast iron skillet on a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Spread coconut in a thin layer in a skillet over medium heat and stir until the coconut starts to brown. Make sure to keep a close eye on this because it can go from toasted to burned in seconds! Let it cool while you gather the rest of your ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt and 2 tablespoons of cooled coconut. In a separate medium bowl whisk your eggs and sugar together until thick and pale. Add milk and whisk to combine. Add the milk mixture, all at once, to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Mixture will be thin. Carefully pull the rack out of your oven and put the butter in the pan to melt. As soon as the butter has melted, swirl the pan so it coats the sides and bottom. Pour the pancake batter over the melted butter and immediately return to the oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until browned and puffed along the sides and center of the pan. While the pancake bakes prepare any fruit you would like to serve with it, banana and pineapple go really well!. Once baked, remove from the oven and top with your choice of fruit and remaining toasted coconut. Slice into thick wedges, served with syrup of your choice.

*To speed up getting your eggs to room temperature, place them in a container of warm (not hot) water. In just a couple of minutes they will be room temp!