White-Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
Why I Love This Recipe
This recipe came from King Arthur Flour. When I made this bread, I discovered that it is very fragile when baking and cooling. Do not pierce with a thermometer, as this will cause the bread to collapse (even though the recipe says you can check the temperature to see if it's done). Remove the loaf from the pan very carefully-- it may still collapse easily until cooled to room temperature. (It tastes great once you get to that point!) This recipe would probably make great muffins, but I haven't tried it.
Ingredients You'll Need
For a 1 1/2-pound Loaf:
½ cup milk, lukewarm
¾ cup water, lukewarm
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ½ cups King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour
8 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped (or about 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips)
2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
Directions
Manual/mixer method: Combine all of the ingredients, and mix and knead by hand for 7-10 minutes, or in a mixer for 5-7 minutes until smooth, adding additional water or flour as needed.
Bread machine method: Place all of the ingredients, except the white chocolate, into the pan of your bread machine and program for the raisin bread cycle, light crust (if possible). Check the dough after 10 to 15 minutes of kneading; it should have formed a smooth ball, soft, but not sticky. If necessary, adjust the dough's consistency with additional water or flour. Add the white chocolate when the machine signals. If you don't have a raisin bread cycle, add the chocolate about 3 minutes before the end of the second kneading cycle. Yield: one 6-inch loaf.
Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour, then shape it and place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hour, or until it's crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan. Do not allow to rise more than this, as the bread will expand over the edges of the pan while baking (and they'll get too crisp). Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 45 minutes (the center will register 190°F on an instant-read thermometer), rotating the pan halfway through baking, and tenting lightly with foil if the loaf appears to be browning too quickly. Remove from the oven, remove from the pan, and cool on a rack.
