White Bread/ Cinnamon Bread

Since I've started baking my own bread, I have always made a yummy Whole Wheat bread. This past weekend as I started my "baking marathon", as Hubbie calls it, I thought something different might be nice! I got out a cookbook that I rarely use and decided on the white bread recipe and went ahead and made 2 batches of it. The second batch I made into cinnamon bread! So good! I won't ever buy cinnamon swirl bread from the store! Mine is so much better! Both recipes come from the Better Homes and Gardens The New CookBook.

Perfect White Bread

1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup of warm water
2 cups of milk, scalded
2 tblspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tblspoon shortening
5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups of sifted all purpose flour

Soften yeast in warm water. Combine hot milk, sugar, salt and shortening. Cool to lukewarm.

Stir 2 cups of the flour; beat well. Add the softened yeast; mix. Add enough of remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Turn out on a lightly flour surface. Knead until smooth and satiny. Shape into a ball; place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to greased surface. Cover; Let rise in warm place until double (about 1 1/4 hours). Punch down.

Cut dough into 2 portions. Shape each in smooth ball; cover and let rest 10 mins. Shape into loaves; place into greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise til double (45 to 60 mins). Bake in hot over 400 degrees or until done. Makes 2 loaves.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Make the perfect white bread, increasing sugar to 1 1/3 cups and shortening to 1/4 cup. After first rising, roll dough to two 15 x 7 inch rectangles. Combine 1/2 sugar with 1 tblspoon of cinnamon. Spread over each rectangle. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons water over each. Roll into loaves. Continue as for Perfect White Bread. Bake at 375 for 30 mins. Makes 2 loaves.