I’m just sitting here inhaling my 3rd serving of gingerbread pull apart bread, you know, no big deal.  I’ve been craving some sort of cinnamon roll type thingy for weeks and I’m going to go ahead and indulge while they’re still warm and gooey.  Don’t mind me.  Now my keyboard has cinnamon, butter and sugar crusted on it.  Jon’s going to be thrilled.

Wanna know what else I’m sitting here doing???  Feeling the BABY GIRL inside my belly kick my bladder. Or punch it.  Whatever she’s doing, she’s having a field day.   Yep, we’re having another girl.  And you know, I’m beyond thrilled.  I would have been thrilled for a boy too.  Maybe it’s because I’m slow to change, and since I already know what to do with a girl it seems normal.  Or maybe it’s because Waverly is basically the coolest kid ever, and having 2 cool kids, um ok, twist my arm.  Now, who wants to make bets on if this one will have a blonde curly fro too?  How I have a child with little ringlets (that have a tendency to fro because I don’t know how to manage curly hair) is beyond me.  So I’m guessing it’s a fluke and the next one will have dead straight hair.  But we shall see soon enough.  Ok, back to the food.  The food that this little girl has me CRAVING likeaboss!

I always hesitate to make any type of yeast bread.  I psych myself out and pretend like they’ll be difficult, super time consuming, or yada yada yada.  Lame lame lame.  In the end, they’re easy, not too time consuming, and worth every ounce of little effort they take.  The key with any yeast bread is to make sure you have good fresh yeast.  A little packet of yeast doesn’t cost much, and it’s worth it to just buy a new packet if you can’t remember how long the current packets have been in your cupboard.  Another key is to not rush the rising process.  Allow yourself enough time so the dough can properly rise.

I used Red Star Platinum Yeast and was quite pleased with  the results.  The first rise only took about 10 minutes.  And the second rise took about an hour.  Which is essentially half of the time it would have taken using normal yeast.  Most importantly, this meant I could get sweet gooey gingerbread in my belly faster.

 

 

This bread is wonderful to make year ’round.  Good thing butter, flour and sugar aren’t seasonal, I’d be in big trouble if they were.  With fall slowly rolling in (it’s still in the 90′s here this week), and holiday festivities gearing up, this bread seems like the perfect way to get into the fall spirit.  Is gingerbread even fall food?  Maybe not, but let’s pretend it is.  Enjoy a serving, or 3, with a cup of coffee.  Or maybe a gingerbread latte.  Is that overkill?  Nah.

 

 

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Gingerbread Pull Apart Bread

Ingredients

    Gingerbread Dough:
  • 2 packages Red Star Platinum Yeast
  • 1/2 cup hot milk
  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 tbsp melted butter
  • 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
    • FIlling:
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 6 tbsp butter, softened
    • Gingerbread Glaze:
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp molasses
  • 1-2 tbsp milk
  • pinch of cinnamon and ginger (to taste)

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine yeast ,flour and salt.

In another bowl combine hot water, hot milk, molasses, brown sugar, butter, and the egg. Whisk ingredients together. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and turn the mixer on low. Allow the dough to knead for about 7 minutes, until it’s smooth. Shape dough into a ball, place into a greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for about 10 minutes (until it’s almost doubled in size).

While the dough is rising, grease a loaf pan (I used a 8×4 inch pan) and prepare the filling.

To prepare the filling, combine the brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon and ginger in a small bowl. Set aside.

Punch down the dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface. Roll dough to 12×20 inch rectangle. The dimensions don’t have to be exact.

Spread butter on dough. Sprinkle filling over the butter.

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-ish sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. So you end up with six stacks of dough. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel, set in a warm place and allow to rise for about an hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then invert onto a platter. Drizzle with Glaze. Eat immediately (although, it is delicious the next day warmed in the microwave for about 30 seconds).

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, molasses, milk, and spices in a small bowl and stir. Stir in enough of the milk to make a glaze of drizzling consistency.

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Here are some other great pull apart bread recipes:

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread from Baked by Rachel

Lemon Pull-Apart Bread from Barbara Bakes

Buffalo Chicken Pull-Apart Bread from Bev Cooks