cozy and comforted...
last night I pulled these out of the oven...and then headed outside with my husband for a foray into the woods....leaves crunching underfoot and a crisp 38 degrees! Made it absaloutely wonderful to come back in to the smell of these babies....:)
I realize that somewhere i must have crossed over into artisan baking territory, when I consider a recipe like this to be almost "pillsbury pre-made" in its simplicity.........simply because I used commercial yeast!!! :) 
I also think this baby should've stayed in another 5 min. or so to deepen her "tan"..but I was getting impatient to head out into the woods before it got dark, so I skimped just a bit on bake time...
decent crumb.. perhaps a bit more closed than i would prefer, but I tend to get pretty firm with my shaping on these babies, as I despise the spirals separating.....I normally flatten out dough, then spritz with water...sprinkle w/ cinnamon and sugar, spritz again with water...then roll...as long as I am firm with my shaping they stay together...as soon as I try a gentler hand, they separate...so if any of you out there in loaf-land have any better methods to keep the spirals from separating, while maintaing the air...let me know...
final shot....
yes, it's made with commercial yeast...and yes...I do love my sourdoughs......but sometimes there's nothin like a good ole slab of cinnamon swirl bread...:)
formula: (mom's recipe, so still in volume....I WILL convert to weights here sometime, as I go mostly by "feel" on this dough, as the formula is very simple. I normally half this for us, making 2 9x5 loaves)
5 cups water
12 cups flour(i use wheat montana unbleached)
3/4 cup butter (very soft)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 T yeast
2 T salt
*I generally do the following for better flavor:
Whisk together all of water, half of flour, half of the yeast, and 1T of the sugar. Probably about 2 min. til frothy. Do this in a very large bowl or tub. In a seperate bowl whisk together the remaining flour, yeast, and sugar. Sprinkle over the top of your frothy mixture, just so it is like a blanket. Let sit for 1 hr at room temps. Then refrigerate for at least 8 hrs. Take out of refrigerator and dump all of mixture into mixer along with the butter. Mix until rough. Cover and let rest 20 minutes. Add Salt and knead for 6-8 min. or until dough windowpanes. Put into greased container and ferment about 1 hr. low 70s or til almost double. S&F, return to container and press gently down, to even out the dough. Cover and ferment until doubled. Divide into four portions, if you handle it gently you can shape immediately..otherwise let relax, then pat out into rectangles, spritz with water, sprinkle with cinnamon and white sugar, and spritz once more with water. Roll up tightly from short side, and seal ends. Place in 9x5 loaf pans and proof til almost double. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven. I spritz tops lightly wiht water before loading into oven, and i place them in the lower third of the oven, on top of my baking stones. Bake around 40 minutes.....your house will smell heavenly, too! :)
