Cranberry Cinnamon Nut Swirl Bread

Are you ready?  It's a lot easier to make this delicious bread than it appears!  And it's oh, so yummy!  The secret is making good use of a bread machine.

Place the following ingredients in the pan of the bread machine:

• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup of sugar (this is a sweetened bread, so I use more sugar than if I were making regular bread)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 packet of yeast is placed in the yeast dispenser on the machine (I like using the fast rising kind to save a bit of time)

Then set the bread machine to the dough setting. The machine will turn off after the kneading cycle and not bake the bread. Now it's time to wait!

When the timer goes off, remove the dough from the bread machine.  Spread flour on a smooth surface.  Divide the dough in half to make two medium sized loaves of bread.  Place the dough on the floured surface and roll out with a rolling pin. Spread a generous amount of butter over the surface. I find the back of a spoon works great!

Next, spread about half a cup of powdered sugar over the butter.  You can use more or less depending on how sweet you want your bread to be.  Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon over the sugar.  Add dried cranberries over the cinnamon.  Then add nuts - for one loaf, I used sliced almonds and for the the other, chopped walnuts. Both were absolutely wonderful! Raisins also work well instead of the cranberries.

Roll the dough with the filling inside.  To roll tightly, stretch the dough slightly as you go.  If the loaf is longer than your pans, just tuck each end under.  Place each loaf in a generously butter loaf pan with seam side down and spread butter over the top of the loaf. This keeps the crust softer.  Cover with a towel and place in a warm area.  

  

When the loaves are about double in size, it's time to bake! Place both pans in a preheated 350 degree oven until golden brown - 35-40 minutes.

Remove from the pans, slice and enjoy!

SMALL LIVING TIP:

Enjoy this bread fresh from the oven with a bit of butter.  After it cools, it makes excellent toast.  It can also be made into french toast but dipping in an egg and milk mixture and cooked on a griddle. It also freezes well.