Apple Pull-Apart Bread

So, you know by now that I love love love LOVE being in the kitchen right? I've cooked many things, and I've baked many things, but I don't know of anything that feels more rewarding than successfully baking bread. It's so therapeutic. And when I say baking bread, I don't mean getting some frozen bread dough from the store, or throwing a bunch of ingredients in a bread machine and letting it do all the work. I mean honest to goodness, starting from scratch bread. I LOVE IT!!!!! That being said, I first learned how to bake it in culinary school, which I loved but was also somewhat intimidated by, so I didn't really try baking bread anymore until I moved back home last summer. I can say I have successfully baked quite a few yeast breads since then. YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!! It's not hard and if any of you out there have any qualms about it, forget them and just try it! As long as you stick with the instructions, it will turn out great. Here's a link for a really good site with a lot of info on baking yeast breads.

This is a delicious sweet bread that would be awesome for breakfast or Christmastime. My brother said it smelled like Christmas when he walked in while it was baking.

Apple Pull-Apart Bread
1 package (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees) ***I'll explain, at the end of the recipe, what I did instead of scalding milk***
1/2 cup butter, melted, divided
1 egg
2/3 cup plus 2 TB sugar, divided
1 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 medium tart apple, peeled and chopped (chop it really small)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I did not use these of course, so I just added an additional 1/2 cup of apple)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
ICING:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 to 4 1/2 tsp hot water

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add 2 TB butter, egg, 2 TB sugar, salt, and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough.
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Divide each half in half again until you have 16 pieces from each (32 total). Pat or roll each piece into a 2 1/2 inch circle. Combine the apple, pecans, cinnamon, and remaining sugar; place 1 tsp in the center of each circle. Pinch edges together and seal, forming a ball. Dip in remaining butter.
4. In a greased 10 inch tube pan, place 16 balls seam side down; sprinkle with 1/4 cup apple mixture. Layer remaining ball; sprinkle evenly with remaining apple mixture. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 45 minutes.
5. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Combine icing ingredients; drizzle over bread. YIELD: 1 loaf.

***My substitution for scalded milk: Dissolve the yeast in warm water (110-115 degrees) that equals the amount of milk called for. Then, with the flour and other dry ingredients, add 1/3 cup dry milk powder per 1 cup milk.
You can scald milk if you like but then you have to wait for it to cool and if you scald it too much then your bread will have a burned flavor. This is just much easier and time efficient.





This is what your dough should look like about halfway through the kneading process. If it does this when you pull on it, then it's not done.

This is what it will look like when it's mixed perfectly. It shouldn't tear, but make a nice little "window" that light can get through.

Before...

...and doubled!!!

Here are some flat circles ready to go! That's the apple mixture there on the right. Like I said, chop the apples into very small chunks.

This is it right out of the oven! Oh my gosh the apple, cinnamon goodness was just DELICIOUS to smell!!!

I ate entirely too much of this after dinner tonight. You might notice a couple empty spots... that would be mine and my brother's fault...