Orange Pull-Apart Bread

Can you tell I'm trying to fit in citrus concoctions before they go out of season? Two orange recipes in a row. It's ridiculous. RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS.


I'm not going to lie to you. There was a huge problem with this bread. As I was making it, I was thinking "Hmmm, who could Mike and I share half of this loaf with?" And then we went and ate 2/3 of it after dinner. Like, within 10 minutes time. 2/3 of that puppy was gone. I made an executive decision and since Aleece is practically a next door neighbor to our church (where I was headed to go hang out with a bunch of cool girls), I did a drive by breading. A drive by breading consists of driving by someone's house really fast, throwing bread at their door, and screaming 'PLEASE GET THESE CARBS AWAY FROM MEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!' 
It didn't really happen like that. I stopped by, passed it off to her really fast, told her she didn't have to share (she DID share, but that's okay because her son is cute. Actually all 5 of her sons are cute, but that is neither here nor there), and then went on my merry way. 
Isn't that the best story you've heard all day?


So, my reason for making this bread. Remember the bread that vomited all over my oven? I decided to give pull-apart breads another chance. Thank goodness for second chances. While this one did manage to overflow like the other one did, although it did stay in the pan for the most part, I was smart and remembered to put a foil lined sheet underneath the bread pan to catch any dripping sugar. Or dripping bread parts.




Orange Pull-Apart Bread

Sweet Dough

2 1/2 c flour, divided, plus additional for kneading
1/4 c sugar
2 1/4 tsp (1 envelope) instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbls  milk
4 Tlbs butter
1/4 c water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temp

Orange Paste Filling

1/2 c sugar
4 Tbls orange zest, from 2-3 oranges
4 Tbls margarine, softened

Orange Frosting

2 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbls butter, softened
1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 Tbls orange juice
1 tsp milk, or more as needed

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, the yeast and the salt. Set aside.

Put 4 tablespoons of the butter and all of the milk in a small bowl. Microwave, stirring occasionally, just until the butter melts. Allow to cool about 1 minute, then add the water and vanilla.

Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and, using a spatula or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir until evenly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until fully incorporated before continuing. If using a stand mixer, replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour and mix until smooth. If the dough seems to sticky, add 2-3 more tablespoons of flour. Knead until smooth, about 5-10 minutes in a mixer or by hand on a well-floured surface.

Place the kneaded dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. In the meantime, grease a standard-size bread pan and prepare the orange paste filling by mixing the sugar and orange zest until damp.

After the dough has risen, roll it out on a well-floured surface into a 20 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over the entire surface, then evenly sprinkle over the orange paste filling, pressing gently to adhere. Cut the dough into five 4 x 12 inch strips, then stack them all on top of each other so that you have alternating layers of dough and filling. Cut the stack into six smaller 2 X 4 inch pieces. Take the cut stacks and place them in the prepared bread pan with the just-cut 4-inch sides facing up. Use your fingers or a butter knife to fan out the layers a little, if necessary.

Cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and set aside to double in bulk, about one hour. While you are waiting, preheat the oven to 350F.

Bake the loaf for 25-33 minutes until the top is golden brown. (If top browns too quickly, cover it loosely with foil while it finishes baking.) While the bread is baking, prepare the frosting by creaming the cream cheese and butter together, then slowly adding in the powdered sugar, and finally adding the juice and milk.

Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and allow to cool completely. Drizzle with frosting and devour!

*The only thing I have to say is, I think there is too much glaze. I wouldn't HALF it, but...I just wouldn't put all of it on the bread. Maybe drizzle it on and then leave the rest for dunking? I don't know. It's your bread, do what you want with it.

Get ready for lots of pictures.

The dough is going to look very oatmealy before adding in the additional flour. It's okay if it looks like this. In fact, it should.

I don't know if I've shared this before, but when I proof bread dough, I put it in the oven (turned off), with the light on (just a LITTLE extra heat?) and cover it with a dish towel. 

This particular towel was one given to me at my bridal shower and is signed by many people I grew up admiring. It's pretty great.

Here's the orange, sugar goodness!

Look, I didn't feel like cutting 4 TB of butter when I already had 3 sitting all by its lonesome in the butter compartment of my fridge. Also, 3 was plenty. 2 TB would've worked perfectly. So when you do this, I recommend only using 2 TB of butter.

I dumped the orangey part on it randomly, and then ran my hands over it, lightly, until it covered the surface.

Okay, so cut 5 first. 

And then stack those. STACK THEM!

And cut 6.

Now when you place them in the pan, remember to put un-orange sides against orange sides. Like so.

Here it was after proofing (and can I just say one of the advantages of Texas humidity is that dough doubles within 20-30 minutes?)

Please make note of the weird, torn part on the left. I initially took this out of the oven after 25 minutes and thought it was done. But after some inspecting, I realized it was not, so back in it went! And that explains the ugly part...

Look at all of that delicious looking zest!

Mmmmmm.

Recipe Source: Two Tiny Kitchens