Sesame, Oat and Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

I'm a morning person by nature, partially because I rarely fall back asleep once I wake up in the morning. That means when my husband's alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, I ended up crawling out of bed before 6 a.m. Not my ideal Saturday morning, so I decided to at least bake some bread to make it worthwhile to be awake.

My brother-in-law had requested a cinnamon bread, so this wish list recipe was the obvious choice. Normally I shape my loaves and bake them on my trusty cookie sheets. I decided to follow the instructions to shape and bake these in loaf pans, and I'm pleased with the results.


Sesame, Oat and Cinnamon Swirl Loaf
1 1/3 cups boiling water
1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
2 tsp. rapid-rising or active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine boiling water and oats. Let stand until mixture cools to 105ºF to 115ºF. Add yeast, and let stand 5 minutes. Add butter, salt, sesame seeds, sugar and wheat flour. Mix well. Let stand covered 15 minutes.

Add bread flour, and knead dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and springy. Cover and let rise about 1 hour, until dough is doubled.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Punch down and roll into a rectangle (approximately 8 x 12 inches). Sprinkle dough evenly with cinnamon. Roll up tightly, sealing the seam and ends. Place the loaf in a lightly greased loaf pan with the smooth side facing up. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Bake at 375ºF until golden. Remove from the pan, and cool on a wire rack. Try this bread with cream cheese and a thin slice of apple or pear.