Cinnamon Bread Delight

Last weekend, I attempted to bake bread. My first try was terrible. My yeast never rose but I still attempted to bake it, which wasn’t my best idea. After just 45 minutes, the bread was burnt on the outside and completely raw in the middle. I can’t get that image out of my head. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

So then I attempted to bake bread again. Without yeast. Just a simple mix everything together, pour it in a bread pan, and bake it. This bread? Came out so much better! It was perfectly browned and perfectly yummy.

I had to share the recipe with you, because it was just so good. And this should be a Very Big Deal because I’m not one to share recipes, simply because I never attempt to bake anything harder than Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies or Duncan Hines box brownies.

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour (3 cups)
Granulated sugar (1 cup)
Brown sugar (1 cup)
Instant vanilla pudding mix (1 package)
Baking soda (1/2 teaspoon)
Baking powder (1 1/2 teaspoon)
Salt (1/2 teaspoon)
Ground cinnamon (2 teaspoons)
Milk (1 1/2 cups)
Canola oil (1/2 cup)
Cinnamon applesauce (1/2 cup)
Eggs (2)
Vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
Cinnamon sugar (2 tablespoons)

I got this recipe from All Recipes.com and tweaked it a little after looking at suggestions in the comments. For example, her recipe called for 2 cups of sugar but commenters said they substituted 1 cup of sugar for 1 cup of brown sugar to make the bread look darker and more authentic. They also said to use cinnamon applesauce, since it is cinnamon bread.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two 5x9 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.
4. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth.

5. Sprinkle the bottoms of the loaf pans with cinnamon sugar, and divide the batter between the 2 pans.

6. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. About 15 minutes before the bread is finished cooking, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the top of each loaf.

Some comments:
1. These directions are taking word-for-word from her recipe, aside from my last sentence which was advice given by a commenter.
2. I found that the bread was pretty much done within 45 minutes, so I couldn’t complete the last step. It’s supposed to make the bread more crunchy.
3. The calories aren’t too friendly, so it’s definitely something to make every once in a while as a dessert.
4. I used a smaller package of vanilla pudding, even though the recipe calls for the bigger package. It didn’t seem to make that much of a difference.

Tell me, bloggers, have you ever tried to make bread? (The real stuff with rising yeast & everything!) How did it turn out?