DAY 13 🎄 Spiced Christmas Loaf

Ohhhhh this is a lovely one. Making bread is one of my favourite things to do, I always find it so therapeutic and satisfying. So mix that with Christmas spices and flavours and you’ve got a winner.

This is basically a Christmassy crossed bun, in a loaf form. What’s not to love???

This is an enriched dough, so it’s super light and fluffy and sweet. It takes a little longer to kneed and prove because you’ve got butter & eggs in the dough but it’s totally worth the extra time. It’s a beautiful soft dough, spiked with dried cranberries (or any other dried fruits you may have lying around!) and spiced with cinnamon and a little mixed spice. So good. So festive.

This to me in the perfect thing to bake on a December weekend. Especially at the moment with us all spending a lot more time at home, baking bread is the perfect way to occupy yourself but this recipe also makes it the perfect festive activity!

It’s really easy to make, you just need to give yourself a little time to go through all the steps. And once it’s made you won’t regret it! It’s best enjoyed toasted warm and spread with butter, and makes the perfect breakfast or snack to have on hand throughout December.

Put some Christmas tunes on and bake up this delicious festive loaf & it’s the perfect way to start your December weekend!

Ingredients:

200ml warm milk

7g sachet fast action yeast

1tsp caster sugar

50g unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

500g strong white bread flour

2tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp mixed spice

85g soft light brown sugar

85g dried cranberries (or any dried fruit you have lying around, but cranberries are extra festive!)

Method:

⁃ start by mixing the yeast and caster sugar in with the warm milk and set side for about 5 minutes until bubbling on top.

⁃ Mix the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice and brown sugar together in a large bowl with a pinch of salt until well combined. Create a well in the middle. Pour the butter, eggs and milky yeast mix into the well of the dry ingredients and mix together until a rough dough forms.

⁃ Turn the dough out into a floured surface and kneed for about 10 minutes until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

⁃ Put the dough into a bowl that’s been lightly oiled and cover with a tea towel, then leave in a warm place for 1.5-2hours until doubled in size.

⁃ Once doubled knock the dough back and kneed again for about 2 minutes. Line a loaf tin with baking paper or grease well with butter/oil and place the dough into it (shape the dough roughly into this shape before doing so). Then leave to prove again for about 30 minutes. Pre-heat your oven to 170 fan.

⁃ Brush the dough with milk or an egg wash before baking in the over for 40 minutes. After the first 20 cover it with tin foil to prevent the top from over browning.

⁃ Once baked, allow to cool before slicing and enjoying.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this post and feel inspired to make something delicious!

If you’re hungry for more @claudiashomekitchen is full of all things yummy!