Gingerbread Cinnamon Roll Loaf

Well kids, here it is…we are right smack in the middle of December. Less than 2 weeks until Christmas, and Hanukkah has come and gone. It’s full on Holiday Season – and I hope you are more ready than I am.

That won’t take much.

Luckily, it’s also officially gingerbread season. That, friends, I am more than prepared for.

For the past few days I have been a gingerbread fool. For my stint on WSLS Daytime Blue Ridge, I taught the gals a few tips and tricks for decorating Gingerbread Cookies, and then later that same day I had my cookies auctioned off at a charity event. What a great evening!

In the midst of all these cookies, I experimented with a fun bread I made once upon a time, but decided to give it a kick in the Holiday Pants, courtesy of Glade®.

Yes, Glade®.

They have new Limited Edition Winter Collection scents, and an email a few days ago asked me if I’d be willing to bake in honor of these limited edition scents:

• Ginger Bread Jingle^™
• Merry Maple Morning^™
• Sweet Holiday Treat^™

Well, yeah. Why not? I like things that smell good – and what a clever challenge! One of the scents – Ginger Bread Jingle^™ – needed a spicy recipe, and I knew just what to make… A Gingerbread Cinnamon Roll Loaf. I played around with a consistently reliable recipe for cinnamon rolls, but ginger breaded the whole thing up. And instead of slicing it into individual cinnamon rolls, I left the whole thing in tact and placed it in my Chicago Metallic Ribbon Loaf Pan. I do love that thing…I imagine even crappy bread would taste good in it – I mean, LOOK at it! It’s pretty awesome. (and look at the way the oozing cinnamon and brown sugar filling caramelized on the end of the loaf…Yum.)

This bread turned out deliciously, and is exquisite while warm (you can just microwave it for a few seconds). I slather a nice scoop of Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting across each slice, because number one, it’s wickedly good, and two, it’s too easy. You could also push this over the edge by making French Toast out of it, or maybe bread pudding? But I doubt you’ll be able to, considering the loaf will be gone very soon after it comes out of the oven. Enjoy!

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (one package)
• 3 Tbsp. molasses
• 1/2 package french vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 Vanilla Bean, Split & Scraped (I prefer Beanilla Vanilla Beans)
• 1 cup cold whole milk
• 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom
• 2 tsps cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• pinch nutmeg
• pinch ground cloves
• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup very soft butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon ground Ginger

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, yeast, and molasses together. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Set aside.
2. After 10 minutes, add the pudding mix, vanilla, milk, melted butter and egg. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine salt, spices and flour. Add yeast mixture and blend well.
4. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough until smooth.
5. Place in a greased bowl; cover and let rise until doubled.
6. Punch down dough and let rise again.
7. Roll out on a floured surface to about 18 by 10 inches. Take 1/2 cup soft butter and spread over surface.
8. In a bowl mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger, then sprinkle over the top. Roll up tightly. from the narrow end (the length of you loaf pan) Don’t be afraid to tug on the dough, it is very stretchy and the more “rolls” you get the better!
9. Place in greased loaf pan (or opt to cut into cinnamon rolls if you prefer). Allow to rise until nearly doubled in size.
10. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
11. Once removed, slice and spread with Eggnog Cream Cheese Icing. Icing consists of 4 oz softened cream cheese, 2 Tbsps. softened butter, 1;2 cup powdered sugar, and 2 tbsps eggnog. Blend with electric mixer or by hand.

According to the Farmers’ Almanac, December 11-13 are the best days to bake in the month of December, so check back tomorrow and Friday for two more Holiday baking posts courtesy of Glade. I’ve got two more days of delicious to share!

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Glade. All thoughts and opinions are my own.