Cinnamon Crunch Bagel Loaf

[nverland]

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Cinnamon Crunch Bagel Loaf
Prep time: 15 MINUTES, PLUS 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES FOR RISING cook time: 50 MINUTES total time: 2 HOURS 35 MINUTES, MOST OF THIS IS INACTIVE TIME yields: 1 (9x5 Inch) BAGEL LOAF

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups bread flour*
1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-4 ounces white chocolate, shredded
1 teaspoon baking soda, for boiling
1 teaspoon malt syrup or brown sugar, for boiling

Cinnamon Crunch Topping
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, melted


Instructions

In the bowl of your electric mixer** fitted with a dough hook, combine water, yeast and honey, stir to combine, then let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Once foamy, gradually add the bread flour, white whole wheat flour, cinnamon and salt with the mixer on low speed. After 5 minutes or so, if the dough is still sticky, add 1/4 cup more bread flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for 3 minutes longer and then knead in the white chocolate until evenly distributed. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead a few times with your hands, forming it into a ball. Brush a large bowl with oil. Place the dough inside, turning to coat. Cover the bowl with a wet towel or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled in size – about 1 hour. Once doubled, punch down the dough and place on your counter, using a little more flour if needed to prevent from sticking. Divide dough into 5 balls. Cover and the balls and let sit 30 minutes. Grease a large bread tin (mine was 9x5 inches) and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the baking soda and malt syrup. Carefully drop one dough ball at time into the boiling water. Boil 1 minute, flip and boil another minute and then remove from the water with a slotted spoon. Place the dough in the prepared bread pan. Repeat with the remaining dough balls, lining them up against each other in the bread tin as you go. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla for the topping. Once all the dough balls have been boiled and are in the bread tin, brush the tops, and all down the cracks and sides of the loaf, with a beaten egg. Sprinkle the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over top. You may not need to use all the mix. Try to leave clumps of sugar, to create nice big crunchy chunks. Drizzle the loaf with the melted butter, mounding some of the sugar mixture together to help create better cinnamon sugar clusters. Bake 35-40 minutes or until the top of the loaf is dark golden brown. If the top starts burning before the loaf is finished cooking, cover the top with foil. Remove the loaf from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing...or try to anyway...right.
*you may use regular flour, but your loaf will be a bit denser.

**You can also make this recipe without a stand mixer. Just knead the dough with your hands for about 5 to 10 minutes.