This makes a barely sweet loaf with a warm cinnamon flavor. If you want a little more sweetness, you can increase the sweetener to ¼ cup, or even ⅓ cup if you like. You might need to add just a little more flour. Please note that the Prep time is hands-on time only. Allow a couple hours for rising times.
Author: Alisa Fleming
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Serves: 1 sandwich loaf
Ingredients
2¼ teaspoons or 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons honey, agave nectar, or sweetener of choice
Grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan (for a taller loaf) or a 9x5-inch loaf pan (for a wider, shorter loaf).
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the warm water, sweetener and yeast. Let it sit for 5 minutes. It should become a little foamy or bubbly. If it doesn't, your yeast might be inactive. Start again with fresh yeast.
Stir in the oil, followed by 1½ cups of the flour, the cinnamon, and salt. Mix until it is well combined.
Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the loose dough sit for 30 minutes to an hour in a warm place to rise. It should double in size.
Gradually mix in another 1½ cups of the flour, kneading it with your hands as the dough gets stiff. Continue adding more flour, as needed, until the dough is smooth, and just a little sticky, but no longer sticking to your hands. Knead the dough for a few minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
Shape the dough into a loaf shape that will fit nicely into your prepared loaf pan.
Cover it with that damp cloth and let it rise for about 1 hour in a warm place.
Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
Remove the cloth and bake the loaf for 30 to 40 minutes. Once done, the crust will have a nice deep brown hue.
Let the bread cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing it to cool completely on a wire rack.