Cinnamon Chip Bread

Today I had a hankering for...something. I didn't know exactly what I wanted, so I headed to the pantry. And guess what I found lurking there? A bag of these lovelies:

These tend to be a seasonal item (at least in my grocery stores), but I had some leftover from Christmastime. These are a unique ingredient, so I wanted to do something special with them. And thus, Cinnamon Chip Bread was born. Yum.

On to the baking!

Cinnamon Chip Bread
Recipe by Sara (stuff-by-sara.blogspot.com)

1½ cups milk
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp yeast
½ cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
¾ tsp salt
6 cups flour
1 (10 ounce) bag Hershey's Cinnamon Chips

Before we get started, pop your cinnamon chips in the freezer. We'll get to those later.

Warm milk over low heat. You want it to be warm enough to activate your yeast, but not hot enough to kill it. About the temperature you would make your baby's bottle is perfect. Dissolve sugar in warm milk, then add yeast. Let this mixture hang out for 5-10 minutes. It should get a little foamy. (If it doesn't get foamy, start over. Remember, make sure your milk isn't too hot. If your yeast mixture doesn't foam up a second time, you might need to buy more yeast.)

Now it's time to start adding flour. I like to add flour in stages. I add about 2 cups of flour to my yeast mixture to start with. Then I add my room temperature butter. Then 2 more cups flour. Then I add my lightly beaten eggs. Then finish off with flour. This is a fairly soft dough, but it should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl as you knead it.

Work your dough into a ball, then cover your bowl with a tea towel (not a terry cloth towel--you don't want to get fibers in your dough). Let your dough rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume. For my dough, this was about an hour.

Now comes the fun part: the cinnamon chips! These chips have a low melting point, which is why I had you put them in the freezer. Take the chips out of the freezer, and add the whole bag to your dough. The cinnamon chips will thaw in a jiffy, so if you want chips (not smears) in your bread, you will work speedily. Gently work the chips throughout your dough. If your dough is a little sticky, spray your hands with cooking spray and continue on.

Shape your chip-laden dough into 2 logs, each about the length of your loaf pan. Grease your pans and place the dough inside. Now comes rising round two. Let your dough rise again until double, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes.

Eat some hot bread smeared with butter. Aaahh.

If cinnamon chips aren't available at your local grocery store, you can order them online! I know a few other brands make cinnamon chips as well. I haven't tried any of them, but I'm sure they would substitute nicely.