Often referred to as a “pull-apart” bread, a yeasted bread with lots of buttery layers of cinnamon sugar coated, raisin-dotted, yumminess, this recipe is my idea of a breakfast good time. This cinnamon raisin pull-apart bread is from my cookbook, The Vintage Baker, and Oprah, yes that Oprah, was kind enough to include it on her site. I am sharing it with you today via that very special place.
The bread has all the flavors of the best breakfast toast there is – cinnamon sugar toast (with some raisins thrown in for good measure), but is like a million times more fun to eat. Doing so requires pulling “slices” of the bread apart from the loaf, while still warm, of course. I know yeast can be scary for some folks, but I promise I make it easy for you. I call for instant yeast, so there is no proofing of the yeast (to make sure it is alive, etc.): you just add it along with your other dry ingredients.
Moreover, this particular cinnamon raisin pull-apart bread is special, as it is based on an old-fashioned recipe from a Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe pamphlet from 1951. The winner that year developed a recipe for flake-apart muffins – just like this bread, but in a muffin tin. I tweaked the recipe and shoved the whole thing in a loaf pan – and you’re welcome for that.
The recipe can be assembled the night before and baked off in the morning, if you’re a make-ahead kind of peep. But if not, the morning of works, too. The recipe can be found here.