Last week we shared Giselle’s recipe for Muesli a super easy (basically a dump and stir) recipe for family and friends. This week she shares her recipe for Eggnog Streusel Bread that could very well become a new Christmas morning tradition for you and your family!
I love experimenting with breads, and a swirl is one of my favorites. This time, though, I wanted to be a little extra with it, since I planned it specifically for Christmas, so I flavored it with eggnog and added a streusel topping to really gild the lily. The bread would be fabulous with just the swirl or just the streusel topping though.
This recipe makes two loaves, one to keep and one to share–my favorite type of recipe! I also tend to think it looks utterly charming as a gift wrapped in a new dish towel and wrapped simply with baker’s twine. Happy Baking!
Eggnog Streusel Bread
For the dough
6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups eggnog if substituting regular or buttermilk and adding egg, reduce volume of milk so that together with the egg it equals 1 1/2 cups
1 1/2 cup water warm but not above 110 degrees
6 tablespoons 3/4 stick butter melted
Softened butter for greasing pans
For the spiced sugar swirl
1/4-1/2 cup flour for clean surface and rolling out
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1-2 eggs beaten with 1 teaspoon water
For the streusel
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3-4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons reserved cinnamon/nutmeg sugar from above
Instructions
1. Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and yeast. In a medium bowl, combine the eggnog and the water. Stir to combine, then add to the flour mixture, followed by the melted butter. Mix until the liquid is absorbed and there are no pockets of flour hidden within. The ingredients will form a sticky (!) dough. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 ½-2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in bulk. If I am in a rush, I will keep my dough rising near a preheating oven because it speeds it up a bit.
2. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 375° F. Grease two 8 1/2- by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans generously with the softened butter. Using two forks (because it is so so sticky!), separate the dough into two equal-sized lumps in the bowl.
3. Dust a clean surface with flour–this will be your working surface, so you want it at least 12 x 18 inches. Transfer one half of the dough to the prepared surface and gently stretch, pat, or roll the dough into roughly an 8 x 16-inch rectangle. In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and reserve three tablespoons for the streusel. Brush the dough with the egg wash (you will need to save some for the streusel step, so don’t use it all). Sprinkle the dough with half of the remaining spiced-sugar mix. Beginning with one short end, roll it tightly into a log and place it in a greased loaf pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining round. Do not cover the pans. Let the bread rise on the countertop near the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the top of the dough just crowns the rims of the pans.
4. In a small bowl, combine flour and the three tablespoons reserved 3 tablespoons of the spiced sugar. Cut in butter with a fork or your fingers until the mixture is in crumbs or clumps. You want to be able to sprinkle on the streusel so make sure your clumps are not too large. Brush top of the loaf with reserved egg wash and carefully sprinkle and pat streusel mixture on top of the dough, being careful not to deflate the dough.
5. Transfer the pans to the oven and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and firm to the touch and the internal temp registers about 200 degrees with an instant-read thermometer. Some of my spiced swirl leaked out of the bread and started to seep over the sides, so putting a baking sheet under the rack with foil is not a bad idea. I needed to bake my loaves for the full-time frame, but check yours if you think it is close. Remove the loaves from the oven, turn them out onto a cooling rack, and let them cool on their sides for at least 20 minutes before cutting them–longer is better here.
*A an extra tip for making the first time. Putting the dough together is easy, but it can feel like lots of moving parts when you are doing the swirl and the streusel as well as rolling everything out and dealing with the egg wash. To ease this, I often go ahead and make the spiced sugar mixture and the streusel when the bread is doing its first rise.
Originally this recipe was posted on my Giselle’s website Living Proofed
