Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread, Gluten Free

Instructions

1. 1

   Warm the milk and butter

   Combine the milk and the 4 tablespoons of dough butter in a small saucepan over low heat, or microwave in short bursts, until the butter has just melted. Stir in the vanilla and set it aside until it feels barely warm on the inside of your wrist, around 110°F. If it's hotter than that, wait — too much heat will kill the yeast before it ever gets going.

2. 2

   Mix the dough

   Whisk the full amount of gluten-free flour with the xanthan gum (skip it if your blend already lists a gum or fiber binder), granulated sugar, yeast, and salt. Pour in the warm milk mixture, add the eggs, and beat with a paddle on medium for 3 to 4 minutes. Unlike wheat dough this starts out looking like thick frosting; that's correct. There's no gluten to develop, so you're mixing for evenness, not structure — and no kneading is needed at any point.

3. 3

   Rest to hydrate

   Cover the bowl and let the dough sit at room temperature for 25 minutes before the rise. Gluten-free starches drink up liquid slowly, and this rest is what turns a sticky paste into something you can actually roll. It should firm up noticeably and stop looking wet on the surface.

4. 4

   First rise

   Scrape the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise somewhere warm for 60 to 75 minutes. It won't fully double the way wheat dough does — look for a rise of about half again its size and a visibly puffed, bubbly surface. Then chill the covered bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, which makes the dough far easier to handle.

5. 5

   Prepare the pan and filling

   Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling that overhangs the two long sides — that's how you'll lift the finished loaf out cleanly. Stir the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a small bowl, breaking up any brown sugar lumps with your fingers. Melt the filling butter and keep it nearby.

6. 6

   Roll and fill

   Roll the chilled dough between two sheets of parchment into a rectangle roughly 12 by 20 inches — rolling between parchment instead of on a floured counter is essential here, since this dough sticks and tears rather than stretching. Peel off the top sheet, brush the surface with melted butter, and scatter the cinnamon sugar evenly over it, pressing gently so it adheres.

7. 7

   Cut and stack

   Slice the rectangle lengthwise into 5 long strips about 4 inches wide with a pizza wheel, lifting each with a thin offset spatula or bench scraper. Stack the strips, then cut crosswise into 6 squares. If a strip cracks or breaks while you move it, just press the pieces back together — the layers fuse in the oven and no one will know.

8. 8

   Load the pan

   Stand the squares up in the loaf pan like files in a drawer, cut edges facing up, working from one end to the other. Pack them snugly but don't cram; if you have a square or two left over, bake them in a muffin cup. Scrape up any cinnamon sugar left on the parchment and sprinkle it over the top.

9. 9

   Second rise

   Cover the pan loosely and let it rise until the dough looks puffed and reaches the rim of the pan, 45 to 60 minutes — a bit longer than wheat dough, especially since it went into the pan cold. Heat the oven to 350°F partway through.

10. 10

    Bake

    Bake for 38 to 45 minutes. Gluten-free loaves need the extra time to set all the way through, so go by temperature rather than color: the center should read 205°F. Tent the top with foil once it's deep golden, usually around 25 minutes, so the crust doesn't darken while the middle finishes.

11. 11

    Cool, glaze, and serve

    Let the loaf cool in the pan for a full 30 minutes before lifting it out by the parchment — gluten-free crumb is fragile while hot and firms up considerably as it cools. Whisk the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth and pourable, pour it over the still-warm loaf, and serve.

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Baker's Tips

• 1.

  Weigh your flour if you can. An extra heavy-handed cup turns this from pillowy to dense, and it's the single most common thing that goes wrong.

• 2.

  Chill the filled, rolled rectangle for 10 minutes before cutting if your kitchen is warm. Firm butter means clean strips instead of a sliding, sugary mess.

• 3.

  You can assemble the loaf the night before: cover the pan tightly and refrigerate instead of doing the second rise, then pull it out and let it come up to puffy at room temperature, about 60 to 90 minutes, before baking.

• 4.

  Swap in cardamom and orange zest for the nutmeg, or add 1/2 cup of finely chopped toasted pecans to the filling for crunch.

• 5.

  This loaf is at its absolute best within a couple of hours of baking. Plan to serve it warm rather than making it far ahead.