Spanish Bread

Spanish Bread is a soft and sweet bread filled with brown sugar, butter and breadcrumbs. Nobody knows why this is called Spanish bread and where this bread originated. As far as I know this is one famous bakery item that we loved and grew up with. I don't really mind where its origin was. I just want to bake and learn the way it is made. Learn with me, follow the simple recipe. 

Yeast is a simple ingredient yet important in this recipe. It makes this bread rise, it is a single celled, microscopic fungus that eats sugar as their food in order to foam. Yeast produces carbon dioxide or gas due to fermentation. The gas is responsible for the bread to rise thus giving the bread its good flavor and strengthens the dough as it develop its gluten. Source: finecooking.com

When yeast is not added on the bread, the bread is hard and flat and has no taste at all. You must understand how to handle yeast in order for it to perform well to its capacity to produce gas. The liquid you use for the yeast to foam be it plain water or milk must be warm about 105 to 110 degrees F. The yeast will die in a very hot liquid and will not activate in cold water also. So be very particular in handling your yeast in breadmaking. The same case with proofing the dough, it also need a warm environment to rise. I live in Saudi Arabia, the climate is hot so my dough is proofing just right on the counter top. I guess if you live in cold countries like Europe and America maybe that's the time you place your dough in a warm oven or microwave oven. 

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh milk (warm)
1 1/2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 41/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 whole egg
1/2 cup melted butter

Filling:
3/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup brown sugar or white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

• In a mixing bowl add yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm milk, stir to dissolve and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Set aside. 
• Combine sugar, butter, eggs and salt blend well then add to the yeast mixture. 
• Add flour to the yeast mixture. 
• Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 to 15 minutes by hand or 5 to 7 minutes by electric mixer using the dough hook until dough is smooth & elastic and small bubbles appear.

Manual kneading

• Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth or cling film and let it rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours.
• Punch dough to remove air and fold 3 to 4 times and let rest in the same bowl for 30 to 40 minutes, cover loosely with damp cloth or plastic cling.

• 

  Punch down

• In a separate bowl prepare filling by mixing sugar butter and crumbs, set aside. 
• Take out dough on a lightly floured surface form a ball and divide in 2 parts.

• Roll each part like a log and cut 1 inch a piece, yields 12 pieces.

• Flatten each piece using rolling pin and spread butter mixture, sprinkle bread crumbs. 
• Roll up each filled dough and seal, roll it on bread crumbs. 
• Arrange in prepared greased or lined cookie sheet and cover with damp cloth for 45 minutes to 1 hour for final proofing. 
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Enjoy this easy recipe.