WHAT YOU KNEAD (Maple Swirl Bread) !

You know what's special about my Sundays?
Nothing.
No, that's what's special about it; the nothingness.
I try hard to do nothing on Sundays and that needs starting off with a good breakfast.
Alas, the problem is that cooking said breakfast disturbs the tranquil waters of Sunday nothingness, tilts the balance, strays the center, and sometimes we just need to relax...
But that's what's great about this breakfast; you can do all the work the night before and just pop it in the oven before sitting back with a cup of Sunday coffee.
This recipe is a modification of a one that I found online for Cinnamon Swirl Bread; I took it and made it mine. First off, while Cinnamon Swirl is good and all, my heart belongs to Maple, and what sounds better than MAPLE Swirl Bread?
Secondly, I swapped out the 1/2 c milk and 3/4 c water for 1 c of Buttermilk, and 1/4 water to give it a fuller taste and a little more body (I think). And thirdly, as I said, I wanted to make this all ahead of time and only have to pop it in the oven in the morning. The original recipe goes straight from the forming of the loaf to the rising and then the baking, but I rolled the loaf and let it sit in the fridge over night and it came out great. I let it sit out for 1/2 and hour before baking it and brushed the top with a little Maple Syrup, which gave the brown crust a nice sweet flavor.
The bread itself was good too; the fluffy Buttermilk dough is infused with the cinnamon and ground nutmeg, and the Maple Butter curls in moist swirls throughout it all, collecting in a gooey, Mapley center...
Yeah, it's good, and exactly what you knead to start of a slow day of...

MAPLE SWIRL BREAD
- 1 c Buttermilk
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp shaved nutmeg
- 1 pckt Active Dry Yeast
- 1/4 c warm water
- 1/2 jar Maple Butter*
- 2 c white flour (plus some for dusting)
- 1 c White Whole Wheat Flour

Melt butter and add to Buttermilk along with salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and Maple Syrup. Dissolve the packet of yeast in the warm water, add to the Buttermilk mixture, and mix well. Stir in 2 1/2 c of the flours and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Add the last 1/2 c of flour, and knead it into the dough, continuing for around 5 minutes as the sticky dough becomes soft and satiny.
Put the dough into a greased bowl and flip it to coat the top, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 2 hours or so in a warm place.When it has doubled in size, punch the dough to expel the air, turn out onto a floured surface, and roll it into a rectangle. Warm the Maple Butter so that it becomes soft and spreadable, and spread it over the rectangle (You can add cinnamon, raisins or even Maple Sugar if you want to). Then, starting at one end, roll the dough tightly into a log form, and put it into a greased loaf pan, seam-side down. At this point you can either put it in the fridge to rise over night, or you can let it rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour and then bake it right away.In the morning, heat the oven to 350, then let the loaf sit out for a 1/2 hour to rise. Brush lightly with Maple Syrup, and cut three slits in the top before baking until the top is golden brown and the bread gives a hollow sound when tapped. Let it cool for 10 minutes before transferring it to a cutting board and brushing the top lightly again with Maple Syrup. Enjoy it warm and buttered right away and even as toast or French Toast if there's any leftovers...* You should be able to buy Maple Butter in the store, it should be with the honeys. However, alternatively you can substitute by sing real butter and sprinkling Maple Sugar. If all of that fails, you can make this a Cinnamon Swirl Bread if you want, or ANY type of swirl bread for that matter...