Eggnog Streusel Bread

I came up with this loaf, because why not? Eggs, milk, spices, sugar? Yes, please! I have used Trader Joe’s eggnog to make this bread, but I think, think, you can use any kind. You can of course, just skip the eggnog and use buttermilk, or regular milk, an egg, an extra tablespoon of sugar and a sprinkle of nutmeg to simulate it should you want. (A splash of brandy you say? Why not!). But if you happen to have egg nog lying around, this proves an excellent use.

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Eggnog Streusel Bread

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt (diamond kosher salt, if using Morton, you can drop it to 2 teaspoons)
  • 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 the ingredients form a sticky (!) dough mass. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 1/2- 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in bulk. As anyone who has read my recipes here, I am a sucker for rising your dough 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 spiced-sugar mix. Beginning with one short end, roll it tightly into a log and place it in a greased loaf pan. 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 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 loaf with reserved egg wash and carefully sprinkle and pat streusel mixture on top of dough, being careful not to deflate 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 207 degrees with an instant-read thermometer. Some of my swirl spiced mixture 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. Remove the loaves from the oven, turn them out onto a cooling rack, and let them cool on their sides for 20 minutes before cutting them.