In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, yeast, sugar, and salt, and stir to combine. Fit stand mixer with dough hook/spiral
4 cups flour, 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, ⅓ cup sugar, 1 Tablespoon salt
Warm milk to about 110º degrees, and add to flour mixture. Add eggs and milk to stand mixer
1 cup milk, 2 eggs
Turn the mixer to 2 and mix until combined. Continue mixing to knead dough for 7 minutes
The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl as it kneads, but still be tacky. If dough is overly sticky, add a small amount of flour to reach the desired consistency
When dough is done kneading, remove bowl from mixing and dough hook, shape into a ball, cover, and let rise until doubled in size. This should take 1-2 hours depending on your kitchen temperature
While dough is rising, combine cranberries, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan
2 cups cranberries, ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup orange or lemon juice
Bring to a simmer, and simmer until cranberries split. Blend with an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender/food processor and blend carefully to avoid burns
Cranberry sauce should be about the thickness of gravy, but will thicken as it cools. Let sauce cool while dough rises
When dough has risen, divide into four evenly sized balls. Roll each dough ball on a lightly floured surface into a 11-12” circle
Place a circle onto a baking greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. I find a pizza pan is perfect for this
Spread ⅓ of cranberry sauce onto circle of dough
Top with a second dough circle, and repeat
Repeat with the third dough circle, then top with the last circle
Place a small circular object (about 1-1 ½ inches) like a small biscuit butter, jar lid, or glass in the center of the circle of cinnamon bread to use as a guide
Use scissors to cut dough into quarters, from the edge, up to the circle guide. Next, cut each quarter into quarters-You should end up with 16 wedges around the circle
Take two wedges next to each other, and twist away from each other 1 ½ turns
Press ends together. Repeat around the circle until all wedges are turned and connected
Brush with beaten egg and then let rest for 30 minutes
1 egg
While the cranberry bread rests, preheat oven to 350º
Bake cranberry bread for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let cool
While bread cools, combine icing ingredients until smooth, adding extra powdered sugar, or orange juice as needed to achieve a thick drizzle, or spreadable icing as desired, and drizzle/spread over cooled cranberry bread,
1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon orange juice, ½ teaspoon vanilla, 1 Tablespoon melted butter