Raspberry Swirled Bread

This beautiful bread is made with just three ingredients. Warm and chewy, buttered bread, swirled with gorgeous raspberry jam. Each healthy slice makes a great choice for breakfast, brunch, midday snacking, and late night cravings (my son takes slices to school with a little packet of peanut butter and he's set for hours).

The beauty of this bread lies not only in its taste, texture and appearance, but in its simplicity. It's a basic loaf of frozen bread dough, swirled with jam, and laced with butter before baking. It's almost too pretty to eat. Nah, not true.

Any fruit preserve works: I used raspberry jam, but you could use any jam or fruit preserve you want. Next time, I think I'll try boysenberry or lingonberry. Whatever you choose, may I suggest good-quality, seedless preserves?

Need a quick thaw method? If you want to make this bread STAT, check out my Busy Day Cheese Calzone recipe!

Raspberry Swirled Bread

Cooking spray
1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed according to package directions
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
Roll the thawed dough out until you have a 9x12-inch rectangle (this doesn't have to be exact, just close).
Spread the raspberry jam all over the dough, to within 1/4-inch of the edges. Starting from the shorter side, roll up gently (some jam may ooze out, but that's OK). Just before you get to the other end, pull up the far end to meet the roll (this prevents the jam from leaking out the other side). Pinch the seam to seal (as best you can, it won't seal completely). Arrange the loaf, seam-side down, in the prepared pan. Pour the melted butter all over the top. Let stand for 45 minutes, until the dough rises slightly (it won't double in size, but it will rise up about 1-2 inches).
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the bread is puffed up and golden brown (it will sound hollow when lightly tapped). Cool the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan, slice and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap.

Makes 1 loaf (6-8 servings)