Cinnamon Sugar Bread — This brown sugar cinnamon bread is light and fluffy in the middle, with a crusty cinnamon-sugar exterior that’s reminiscent of a streusel topping! The ribbon of cinnamon sugar that runs through the middle is a perfect touch! Easy, one-bowl, no-mixer recipe!!
Table of Contents
Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread Recipe
This brown sugar cinnamon bread is so fast and easy to make and comes together in 5 minutes with a whisk, in one bowl. I love it when I don’t have to drag out my mixer because it would seem to defeat the purpose of calling a bread a ‘quick bread’ if the ingredients need to be creamed, creating more dishes. Nothing quick about that!
The same cinnamon-sugar mixture that’s sprinkled on top before baking is also sprinkled into the batter, creating a cinnamon-sugar swirl in the middle of the loaf. The only way to create that thick, delectable, wall of sweet crust on top is to sprinkle cinnamon-sugar generously over the surface before baking.
Not all of it adheres to the bread and you’ll have to remind your kids and husband to ‘Please, eat over your plate.’ And remind yourself, too, so that you’re not recreating a sandy beach on your kitchen floor with the stray cinnamon-sugar granules.
The ribbon of cinnamon-sugar that floats through the interior provides another pop of flavor. The cinnamon flavor is present and notable, but it’s not overwhelming. Feel free to add more if you’re a true fiend.
The bread is flavorful enough that it doesn’t need butter, but if you’re so inclined toasting it and smearing liberally with butter takes it from really good to gobble-the-whole-loaf supremely good. Our toaster got a workout and has the cinnamon-sugar bits stuck in the crumb tray to show for it.
Such an easy bread to make with great results, no kneading and no fuss. From start to finish, this should go from cupboard and into your mouth in under an hour.
Cinnamon Sugar Bread Ingredients
For this cinnamon sugar quick bread recipe, you’ll need:
- Granulated sugar
- Cinnamon
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Light brown sugar
- Canola oil
- Vanilla extract
- Buttermilk
- All-purpose flour
- Ground nutmeg
- Baking soda
- Salt
Can I Use a Buttermilk Substitute?
If you don’t normally keep buttermilk on hand, you can cheat and make some with regular milk by adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk and waiting for about 10 minutes.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Bread
This cinnamon swirl quick bread is super simple to make! Here’s a look at how the bread is prepared:
- In a small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla, followed by the buttermilk.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Turn HALF the bread batter into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan and sprinkle three-quarters of the cinnamon-sugar mixture over top. Top with the remaining batter and sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon-sugar mixture over top.
- Bake your cinnamon swirl bread until the top is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Tips for Making Cinnamon Sugar Quick Bread
When making the quick bread batter, it’s important that you give the melted butter a couple minutes to cool down before mixing it in with the other wet ingredients. If you mix everything together all at once, you might wind up accidentally scrambling the egg with the hot butter.
The cinnamon bread batter will be a little lumpy, and that’s totally normal. Don’t try to stir out all the lumps, otherwise you’ll over work the batter and your bread won’t be as fluffy once baked.
Lastly, for easier cleanup I recommend inverting the bread over your kitchen sink or a paper towel since some of the cinnamon-sugar topping will fall off when you remove the loaf from the pan.
Recipe FAQs
No, an 8×4-inch loaf pan will be too small for this cinnamon quick bread recipe. You must use a 9×5-inch pan for this recipe.
Yes, cinnamon sugar bread freezes really well. Let it cool to room temperature, then pop it into a freezer bag or wrap it in multiple layers of plastic wrap. When you’re ready to eat the frozen loaf, set it on the counter overnight to thaw.
Most likely, yes! Raisins or chopped nuts would both be great in this cinnamon swirl bread. You’d only want to add about 3/4 cup of mix-ins total, otherwise your bread will overflow in the oven.
Yes, I’ve made this into muffins before and they turned out beautifully! You’ll want to check your muffins around the 18-minute mark and bake a minute or two more at a time until you figure out the exact amount of time they should be in the oven. You’ll know your muffins are done baking when they’re golden and springy to the touch.
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Swirled Cinnamon Sugar Bread
Ingredients
Cinnamon Sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Bread
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside (don’t use an 8-by-4-inch pan; it’s too small)
- In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup granulated sugar with the cinnamon and stir to incorporate; set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute. After the butter has cooled momentarily (so you don’t scramble the egg), add the egg, brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Add the buttermilk and whisk to incorporate.
- Add the flour, nutmeg, baking soda, optional salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix. Batter will be thick and lumpy. Don’t try to stir the lumps smooth.
- Pour half the batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula. Sprinkle three-fourths (75%) of the cinnamon-sugar mixture (just eyeball it), distributed evenly over the surface of the batter. This creates the cinnamon ribbon.
- Top with remaining half of the batter, smoothing it lightly with a spatula. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture, distributed evenly over the top. It looks like a lot, but it’s necessary to form the crust, and not all of it aheres.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes (mine took 50), or until top is set and firm, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before inverting.
- Invert bread over the sink or a paper towel to catch some of the non-adhered cinnamon-sugar and sprinkle it back on the bread. Place bread on wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Cinnamon Sugar Desserts:
Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Twists – Baked in a muffin pan and made with refrigerated dough to save time, you’re going to LOVE how FAST and EASY these finger-lickin’ sweet pretzel bites are!
Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread — Super soft, tender, moist pumpkin bread with a slightly crunchy cinnamon sugar topping!
Snickerdoodle Bread — Between the cinnamon-sugar on top, cinnamon in the batter, and the cinnamon chips, the bread is full of wonderful and prominent cinnamon flavor without being overpowering.
Cinnamon Coffee Cake — Between the cinnamon-sugar crust AND the cinnamon-sugar swirled through the center, this EASY coffee cake is IRRESISTIBLE!! Soft, fluffy, light, and of course it’s perfect with coffee!!
Honey Bun Cake — Tastes like a Honey Bun in cake form!! Sweet, rich, decadent, and reminds me of the Honey Buns I used to eat as a kid! Fast and EASY!!
Glazed Cinnamon Roll Cake — The flavor of cinnamon rolls in a soft, tender, EASY cake!! One bowl, no mixer, and you’re going to love the tangy-sweet GLAZE!!
Originally published April 24, 2013 and republished October 2, 2020 with updated text.
Oh my goodness- this looks SO delicious. I need some this morning! Thanks for the pin-fest and kind words on my site yesterday! Totally made my day :)
Yes totally pinned like 20 things of yours. Love your style & images and thanks for stopping by saying it made your day :)
I am always looking for sweets with cinnamon, this one looks delicious, just printed it looking forward to trying it this weekend. Thanks for another good one. Rosemary @anitalianinmykitchen.com
Wonderful – LMK how it goes!
Averie, it looks fabulous. My picky 6yo is in love with cinnamon sugar (muffins, coffee cake, snickerdoodles, cinnamon toast crunch cereal, and cinnamon toast, which he’s eating right now), and he will LOVE this recipe. I plan to bake it later this morning, but I have no oil; therefore, I’ll have to be a rebel and use a stick of unsalted butter (oh, the shame). I’ll let you know what he and my girls (and I… since I simple must do a quality check… What kind of mommy would I be otherwise?) think about it. I’m always excited to try a new recipe. (SN: I will have to replace the egg with a “flaxseed egg” per my son’s food allergies.)
Ok I hope everything goes well & that you love it!
It is PERFECT!!!! moist! delicious! and I even used 1/2 AP and 1/2 white WW… My son just finished eating a slice, with turkey sausage, and he LOVES it! winner! winner! chicken dinner! Thank you for an awesome recipe!!!
Glad you and your son are loving this one! Thanks for trying it and LMK!
OAN: You might not remember, but you and I bonded over our shoe size a while back. #Sisters4Life LOL
The whole family loves it so much that I had to bake a second one. It’s just as PERFECT as the first.
Oh yumm! I baked two loaves of your Cinnamon Ribbon bread this afternoon and am delighted to find another “keeper” recipe. I did not have buttermilk so I used powdered buttermilk culture that I picked up the last time I was in the States. That stuff is another keeper – brilliant!
The texture is unexpected from such an easy recipe. My loaves are also darker inside than yours and I used light brown sugar. Instinct tells me it is my nutmeg and I will try using 1/4 tsp. less the next time I make it. And there will be a next time as it is an absolutely delicious recipe. Thank you, Averie!
Love the powdered buttermilk. It works great and I always have it on hand! If you ever have Greek yogurt, you can cut that with about half water/half greek yog to get the total amount of buttermilk you would have needed. Not a perfect shortcut or method, but it totally works :) Just tossing that out there.
Anyway, darker inside. You have to remember that when I photograph things, I have to have all kinds of light reflectors bouncing light to make the food pop. Sometimes with light colored food, it picks it up too much and I can’t account for it in editing. So, in reality, maybe your loaves are darker than mine; maybe my food is under the influence of light bounces. Hard to say but try the nutmeg, too. Keep me posted!
I am so so impressed with this presentation. May I use your recipe as a link to my webpage? It is not something that will compete, but I do like to use a link which people will be interested in. I love this recipe and would be honoured to share it since you have had such beautiful photos and comments.
Thank you.
Thanks for the compliments but I do not allow my recipes or photography to be reprinted on other sites. I work very hard on my recipes and photography and if people want to view them, they will need to come to my site to do so.
You are welcome to link back to my site. But no reprinting of my images or recipe. Thank you for understanding.
Hi Averie, this looks delicious! I’m just wondering if you have any suggestions on how to make this gluten free? Thank you!
I would probably just use your fave GF baking blend, i.e. Bob’s Red Mill or similar.
Thank you Averie! I just finished making this with gluten free flour and it is SO good.
Oh that is GREAT to hear that GF flour worked well for you! This comment will help others who are GF and curious, I’m sure. Glad you love it! :)
The cinnamon bread looks amazing Averie, I will have to try this recipe.
Oh my goodness. I’m pinning this right this second, and I am totally going to make this for my family over Thanksgiving next week!
Thanks for pinning and I know you’re family will love it. LMK how it goes!
I made this today, and it was delicious! Soft, moist and loaded with cinnamon. The crunchy crust was a perfect contrast to that fluffy interior. My kids and I gobbled it right up! I will be making it again, for sure!
I am so happy to hear that you and your kids loved it. I love the contrast too of the crunchy cinn/sugar crust to the fluffy interior. Glad you’ll make it again!
If I wanted to try pudding mix in this bread, would I decrease a quarter cup of flour? I am definitely making it as is (love the oil/butter combo) and the crust, but I am just curious.
Since I haven’t tried it with pudding mix, I don’t know. But I think reducing the flour by 1/3 to 1/4 cups sounds about right. See how the batter is looking and tinker with it slightly as needed. LMK how it goes!