Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This cinnamon swirl bread is as close to cinnamon buns as bread can get. Filled with a sweet cinnamon-sugar and butter mixture that swirls throughout the loaf, this is a tender, buttery, sweet bread that even novice and new bread makers can successfully tackle.

I adore cinnamon and like vanilla extract, I love cinnamon so much that I always add extra to a recipe and rarely bother measuring it. If a recipe calls for one teaspoon, I liberally shake in at least two teaspoons.

But I don’t really shake it in, I douse it in. I remove the plastic tops with the cut-out holes from my spice jars because they inhibit the cinnamon free-flow.

I’ve been on a bread-making kick lately and cinnamon swirl bread was a natural progression. Although I was tempted to make cinnamon buns, I decided that if I made and then subsequently ate an entire loaf of cinnamon swirl bread in two days, that bread would somehow be better than buns. This cinnamon bread is as close to cinnamon buns as one can get and still call it bread, rather than dessert. I’ll take all the labeling tricks I can get if it means more of these sweetly swirled slices.

I grew up on my grandma’s cinnamon rolls and cinnamon swirl bread. Drizzling her soft cinnamon rolls with frosting or buttering a slice of her fresh cinnamon swirl bread, warm from the oven, are succulent memories carved in my mind and etched onto my tastebuds for a lifetime. What I wouldn’t give now to be able to go back in time to observe her make yeast-based doughs, entirely by feel, as she was legally blind and didn’t use written recipes. I have loose memories of watching her knead dough and as a child, I just remember thinking ‘how much longer til it’s ready’.

Bread-making does require patience. This bread can be knocked out from start to finish in about three hours; not bad. If you’ve never made bread before, don’t be intimidated by this one because making the dough is easy and it comes together in minutes by hand. Then, find your patience pills because the dough rises for about ninety minutes and after the first rise, the dough is kneaded briefly before being rolled out into an elongated rectangle in preparation for it’s cinnamon-sugar rub down.

I roll out the dough quite long, about eighteen inches in length, because the longer the dough is rolled, the more turns and coils can be made, resulting in more swirls in the finished bread. It’s a pet peeve of mine when cinnamon swirl bread is under-swirled and with this loaf, I took care that didn’t happen because the swirls are where the full complement of cinnamon-sugar hides. I’m no fool.

After smearing the dough with butter, cinnamon, brown and granulated sugars, and then rolling it up into a plump dough log, it’s placed in a loaf pan, seam-side down, where it rises for about an hour before baking. Baking only takes about a half hour, the quickest step of all. It’s all a very do-able process but yes, it takes longer than nuking a TV dinner. Good things come to those who wait.

No matter how tightly the dough is rolled, while the bread bakes, some of the luxurious filling will likely seep out of the well-stuffed coils. I could have been stingier with the butter or sugars, lessening the seepage potential, but that’s nonsense. I prefer to live in buttery, sugary abundance and slathered the dough with ample amounts of both. Just days prior to baking this bread, I was watching an episode of Ree making her famous cinnamon rolls, and I took a cue from the butter master and didn’t skimp. She advises that if you think you’ve added enough butter; stop and add some more. I love her logic.

After the bread has baked, immediately turn it out from the loaf pan on a rack to cool, with parchment paper or a baking sheet placed underneath the rack. The drippy, sweet, caramelized buttery-cinnamon-sugar mixture that drained into the bottom of the loaf pan during baking needs to be redistributed back onto the bread. It will be tempting to drink that cinnamon-spiked butter sauce, or to eat the caramel bits that were created as the brown sugar and butter congeal and form a sweet, thick caramel sauce. Instead, pour or scoop the pan remnants over the top of the loaf, using a spatula as to not miss a drop of the liquid gold. Allow the loaf to cool and as it does, it will literally drip-dry, and some of the coating will magically reabsorb back into the bread. Then, wrap your sticky bundle of joy in plasticwrap before placing it inside a gallon-sized ziplock, which is how I store all my homemade bread, and it keeps for the better part of a week this way.

Since I am such a cinnamon fan, I used cinnamon three ways; in the bread dough itself, and of course it’s in the cinnamon swirls, and I prefer this bread toasted with ample smears of cinnamon-sugar butter piled on, to really boost the cinnamon profile. The cinnamon is complemented by the sugars; one accentuates the other, and it’s a match made in swirly bread heaven.

In terms of density, the bread is in the medium range. It’s not a light and airy croissant but it’s not anywhere near as dense as the Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin Bread, as English muffins tend to be much denser than a loaf of bread is or should be.

As I ate this bread, I was transported back decades earlier to my Grandma’s tiny kitchen and my childhood memories of eating her bread, slice after slice. Back then I took great pleasure in unwinding and unwrapping the coils and licking the cinnamon-sugar from them. Yes, I did. I didn’t do that with this bread, although I was tempted. Instead I just licked my fingers, which invariably become coated in the very sticky but very wonderful caramely, buttery, cinnamon-sugar sauce that seeps from the coils.

What I love most about this bread, and with all swirled buns or rolls, is the keyhole center that peers back at me, buried amidst a web of concentric circles. Let’s face it, the best part of a cinnamon bun is the epicenter; the final coiled turn. It’s the softest, most tender, moistest, butteriest, and best bite of all. And eating my way into the perfect center bites of this bread was no exception.

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5 from 1 vote

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

By Averie Sunshine

Active work time iis about 20 minutes, but there is a 90 minute rise, then a 60 minute rise, and 30 minutes to make. From start to finish, including baking, 3 hours is a realistic time frame.This cinnamon swirl bread is as close to cinnamon buns as bread can get. Filled with a sweet cinnamon-sugar and butter mixture that swirls throughout the loaf, this is a tender, buttery, sweet bread that even novice and new bread makers can successfully tackle. Whatever cinnamon-sugar-butter leaks from the bread inside the loaf pan while baking, including scrumptious caramelized brown sugar, can be poured over the top of the finished loaf, almost like the topping on sticky buns.

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 9

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Ingredients  

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For the Bread

• ▢ ¾ cup water, heated to ~120 to 130F for Platinum Red Star yeast, or to about ~105 to 115F for other yeast
• ▢ 2 ¼ teaspoons one 1/4-ounce packet Platinum Red Star Yeast or another active dry yeast
• ▢ 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ cup milk
• ▢ 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
• ▢ 3 cups all-purpose flour

For the Filling

• ▢ 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, very softened
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup loosely packed light brown sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cinnamon

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Instructions 

• For the Bread - In a glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl, warm the water to temperature, about 45 seconds on high power. Testing with a thermometer is preferred, but if testing with your finger, mixture should feel warm but not hot. Add the yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, stir to dissolve, and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
• In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine milk and 1 tablespoon butter and heat until butter melts and mixture can be stirred smooth, about 1 minute on high power; do not allow the milk to boil. To the melted mixture, add 1/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, salt, and whisk to combine. Add the yeast-water mixture and whisk to combine. Add 2 1/2 cups flour and stir; dough will be wet and loose. Turn dough out onto a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or floured work surface and knead in the remaining half cup of flour, adding flour just until the dough is soft and smooth. Knead for about 8 minutes.
• Place mounded dough in a lightly greased large bowl and turn dough over so that the top as well as bottom is greased. Cover with plasticwrap and let rise in warm place for about 90 minutes, or until doubled in size (To achieve a warm environment, power oven on to 400F as if preheating your oven and after 1 minute, shut the oven off. Quickly slide the bowl with the dough in it into the warm oven and shut the oven door quickly so the warm air does not escape; double check to make sure your oven is off. You're looking for temps in the 80s, a warm summer day type temperature; not overly hot)
• Punch down dough with your fist to release the air and turn dough out onto a large Silpat or floured surface and knead for about 1 minute. Roll dough out into a long rectangular shape, about 9 inches wide and about 15 to 18 inches long (9 inches wide so it fits in the loaf pan and the longer in length the dough is made, the more turns that can be made, resulting in more cinnamon-swirls per slice; roll it thin but not paper thin, about 1/8-inch thick)
• For the Filling - Spread 3 tablespoons butter over the surface of the dough with a spatula. Evenly sprinkle 1/4 cup granulated sugar, then sprinkle the brown sugar, and then sprinkle 2 teaspoons cinnamon.
• Starting at one edge, carefully roll up dough into a loaf, rolling as tightly as possible. Pinch off the two ends and pinch together bottom seam as best you can, to prevent leaking while baking. Place dough into prepared pan, seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• In the last minutes of rising, preheat oven to 375F. Prior to baking, score top of loaf by cutting 3 or 4 diagonal slits across with a sharp knife, slicing about 1-inch deep. Bake for about 30 to 38 minutes, or until golden brown. Because baking times, dough, ovens, and conditions vary, keep a very watchful eye on the loaf because it will have a tendency to burn in the final moments.
• After baking, immediately turn bread out onto a wire rack and allow it to cool. Whatever cinnamon-sugar-butter mixture leaked in the bottom of the pan, pour it over the top and if the brown sugar has caramelized in the bottom of the pan, scoop out with a spatula and pour or spread over the loaf; it somehow re-absorbs a bit over time. Allow loaf to cool completely before slicing and serving. Store bread in an airtight container or ziptop food storage bag at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Recipe loosely adapted from this cinnamon swirl bread

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 275kcal, Carbohydrates: 50g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 15mg, Sodium: 129mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 17g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Do you like Cinnamon Swirl Bread or have a favorite recipe for it?

Have you ever made bread with yeast?

If you have any tips, tricks, thoughts, favorite recipes, or anything at all to add about bread-making, please feel free to chime in and link up your favorite recipes.

Dscovering this whole new yeasty realm of baking and learning as I go has been so much fun. Even the less than stellar loaves I’ve made are better than storebought, they make great Overnight French Toast, and with each loaf, I learn something. Kind of like making cookies and with each batch, you learn something about what works, what doesn’t, and what to try slightly differently next time. The process is almost as much fun as the product. Almost.

Thanks for the Vanilla Bean Sampler Pack and Glass Jar Giveaway entries and the Pure Vanilla Cookbook Giveaway entries – winners announced next post