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This cinnamon swirl bread recipe has the ultimate cozy vibes. It’s a beautiful, enriched dough filled with a swirl of cinnamon, brown sugar and butter. Serve it with a cup of homemade hot chocolate or a matcha latte.
What Is Cinnamon Swirl Bread
You might be familiar with Pepperidge Farm’s Cinnamon Swirl Bread. I’m gonna be honest, my mom would buy it every once in a while and I LOVED IT. It was truly divine. There was nothing like seeing it in the pantry and me cutting a slice, toasting it and eating it with butter.
It’s not something I ever thought to make but after a few tests, this homemade version from scratch, blew me away with how easy it is to make.
How to Make Cinnamon Swirl Bread
- Start by melting the butter. Turn the heat off and pour in the milk. and vanilla. The residual heat from the pan will warm up the milk.
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, with the dough hook attachment, add the flour, instant yeast, salt and sugar.
- Pour in the egg and egg yolk. And then add the milk/butter mixture and knead it all up until combined and the dough is smooth, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer it to a greased bowl and cover. Place in a warm place for 1 hour. It’ll double in size.
- Mix together the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
- Punch it down. And lightly flour a work surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle that measures 8×18-inches. Don’t be shy–pull out the measuring tape.
- Pour on half of the melted butter. And brush it all around until it reaches the edges. Sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon mixture on top until it looks even.
- Pour the remaining butter on top and roll it up, longwise, trying to roll it as tight as possible.
- Pinch the seam together and transfer it to a greased 8×4-inch loaf pan.
- Cover it and let it rise for 1 hour. It should be about 1 inch out of the loaf pan and look all puffy.
- Rub it with egg wash and bake ti up until golden brown, about 35 minutes.
- Transfer it to a cooling rack and allow to cool. Slice it up and serve how you like.
How to Eat Cinnamon Swirl Bread
I am not one to *tell* you how to eat anything. But I will say that this bread is delicious when sliced thick, toasted and smothered with softened butter and a pinch of flakey sea salt. It’s unreal.
I also think it would be great as bread pudding, if say, you make a loaf and don’t eat it all and it gets a bit stale. You could also make my Custard French Toast and use this bread instead of challah.
Recipe Tip
- Roll the swirl as tight as possible. This will help avoid any gaps in the bread’s swirl as it cools. Pour the remaining butter on top of the cinnamon and sugar mixture also helps with this.
- Make sure the dough is rising in a warm place. You want, you can turn your oven to 200F and then immediately turn it off and place the dough in the oven to proof.
- If you want to add raisins to this loaf, you can do that! While they’re not my favorite, you can definitely add them when you sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
More Cozy Baking Recipes You’ll Like
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Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour, (420g)
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar, (50g)
- 1 package instant dry yeast, (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
Filling:
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- Pinch kosher salt
- 3 tbls unsalted butter, (melted)
Topping:
- 1 large egg, (beaten)
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- Prepare a 8×4-inch OR 9×5-inch loaf pan by spraying it with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, set over medium heat, melt the butter. When melted, turn off the heat and pour in the milk and vanilla. The residual heat from the pan will warm the milk.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the dough attachment (alternatively you could do this by hand with a spatula), add the bread flour, sugar, instant yeast and kosher salt. Give a mix until combined. And then pour in the egg and egg yolk, butter/milk mixture and knead until combined and smooth, about 5 minutes. Grease a bowl with some oil or cooking spray and transfer the dough to the bowl. Put it in a warm and cozy place in your house so it can rise for 1 hour, or doubled in size.
To Make the Filling:
- In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, white sugar, brown sugar and salt. Melt the butter and set aside.
To Assemble the Swirl Bread:
- Grease a 8×4-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Punch down the dough and roll it out into an 8×18-inch rectangle. Brush it with half of the melted butter and sprinkle with the filling. It should be an even layer of cinnamon and sugar. Pour the remaining butter on top of the filling. This will help moisten the filling to help it stick when we roll it up.
- Tightly roll the log up and pinch the seams. Carefully transfer it to the loaf pan, seam-side down. Cover it and place it in a warm place in your house for 1 hour, until it’s about 1 inch out of loaf pan.
To Bake the Swirl Bread:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the top with the egg wash. Transfer to the oven to bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes.
- Allow it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Slice it up and eat it with softened butter.
Notes
- Can a 9×5-inch loaf pan be used? Yes absolutely. The loaf may be a bit more stout in shape but it’ll totally work.Â
- Roll the swirl as tight as possible. This will help avoid any gaps in the bread’s swirl as it cools. Pour the remaining butter on top of the cinnamon and sugar mixture also helps with this.
- Make sure the dough is rising in a warm place. If it’s drafty in your house, the dough will take longer to rise or may not rise at all. If you want, you can turn your oven to 200F and then immediately turn it off and place the dough in the oven to proof.Â
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How might I adapt this recipe for active yeast, rather than instant?
This bread is delicious! The first time I made it, it didn’t rise as much as I expected during proofing but came out a lovely loaf. It was my error, I didn’t knead it enough so I tried again and second time is a charm! Both loaves gone in 3 days because it’s so delicious.
I love hearing this! Yes, proofing properly can be tough this year around with temperatures in our homes just naturally lower! I’m so glad they worked out the second and third time 🙂