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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.
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.
How to Make French Toast with Cinnamon Swirl Bread
- Slice up the cinnamon swirl bread into thick pieces.
- Dip it in this custard French toast base.
- Cook it in a pan.
- Drizzle it with maple butter, maple syrup…maybe some strawberries. And enjoy your life.
Tips and Tricks
- 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.
If you make this Cinnamon Swirl Bread recipe, let me know on Instagram!
Looking for more cozy recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
- Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Custard French Toast
- Basque Cheesecake
- Iced Matcha Latte
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe
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.
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
Tips and Tricks:
- 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
Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 3mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 50g | Vitamin A: 21IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 6mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this Recipe? Please Rate & comment below!
What if you only have active dry yeast on hand?
you can bloom active dry yeast in some a few tablespoons of milk with a sprinkle of sugar. i would do that and it should be fine.
Let me talk to ya!! This recipe was really something I wanted to forget. I was on the toilet for three days afterwards. Serious stomach cramps. No work. Unpaid. Really screwed up my regimen and the financial flow of my household. Really, not good. Use your head, everybody.
there’s no way that a bread recipe did this to you unless you were using ingredients that had spoiled.
Too much butter. It just ran out when trying to roll the bread, which also rolled out so wide that I had to pull the ends under to make it fit in the pan. It just turned into a sloppy mess that was difficult to transfer to the loaf pan
Dummy, learn how to bake. Really, use your head, you lummox.
It’s so yummy. I’m just wondering if it’s okay to leave the bread to rise over night?
Making it now! So excited 🙂
This bread turned out looking exactly like the picture. My kitchen smelled heavenly as it was baking and I couldn’t wait to try a slice. I toasted up a slice with some butter and it was perfection. I also made some fantastic french toast with this loaf. You really need to make this!
love to hear it!
Loveeee. So easy and delicious
This was the first thing I made with my new KitchenAid mixer. I was nervous, having never used it before, and this turned out to be SO easy. I made it on a Sunday and it was gone by Tuesday morning. So delicious! 12/10 recommend and can’t wait to make again.
love to hear it! YAY!
Do you have to use bread flour or can you sub with Ap?
never tried it with AP. but bread flour gives a good amount of protein which helps with the structure of the bread.
I made this yesterday!!! So good
So good I made it twice in a span of 24hrs.