The Only Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe You Need

As my dad likes to remind me when we plan brunch, people like Cinnamon Swirl Bread.  He’s absolutely right, guys. There is something decadent and special about a slightly sweet yeast dough with a magical swirl of cinnamon sugar running through the center of a beautifully golden loaf.  Enjoying a thick slice of this Cinnamon Swirl Bread with your morning coffee will instantly elevate your day, no brunch necessary.

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Blunder Prone Breads

 

If you read my Banana Bread post, you know that breads (especially quick breads) have not always been easy for me.  For some reason, I have the hardest time getting the centers to cook all the way through. I follow all of the steps and cooking instructions, yet I always have to increase time and cook temp to get a cooked bread.  So frustrating!

But over the years, I have worked on my bread baking game and I am so much more confident with all sorts of breads.  In fact, a few months ago, I hosted a bread baking challenge for my email subscribers.  We tackled quick breads, yeast doughs, and enriched yeast breads like this cinnamon swirl bread.

 

 

My Favorite Cookbook

 

This Cinnamon Swirl Bread recipe, like so many of my recipes, originally came from the hallowed New Best Recipe cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen.  It is the #1 cookbook you need in your house, especially if you still have a lot to learn. Each recipe has a page or two before it explaining how the recipe was developed.  I try to do this in my posts as well.

As with most recipes, I’ve made a few tweaks to the method and bake time.  I originally made this bread by hand, but I now prefer to get it started in my stand mixer.  You can choose whichever method works best for you.

 

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Tips & Tricks

 

Ingredient temperature is very important in yeast dough.  Yeast thrives in a very specific temperature range, and dies if the conditions go south.  I, naturally, forgot to take my eggs out in advance. In order to bring them to room temp, I placed them in a drinking glass and covered them with warm water while I gathered the rest of my ingredients.

I also highly recommend weighing your ingredients.  This is a tip from my Baking Tips & Tricks for Beginners.  For one, less dishes, for two, it’s a more reliable metric than volume.  The amount of flour needed to make bread can change significantly day to day based on weather conditions.  Weigh your flour out and only use as much as needed. Do not think you have to use the amount listed.  It is simply a guide, and the likely amount you may need to make your Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

 

Tackling the Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe

 

Dealing with yeast and kneading can be intimidating for novice bakers, but you can grow to love the process with some practice.  I used to hate it. In fact, the main reason I wanted my beautiful stand mixer was to make bread with the dough hook because I hated touching it.  So much mess! Now, I like to start my dough in the mixer, but finish by hand.

 

Let’s chat about this Cinnamon Swirl Bread recipe.  First of all, salt kills yeast.  Grab my Ingredient Cheat Sheet in my Resource Library.  Yeast is a living microorganism and needs sugar and warmth to grow and produce the gas that makes our bread rise.  I always add my salt last to create a bit of a barrier. Just like I wouldn’t add hot ingredients straight into raw eggs, you need some buffer ingredients to make everyone happy.

 

Related Reading: Do I Really Need a Stand Mixer?

 

I Knead You to Feel the Dough

 

Pahaha!  Sorry, give me a sec while I relish that terrible pun.

 

I like to start my dough in my stand mixer.  Give it about 7 minutes on a medium speed before you turn it out to knead by hand.  This will make the whole process less messy.  No it’s time to get your hands in there and knead.

Does kneading dough sound complicated?  It’s totes not complicated at all!  Just move it. Your technique does not need (knead?) to be perfect.  By moving the dough, you are developing the gluten.

 

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Here’s My Technique:

1. Push the dough forward with the heel of your hands (one or both, up to you).
2. Turn the dough blob a quarter turn.
3. Fold the top half back over itself towards you.
4. Push the dough forward with the heel of your hands (one or both, up to you).
5. Repeat.  Add more flour as necessary to prevent sticking.

It will take an additional 5 minutes by hand, or 10- 15 minutes total, to knead this dough to the right consistency.  As you knead the dough, it will become smooth and elastic.  To test when it’s ready, cut off a small piece and gently stretch it as thin as it will go before it tears.  You should be able to see light through it.  That’s the windowpane test.

 

 

Getting a Good Swirl

 

I rolled my Cinnamon Swirl Bread dough out on my awesome pastry mat, short end towards me.  That mat was awesome for making pie crust and it’s the perfect size for rolling out this dough because it needs to be 18×8 inches.  

 

Spread your filling on the milk dampened dough and get ready to roll. The key is a tight roll, no gaps, but you don’t want to squeeze the filling out.  Make sure to leave a good gap on the far side so that you can seal up the loaf.

When I started to roll it up, the dough was sticking a lot to the pastry mat.  This was frustrating, so I just grabbed my handy offset spatula, but any flat utensil would work, to slide under the dough as I rolled.  This loosened it up off of the mat so that I could get a beautiful tight roll. 

 

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Cool Down

 

I know it looks and sounds silly, but you want your bread to cool down on its side.  After the pan comes out of the oven, give it about 10 minutes to cool off slightly. Then gently run a spatula around the edge of the pan to loosen any stuck bits.  Turn your bread out onto a cooling rack on it’s side.  This will prevent it from squashing down on itself as it cools.

Once it is completely cool, you can slice into this loaf of cinnamon swirl bread and enjoy a treat!  I love to pop a slice in the toaster and slather it in butter.  There is nothing better than that.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Check out the swirl in your fresh batch of Cinnamon Swirl Bread!  The bread is rich, slightly sweet, and the beautiful swirl is so delicious.  This loaf took me 5- 6 hours to make, but it was oh so worth it! And 3- 4 hours is spent on rise time, so if you’re going to be home all day, you might as well give it a go.  In fact, send this recipe to a friend who would also enjoy a leisurely day of bread baking!