Best Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe + Video

Cinnamon Swirl Bread made with homemade yeasted dough is sweet and irresistible! Enjoy thick, fluffy slices with your morning coffee or tea, or make it into the most incredible French toast! This is the best homemade bread recipe, ever! 

 

Gooey swirls of cinnamon and sugar fill every slice of this deliciously sweet loaf. 

Achieve a gorgeous color on top with a simple mixture of egg and milk brushed on before baking.

The cinnamon mixture pairs perfectly with the rest of the ingredients to create the perfect afternoon snack.

You can choose the best way to make this sweet bread, but I’m all about making large loaves and then topping them with some of my yummy sweet cinnamon butter. 

Maple syrup would also be delicious way to add sweetness to this easy cinnamon bread! 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I’ve been making this cinnamon swirl bread recipe for over a decade, and it’s still requested often! Everyone loves the golden brown goodness! 

Don’t want to wait for the dough to proof? Try my quick bread recipes! Cranberry orange and root beer quick bread are both fantastic for snacking!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe Tips

• Watch the temperature! When heating the milk and butter, use a thermometer to ensure it isn’t too hot. 
  
  If needed, let it cool until it reaches 115 to 120°F before adding the sugar and yeast.
  
• Use quality, fresh yeast. It should bubble when combined with the sugar and milk. If not, you’ll need to buy a new container. 
  
  I like to keep mine in a jar in the freezer for optimum freshness.
  
• Dough too sticky? Add 2 tablespoons of flour at a time and knead it by hand until it becomes tacky. 
  
  You should be able to pull your hands away without the dough sticking to your fingers.
  
• Roll it tightly. Pockets of air trapped between the layers will turn into larger gaps once the loaf cools. Work slowly to ensure it’s rolled as tight as possible.

Serving Suggestions

This cinnamon bread has just enough sweetness for dessert, but it’s delicious for breakfast or a snack as well.

Slather a slice of this cinnamon loaf with butter or use it to make cinnamon swirl French toast.

If it starts to go stale before you can eat it all, use it for breakfast casserole cups!

Kitchen Tools You Will Need

• Stand Mixer with the hook attachment
• 9×5 Loaf Pan – Line it with foil for easy clean up!
• Glass Mixing Bowls – Use the largest one to proof the dough and the smaller ones or a medium bowl for the filling and egg wash.
• Basting Brush – Useful for everything from greasing a bread pan to brushing on melted butter and egg wash!

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf FAQ

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours. 

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Other Yeast Bread Recipes

Best Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe + Video

Donna Elick

Cinnamon swirl bread made with homemade yeasted dough is sweet and irresistible! Enjoy thick, fluffy slices with your morning coffee or tea.

5 stars from 1 review

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Tried this recipe?Please comment and review!

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Rise ime 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Method Microwave, Oven

Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 cup milk + 2 tablespoons, divided
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups 12 tablespoons sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (divided)
• ▢ 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• ▢ 3 large eggs, room temperature (divided)
• ▢ 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
• ▢ 4 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Heat 1 cup of milk and 6 tablespoons of butter in microwave to 115-120°, until warm but not hot. Add warm milk mixture and 1/4 cup of sugar to the bowl of the stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the milk mixture and stir to combine. Allow to sit for 10 minutes to let the yeast bloom and become fragrant.
• Add 2 of the eggs, flour, and salt; mix with the dough hook on low-medium until combined.
• Knead on medium for 10 minutes. Place 2 tablespoons of butter in a large glass bowl, microwave for 30 seconds to melt butter.
• Pull dough out of the mixer (it will still be a little bit sticky. If it is too sticky, add 2 tablespoons of flour at a time and knead by hand until it becomes tacky, meaning when you touch the dough and pull your fingers away it doesn’t get stuck to your fingers). Roll the dough in the butter in the glass bowl.
• Cover the glass bowl in plastic wrap and then lay a tea towel over the top and set it in a warm place for about 1 hour, until it doubles in size.
• Meanwhile: in a small bowl combine the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with a tablespoon of room-temperature butter. Set aside. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Fold it like a letter in the flour and then fold in the sides to make a square. Roll dough into a rectangle about 9”x18”. If it is wider than your loaf pan, simply fold dough in and roll again. Spread 2 tablespoons of room temperature butter all over the dough, leaving a 1 inch border around the dough.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over your butter and roll your rolling pin over the dough to help press it into butter. Begin forming a roll with your dough, start at the far end and roll the dough toward you. Keep your roll tight and try not to let the filling escape. Once the dough is in a roll, pinch the end of the dough to the roll.
• Place the dough seam down in the buttered loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and allow dough to rise for 1 hour in a warm place (until doubled in size).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Adjust racks to have one in the middle.
• Mix 1 egg with 2 tablespoons milk, and beat well. Using a pastry brush, apply egg wash to the top of your bread (you will not use it all). Place bread in the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
• Remove bread from the oven when it is done (if the top is browning too fast, cover with aluminum foil). Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan to cooling rack and brush the top and sides with the remaining butter.
• Allow bread to come to room temperature before you slice it, if you can wait!

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 4894cal | Carbohydrates: 567g | Protein: 90g | Fat: 258g | Saturated Fat: 156g | Cholesterol: 1130mg | Sodium: 2664mg | Sugar: 164g | Fiber: 29g | Calcium: 689mg | Iron: 28mg

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Originally published March 2012, updated and republished February 2024

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