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This BEST cinnamon bread recipe is so soft and delicious! It will be gone in minutes and will become a family favorite in no time.
Cinnamon bread is packed with flavors like our family favorite One Hour Cinnamon Rolls, Cinnamon Roll Cake, and Cinnamon Quick Bread Recipe!
Homemade Cinnamon Bread To Love!
In our family, there are two things my mom makes that we ALL crave and beg for once the weather cools down – cinnamon bread and Homemade Donuts.
This cinnamon bread recipe is especially a favorite during the holidays (and a must-have for Christmas)!
Why we love it:
- Easy. This loaf looks complicated, but comes together easily with only 20 minutes of prep!
- Flavor. My kids eat this bread like it was candy – it practically is!
- Many ways to enjoy. Slice the cinnamon bread and spread it with butter, put it in the toaster, or use it to make French Toast or French Toast Casserole!
- Any time of the day! Cinnamon bread makes a great breakfast, afternoon snack, or late-night treat.
Ingredients
- brown sugar – I use light brown sugar but you can use dark brown sugar. Make your own by thoroughly combining 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of molasses.
- salt
- hot water
- unsalted butter – or use salted butter and reduce the added salt.
- cold water
- rapid rise instant yeast – or an equal amount of dry active yeast
- all-purpose flour – or use an equal amount of bread flour for a more chewy texture.
- white sugar
- ground cinnamon
- large egg
Variations
- Add a cup of raisins. Sprinkle them on after spreading the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough, but before rolling it up.
- Glaze. Many people like to drizzle the top of the bread with a powdered sugar glaze.
How to make cinnamon bread
- WET INGREDIENTS. In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, hot water, and butter. Stir to mix, break up butter chunks, and dissolve the brown sugar a bit (a few butter chunks are okay).
- Add cold water, sprinkle yeast on top, and let sit for 10 minutes. It will not bubble much.
- DRY INGREDIENTS. Add flour 1 cup at a time and stir together with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Knead the dough for a few minutes to ensure all the flour is well incorporated.
- RISE. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 1½ hours.
- PREP. While the bread is rising, grease two 5-x-9-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Make the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Set aside.
- Make the egg wash by whisking the egg and water together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Shape and Bake!
- SHAPE. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and place it onto a lightly floured surface.
- Form a ball and divide it into 2 equal pieces.
- On a well-floured surface, roll one piece at a time into a rectangle of about 7 x 22 inches and about ½ inch thick.
- Brush with half of the egg wash. Spread ⅔ cup cinnamon-sugar mix evenly over the dough, then lightly spray with water.
- Roll the dough up tightly, lightly pulling and tucking in the sides as you roll. Pinch the ends closed and drop them into the prepared loaf pan seam side down.
- Repeat with the second piece of dough and the remaining egg wash and cinnamon-sugar mix.
- 2nd RISE. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
- BAKE. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 40–45 minutes. As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, brush the tops with butter. Let cool completely before slicing.
Recipe Tips
- Separating swirls. Sometimes the swirls separate and create a gap when the bread is cut. The egg wash will help keep the cinnamon swirls tight and avoid forming a gap.
- Another factor that can cause a gap is using an extra amount of cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Slicing. Slice cooled bread to avoid smashing the bread or runny cinnamon. Cool in the pan for a few minutes then place it on a rack. Use a bread knife to cut the slices.
- Size of rolled loaf. I typically roll my dough 7×22 inches so that it is ½ inch thick.
Storing Info
- STORE. Place the cooled cinnamon swirl bread in a large resealable plastic bag and store at room temperature for 3–4 days or in the refrigerator for 7 days.
- FREEZE. This bread also freezes well. Wrap each loaf in plastic wrap, then place in a resealable plastic freezer bag, or wrap tightly with aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw at room temperature before warming to your liking.
For More Favorite Bread Recipes:
Cinnamon Bread Recipe
This BEST cinnamon bread recipe is so soft and delicious! It will be gone in minutes and will become a family favorite in no time.
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1⅔ cups hot water
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened and cut into pieces
- 1⅔ cups cold water
- 1 tablespoon rapid rise instant yeast
- 7½-8 cups all-purpose flour
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture
- 1⅓ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, hot water, and butter. Stir to mix, break up butter chunks and dissolve brown sugar a bit (there will still be a few butter chunks, which is okay).
- Add cold water, then sprinkle yeast on top and let sit for 10 minutes. It will not bubble much.
- Add flour 1 cup at a time and stir together with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Knead the dough for a few minutes to make sure all the flour is well incorporated. (NOTE: This is a very wet and sticky dough that will stick to your hands. Dipping your hands in flour before kneading may help, but it will still stick). Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 1½ hours.
- While the bread is rising, grease two 5-x-9-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.
- To make the cinnamon-sugar mixture, mix sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Set aside.
- Make the egg wash by whisking the egg and water together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and place it onto a lightly floured surface. Form a ball and divide it into 2 equal pieces.
- Working with one piece at a time on a well-floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangle to about 7 x 22 inches and about ½ inch thick. Brush with half of the egg wash to help the cinnamon-sugar mixture stick better. Spread ⅔ cup cinnamon-sugar mix evenly over the dough, then lightly spray with water.
- Roll the dough up tightly, lightly pulling as well as tucking in the sides as you roll. Pinch ends closed and drop into the prepared loaf pan seam side down. Repeat with the second piece of dough and the remaining egg wash and cinnamon-sugar mix. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 40–45 minutes. As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, brush the tops with butter. Let cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
Make Ahead: Place the cooled loaves in a large resealable plastic bag and store at room temperature for 3–4 days or in the refrigerator for 7 days. This bread also freezes well. Wrap each loaf in plastic wrap, then place in a resealable plastic freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before warming to your liking.
Use It Up: This Cinnamon Bread is perfect on its own, but can also be used to make some of our other recipes even better. Try cutting it up and using it to make French Toast or our French Toast Bake.
Nutrition
Serving: 1loaf, Calories: 4743kcal, Carbohydrates: 993g, Protein: 105g, Fat: 35g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 142mg, Sodium: 3596mg, Potassium: 1285mg, Fiber: 31g, Sugar: 243g, Vitamin A: 842IU, Vitamin C: 0.3mg, Calcium: 353mg, Iron: 47mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This is the second time that I’ve made this bread. After the first time I made it, my husband kept asking me to make “that incredible cinnamon bread again”. I divided the recipe ingredients in fourths. One fourth of the recipe fills two nine inch loaf pans nicely. Other than that, I didn’t change a thing. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks for sharing it!
Love to hear that!! It’s seriously one of our favorites too!! 😀
How long should I knead for? I cut the recipe in half and the dough was very wet. I’m new to bread baking, so I’m not sure what I did wrong. It’s rising in the pans now. I added quite a bit more flour. Between 9-10 cups maybe. Really hoping it turns out 🙂 yours looks wonderful!
So it turned out! I should have kneaded it a bit more, it was really hard to work with. But it was delicious!!
how hot and how cold does the water need to be? just kinda warm or boiling? freezing or colder than warm?
Can you please let me know what kind of yeast
Thanks
This bread looks yummy! My kids love cinnamon bread but we stopped buying the one from the store because of the long ingredient list and I’ve been looking for the perfect recipe ever since. I can’t wait to try this one but I have never made bread before and I’m very intimidated by the 5 loaves! Can you tell me the recipe for maybe just 2 loaves? Thank you so much!
I was looking for a cinnamon bread recipe and came across your recipe. It looks delicious, but I do not know what I would do with five loaves of bread!!
This was really awesome! I was amazed at how good the recipe was despite such few ingredients. I split the recipe into 4ths to make one loaf….my loaf was huge…and I baked it for 43 minutes and it was still very very doughy…. the middle was pretty much raw… we sere able to sample the ends and top which were done, and it was very good. I think if you 4thed the recipe and made 2 smaller loaves it would have been fine. I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the water before mixing it into the dough & I brushed the dough with butter rather than water when putting cinnamon on. You know you have an awesome recipe if it still taste awesome and it did not even come out right. I will make again and am sure if I split it into 2 or cook longer a lower temp it will be perfect! .
Oh my gosh! I made this over the weekend and it is awesome! I accidentally left the butter out of the recipe, but it turned out just fine. I’m going to remember the make it with butter and see if it will turn out even more awesome! Anyway, I cut the recipe in half and its barely lasted over the weekend. My husband loves it and my kids love. I can never thank you enough for providing such a wonderful recipe.!
This looks amazing and I definitely want to try it, but I would love to only make one or two loaves (not 5), I have everything on hand, but not quite that much flour. Do you have a broken down recipe for lesser amount of loaves by chance? 🙂
Did you use bread flour or all-purpose?
All-purpose flour. 🙂
for this recipe, could you confirm if “dry yeast” mean regular yeast or rapid/instant yeast?
I tried it w/ regular yeast without proofing it. It didn’t rise as much as your picture; more dense… but still dare good!! Will experiment next time w/ rapid yeast. Also cut the recipe in half… It still made a ton!! Great a french toast the next day… Neighbors loved it too. Thanks for the recipe!!