I think every kid goes through a toast phase when they first try cinnamon sugar toast. Cinnamon sugar toast was a favorite back then and still is. This cinnamon swirl bread tastes similar to cinnamon sugar bread, just baked right in. Cinnamon is such a good spice and I will find any way to put it into so many kinds of baked goods.
To create this cinnamon swirl bread, I took my Honey White Sandwich Bread and just added the cinnamon filling. I knew my honey white sandwich bread would be the perfect bread to adapt because it’s soft and just slightly sweet, but a blank canvas perfect for adding some sweetness and spice.
The result is a soft bread, with lots of intense sweet cinnamon streaks through it. We roll the dough out much longer than when we do to make a normal sandwich bread to get a really good spiral going. This helps you get cinnamon in every bite. I enjoy eating this bread plain, or toasted.
Baking Tips
When you roll your dough make sure to do so tightly, to prevent gapping. You still may get some with the top swirl of the bread due to the bread rising. Don’t worry, it still will taste awesome.
If you have ever made my honey white sandwich bread, or any sandwich loaf, you may notice this bread isn’t going to rise quite as much and that’s normal. Cinnamon is known to inhibit yeast, so while your bread should still rise (if it’s not that signals problems elsewhere – check your yeast!), it won’t be quite as lofty as a plain sandwich loaf.
Make sure your butter for the filling is very very soft. Almost melted. You could melt the butter but personally I prefer to work with extra soft butter. The colder the butter is, the harder your filling will be to spread.
Cinnamon Swirl Bread Key Ingredients
- Cinnamon – Obviously, most important because this is the flavor of the bread. I personally love Vietnamese cinnamon (I use this one) as it has a very strong and spicy flavor. Whatever cinnamon you have will work just fine though.
- All Purpose Flour – AP Flour is just going to help this bread be super soft. We could very easily make this with bread flour and it will still turn out and still be delicious, so like the cinnamon, make this with whatever you have.
- Butter – We put unsalted butter in the dough and unsalted butter in the filling. It’s going to add a bunch of fat and flavor, helping the dough to be super soft and tender.
Ingredients
- 400 g AP Flour 3⅓ cup
- 2½ tsp Instant yeast
- 1½ tsp Sea salt
- 42 g Honey 2 tbsp
- 80 g Whole or 2% milk ⅓ cup, warm
- 160 g Water ⅔ cup, warm
- 42 g Unsalted butter 3 tbsp, room temperature
Filling
- 42 g Unsalted butter 3 tbsp, very soft/melted
- 25 g Dark brown sugar 2 tbsp
- 25 g Granulated sugar 2 tbsp
- 15 g Cinnamon 2 tbsp
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached, add flour, yeast, salt, honey, milk, and water and mix on low until a rough dough starts to form.
- Add butter, 1 tbsp at a time, waiting until each piece has been fully mixed into the dough before adding the next.
- Knead dough on low until soft and smooth. Dough should no longer be sticking to the sides of the bowl.
- Remove dough, shape into a ball. Lightly grease bowl and place dough back in. Cover and let rise for one to two hours or until dough has doubled in size.
- Combine your very soft butter, cinnamon, granulated and brown sugar in a small bowl. Mix until you have a spreadable paste.
- Line an 8.5×4.5" loaf pan with parchment. Set aside.
- When dough has finished rising, remove from bowl and roll dough out into an approximately 8×16 inch rectangle.
- Spread your cinnamon sugar mixture over your rolled out dough, leaving about a 1 inch border on the short sides and a half inch border on the long sides.
- Starting on the short side, roll your dough into a log.
- Place your dough, seam side down into the loaf pan, cover and let rise for 30-60 minutes.
- While your dough is rising, preheat your oven to 350°F.
- When dough has risen to near the top of the loaf pan, place on the center rack of your oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. The top of your bread should be a dark golden brown.
- Remove from oven, and remove bread from loaf pan immediately onto a wire rack to cool. Do not slice into bread until it has completely cooled.
- Bread can be stored in an airtight container for 3-5 days. Enjoy!
