Old Fashioned Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This vanilla cinnamon swirl bread is swirled with a buttery brown sugar & cinnamon filling. Baked in a loaf pan, this fluffy enriched bread is ready to be sliced & served as a sweet breakfast with coffee or a cozy afternoon snack.

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This Homemade Cinnamon Bread Turns an Ordinary Morning Into Something Special

Weekend mornings are basically made for indulging in a special breakfast, which is exactly why I created this soft cinnamon yeast bread. Swirled with brown sugar + cinnamon and baked in a loaf pan, it's perfect for slathering with toasted pecan butter or turning into French toast. 

Now, I thought this recipe would be a cinch to make as a sweet version of my savory pesto swirl bread. However, it took me more than half a dozen tests to finally nail it after dealing with stiff dough, filling blow-outs, smoke billowing from the oven, and lopsided loaves. If you're curious about all the tweaks I made along the way, I popped them down below. But the TL;DR is that I can guarantee this sweet bread recipe is tried-and-true for you!

Let's Bake this Bread Together!

For the full step-by-step directions and ingredient quantities, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

I Tested this Cinnamon Swirl Bread Seven Times to Get it Just Right

• Stiff Dough: At first, I didn't want to add too much moisture in the dough. However, the low hydration along with cinnamon in the dough (which inhibits yeast activity) made it rise slower and feel tighter. Which ultimately led to the filling literally tearing and bursting through the dough as it baked - yikes! 
• Fixing the Dough: To make my dough stretchy, I added butter and another egg and took out the cinnamon. I swapped white sugar for brown sugar and added vanilla extract to enhance the flavor of cinnamon from the filling & add moisture. Finally, I kneaded the dough for 8 minutes instead of 5, resulting in beautifully soft bread, almost like a brioche.
• Leaking Filling: Unfortunately, my filling was still leaking out, so I swapped brown sugar for white sugar and reduced the quantity from ½ cup to ⅓ cup. And I used softened butter instead of melted butter, so it stays put longer. Finally, I added a teaspoon of flour to the filling. 
• Fixing the Swirl: With the filling itself fixed, I then moved on to tweaking the swirl. I used a little egg wash to seal the dough shut after rolling it up. This along with a tighter pinch ensured the filling stayed inside the dough - not on my oven floor!
• Bulging Bread: The last problem I tackled was the loaf bulging on one side. This is because most ovens are hotter at the back, so I turned it 180 degrees halfway through baking so the heat hits both sides evenly. Finally, scoring the loaf gave expansion a planned escape route.

Old Fashioned Cinnamon Swirl Bread

developed & tested by:

Carissa Erzen

This vanilla cinnamon swirl bread is baked in a loaf pan & ready to be sliced for a sweet breakfast with coffee or a cozy afternoon snack. The buttery brown sugar & cinnamon filling creates a beautiful swirl in every slice of this fluffy, enriched bread.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 35 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Rise Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 12 slices

Calories 284 kcal

Equipment

• loaf pan

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

BREAD DOUGH

• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons salt (use either table salt or fine sea salt)
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

SWIRL FILLING

• ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

EGG WASH

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water

Instructions

 

Make the Dough

• In a microwave-safe bowl, warm the milk in the microwave for 1 minute until it's between 98°F to 105°F. Stir in the brown sugar and active dry yeast. Set aside for 10 minutes, until it becomes frothy on top.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the frothy yeast mixture with the eggs and vanilla extract.
• Add the flour and salt. Mix with a large spoon until it starts forming a sticky dough.
• Add the softened butter and mix for a minute to incorporate the butter.
• On a floured surface, knead the dough by hand for a full 8 minutes, until the dough is elastic and slightly tacky. Add a tiny sprinkle of flour onto your work surface as needed while kneading the dough, to prevent it from sticking. This dough is meant to still be a little tacky (not perfectly smooth, but not wet/sticky).
• Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a clean mixing bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel or dinner plate. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size, after about 2 hours.

Prepare the Filling

• In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the filling (brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour). Keep the butter separate.

Make the Egg Wash

• Whisk the egg and one teaspoon of water to make the egg wash. Set aside.

Shape & Proof the Loaf

• Grease or line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a rectangle so it's as long as your loaf pan twice as wide (about 1.25 to 1.5 cm thick).
• Leaving a 1-inch border around the edges, gently spread the softened butter evenly over the dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture in an even layer on top.
• Loosely roll up the dough into a log, starting from a long edge. Brush a little egg wash along the exposed long edge to "glue" it shut, and tightly pinch the seam closed. (Save the rest of the egg wash for later.)

  Flatten the short ends slightly and fold them underneath the dough log. Place it seam-side-down in the prepared loaf pan, so the seam is directly under the center of the loaf.
• Cover the loaf pan with a kitchen towel. Set aside to proof for 30 minutes at room temperature (not the warm oven, since we don't want the butter in the filling to melt), until an indent made by your finger springs back to its original shape after 2 to 3 seconds.

Bake the Bread

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the oven rack in the lower third to prevent the top of your loaf from burning.

  Once the dough is done proofing, brush the top with egg wash. Use a sharp kitchen knife or bread scoring lame to cut a ¼-inch deep line lengthwise down the top of the dough.
• Place your loaf pan in the oven, and place a baking sheet on an oven rack below to catch any potential spills so they don't burn on your oven floor. Bake for 25 minutes, then rotate the loaf pan 180 degrees, and bake another 25 to 35 minutes, until your loaf has an internal temperature of 190°F. Loosely place a large piece of aluminum foil folded in half over the bread halfway through baking, to prevent the top from getting too brown.
• Allow it to cool for 1 hour before slicing. Enjoy!!

Notes

• How to get a clean cinnamon swirl: Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar in an even, thin layer to avoid gaps. If your kitchen is hot and your softened butter in the dough or filling is starting to melt, pop your loaf pan with the dough in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes to cool before it goes into the oven. 
• How to roll the bread evenly: Use both hands to roll the dough snugly (not tightly), starting from a long edge. If you roll the dough too tightly, it could cause the filling to burst through and tear the loaf. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1 slice (of 12)Calories: 284kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 7gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 349mgPotassium: 116mgFiber: 2gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 299IUVitamin C: 0.03mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 2mg

Keyword cinnamon swirl bread

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