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What are you baking this holiday season? Leave a comment.
Cinnamon is the smell of the holidays. Baking a loaf of classic, versatile Cinnamon Swirl Bread perfumes the entire house with the intoxicating sweetness of cinnamon and unmistakable warmth of baking bread.
Whether hot and fresh from the oven or toasted the next morning… it’s as simple as this: Cinnamon Swirl Bread is yummy. Get a loaf in your oven now!
Cinnamon Swirl Bread makes Classic French Toast, too! Bonus recipe included!
Ingredients for Cinnamon Swirl Bread:
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp yeast (rapid rise)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp butter
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
melted butter (for brushing top)
For swirl:
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 – 2 tsp cinnamon
NOTE: This recipe makes one loaf of Cinnamon Swirl Bread. If you are not using a Kitchen Aid mixer (what are you thinking LOL) kneading of the dough will be required.
Put this in your oven and bake it!
In the bowl of a mixer, combine yeast and sugar.
In a saucepan, heat milk, butter and salt over low heat just until butter melts.
Pour heated liquid into a container and measure the temperature. It should be 120-130(F).
Slowly pour liquid into yeast and sugar. Stir and allow to rest for 30 seconds, allowing the yeast to wake up. Turn the mixer on low and begin adding flour 1/2 cup at a time, alternating between the whole wheat and all-purpose white flour.
Midway through the addition of the flour, stop the mixer, scrape down bowl and add an egg. Incorporate egg thoroughly before adding more flour.
Finish adding the flour and continue beating dough until soft and elastic, about 3-4 minutes in the mixer. Mama Betty always says, “Your dough should be a little sticky.” Handle dough with oiled hands to pull from the hook. Stretch and turn the dough in your hands. If kneading, turn and stretch dough on a floured board for 6-8 minutes.
Form dough into a ball by rolling under, tucking and pinching. Place dough ball into an oiled bowl, pinched side down. Cover, first with plastic wrap, then with a towel. Allow to rise until doubled in size (1-1 1/2 hours).
TIP: Allow dough to rise in a comfortable, draft free location. With oven turned OFF, place steaming bowl of water on bottom rack of oven. Then, place covered dough on top rack of oven. This creates a moist environment and comfortable temperature yeast loves.
After dough has doubled in size, punch down, reform into a ball and allow to raise another 30 minutes, until doubled in size again. Punch down, knead and form dough into a rectangle. The width of the rectangle should be determined by the length of the loaf pan.
When stretched and formed to the desired size, brush dough with water.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.
Roll up, tucking and stretching the dough into a spiral loaf.
Tuck and pinch the ends.
Place into a lightly oiled loaf pan, seam side down. Cover and allow to raise another 30 minutes.
Loaf should puff and almost fill the pan.
For added fun, use a butter knife, make an indentation into the top of the loaf. Do not slice into the dough, just make a valley.
Brush the top of the loaf with butter and bake in a preheated 355(F) oven for 25-30 minutes.
Bake until golden brown and cinnamony sweet!
Here’s the bottom. You can see that a little sweet cinnamon oozed out and caramelized. Mmmm.
Allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing. Makes one loaf.
HOLIDAY BONUS! MAKE FRENCH TOAST!
To make 4-6 pieces of French Toast, beat two eggs with 1/4 cup milk or cream. Stir in 1/4 tsp vanilla. Dip bread slices into egg mixture and cook over medium heat until golden, crisp and cooked through. Serve piping hot with your favorite syrup.
The Dupont Teflon Kitchenmate loaf pan rocks! Let’s face it, Cinnamon Swirl bread can get sticky. The bread cooked evenly and popped right from the loaf pan when it was done. The Dupont Teflon prototype pan is so photogenic… don’t you think? It handled the caramelizing French Toast like a champ and cleaned up like a breeze. Thanks, Dupont Teflon!
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Link to the Special Holiday Loaf blog post.
MORE HOT BREAKFAST IDEAS!
Click an image to get the recipe.
 Incredible Spreadable Butter |
 The Best Waffles Ever! |
 Buttermilk Blueberry Scones |
 Green Chili Egg Casserole |
 Eggs Benedict |
 Breakfast Biscuit Sliders |
 Buttermilk Pancakes |
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 Scones with Lemon Curd |
 Sour Cream Coffee Cake |
Link to the Special Holiday Loaf blog post.
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I bet you could make an insane bread pudding with that bread too. Is there a recipe here for bread pudding?
Ahhh dang, Ben! No… I don’t have a recipe for bread pudding on the site yet – or a baked french toast… but there are million out there on the interwebz. I hope you give the bread a try!
Cheers,
Betty
Totally addictive recipe! I can use it for my breakfast and more with an aroma of intoxicating sweetness on the air :)
Happy Holidays!!!
Cheers,
Gera
oh man that is warming me up just looking at this!
Bread and baking seems to be the perfect foodie past time these winter days!
Now when I saw the title I thought ” what a wonderful bread!” And then you had to make French Toast with it!!!!! Kicking it up 10x notches!!!!
oh man this is just calling my name and I just know that this bread makes the perfect french toast! I need to add this to my “must make” list!
Average Betty is always the best…great recipes…
Absolutely amazing looking bread!
the french toast sounds amazing
I just finished making (and tasting) this bread. I have never had good luck making bread, but this one was absolutely perfect. I did not have whole wheat flour so used all white flour, added some raisens on top of the cinnamon, and then glazed the loaf with a powdered sugar glaze after baking. Oh! Wow! I used all the baking tips as given. Also, I doubled the recipe so that I could have one loaf just plain white bread. This is a keeper.
Hi Brenda!
Your comment is music to my ears! And so helpful and wonderful to know you used this as white bread too! I bet the powdered sugar glaze made it incredible! Take a picture and email it to me next time – I’d love to see!
Cheers,
Betty
Sigh. I thought I had found the perfect recipe as a beginner bread maker (a previous cinnamon swirl bread failed). Unfortunately, this recipe calls for rapid rise yeast and after some research, I just don’t feel comfortable substituting active dry yeast in it’s place due to the extended rising times that I would probably poorly guess at.
How unfortunate because this really looks like a perfect recipe. Any thoughts on including details how to make the recipe work with active dry yeast? That’d be the best thing ever!
I love fresh bread… great stuff ^^
Wow it looks delicious
I hope i can make them as good as you
great recipe!
This blog is awesome. I have had the best time going through your archives and articles. I will come back next time you publish.
Everything looks so good! Then you get to the Dupont Teflon and my stomach sank. Dupont uses animals to experiment on and they have been using people for god knows how many years now. Teflon kills birds. I bought a tea kettle with Paula Deans label on it. I read the instructions because I’m crazy that way. Right in the instructions it warn about the dangers to birds and their possible demise. The next day I packed it up and took it back. I told the girl behind the counter and she said thank you I was thinking about buying this kettle but with what you’ve told me I think I’ve changed my mind.
That said I’m going to try your Cinnamon bread tonight! Thank you.
I hope you love the Cinnamon Bread! Sorry about the Teflon rubbing you the wrong way…