Homemade Cinnamon Bread
December 27, 2010
This is what you want to make on a cold winter day and then enjoy the rest of the week. This cinnamon bread recipe makes two loaves, so you can enjoy one now and freeze one for later. The dough is a pleasure to work with and roll out. The recipe calls for a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar on the inside, but you can add some nuts or raisins also, if you like. Try a slice toasted, with lots of butter on top. You could even make french toast with it. Enjoy.
Cinnamon Bread
for a printable recipe only, click here
Makes 2 loaves. They freeze beautifully. You will need two 9x5 loaf pans.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup water
- ⅓ cup butter
- about 7½ cups cups of flour (more or less)
- 6 Tablespoons sugar
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 4 teaspoons of instant dry yeast (fast acting yeast) or 2 packages of active dry yeast (I prefer the instant yeast) *
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions:
Combine milk, water and ⅓ cup butter in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until liquids are warm (not hot - it will kill the yeast). Remove from heat and stir until butter is melted.
Place 6 cups of flour, 6 tablespoons sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl. If you're using a KitchenAid mixer, attach your dough hook. Mix for a few seconds and then gradually add the eggs. Mix and then add the liquids and mix for a couple of minutes. (If you are not using a mixer, just do this process in a large bowl and use a wooden spoon and then your hands).
Add remaining flour until dough clings to the hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. Add just enough flour until the dough gathers into a ball. Knead for about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and set in a warm location; let rise until double, about 40 minutes.
Combine ½ cup of sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl. Spray the loaf pans with non-stick spray.
Placing plastic wrap on the dough helps to roll it out.
Punch the dough down and divide in half. Roll each half to a 9"x14" rectangle, Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon mixture. Roll dough tightly and shape into loaves. Place in the loaf pans. Cover; let rise until double, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 F degrees.
Bake at 375 F for 35 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and let cool on wire racks.
To freeze, wrap tightly.
* For more information about the various kinds of yeast, see my post "Yeast Explained".
Note: This dough recipe is also used to make awesome Walkaways.
Reader Comments (37)
This looks wonderful- it bet it would be great toasted with a big smear of butter for breakfast- or any time, really! ;)
The first loaf of bread I ever made was cinnamon raisin. This recipe brings back a lot of memories!
Yummy :-D Seeing this recipe brought back many wonderful memories. Many years ago i would make this for family and friends just about every week. I can even smell those wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. I can't wait to get back to baking this bread again. Thanks for the reminder.
looks and sounds wonderful...
Today I tried my first Focaccia bread... from one of my bread making books. Pretty tasty with a chicken veggie soup made from our tiny leftover chicken.......
I've been wanting a slice of this bread ever since you tweeted about it. Gorgeous loaf! Happy New Year!
I must try this! I really enjoy your blog and every recipe I have tried from you has been a winner! Does it matter what type of milk you use for this bread? Can it be 1%?
From The Italian Dish:
L: You can use either whole milk or reduced fat, no problem.
That looks super tasty! I can't wait to give it a go!
This looks amazing. Im getting more and more interested in backing, and this recipe looks delicious.
If you freeze the second loaf, how do you recommend defrosting it before baking?
From The Italian Dish:
Katie: No, no! You bake both breads and let the loaf that you want to freeze completely cool and then wrap it tightly and freeze it. When you want it, just take it out and put in on the counter the night before and it will be defrosted by morning. Hope this helps!!
This looks great. What kind of flour do you use, though? All-purpose, bread flour, etc.?
From The Italian Dish:
Sherry: Just all-purpose flour.
I am just imagining the aroma in the kitchen - which is enough for me. Sending this to myself as a reminder to make it this weekend. That will get the grown kids out of bed! Perfect for a wintry morn.
Gotta to try this soon! So beautiful bread! I wonder if I can halve this recipe?
From The Italian Dish:
Sonia: Yes, you can halve the recipe but consider making the whole recipe. It's so easy to just go ahead and make the whole batch and the second loaf freezes so nicely.
WOW!!! best cin bread i've ever made...it's so easy you'all gotta try it now...that's right stop what you're doing and make it...trust me
thank you for the recipe this recipe! i added raisins with mine and it was so yummy!! i had relatives over this weekend and they loved it! again thanks! :0)
oh my gosh these look fantastic, do they come out well without using a kneader like kitchen aid????
From The Italian Dish:
MS: Yes, you can certainly make the dough without a mixer. It just takes a little more muscle!
hi can you use bread flour for this??? And what is the gram weight in yeast??
thanks :-)
From The Italian Dish:
Brooke: I have never tried it with bread flour. Give it a go and see how you like it. 4 teaspoons is about 16 grams yeast.
i made this last week.. i have very little (actually none) experience with making bread and this turned out really really good, i used the recipe exactly accept USE INSTANT YEAST..i suspect that would make the dough turn out slightly prettier and wouldve rose faster.. also make sure you make it right before it gets eaten.. the taste of it the day of rather then the next is a HUGE difference, hope this helped XO
I agree with your title! I really should make this cinnamon bread. :)
Made this and it turned out well! I use instant yeast definitely. It makes it very easy :) also roll it nice and tight so that there are lots of swirls. I didnt roll mine as tightly so there was only cinnamon and sugar in the middle and not as much on the outside.
If you use active dry yeast, you need to proof it first!!! Otherwise the dough might not rise (if it's too old or the salt will kill it). I fallowed the recipe closely and my dough didn't rise well. I didn't proof my yeast and put it directly in the flower with sugar and salt. So proof yeast first (if you use active dry) before putting in with the flower and salt to make sure your dough will rise.
From The Italian Dish: Margo: Yes, this is why I prefer Instant Yeast. It's the only yeast I buy. No proofing - no guessing.
Update: Just took my loafs out of the oven. They look gorgeous and my house smels delicious! I put a bit more cinamon inside and I mixed it with a pinch of cayenne pepper. All that time waiting for my dough to rise.... It was so worth it! But definitely going to fallow your advice and use instant yeast next time. Thanks for the great recipe!
I have been searching for a recipe of my great-grandmother's that she always called "Mother's Bread", I think this looks like it :) I am very excited to try it out and see!
WOW! I just recently found your blog and have been LOVING the eye candy! You have jumped straight to the top of my list of favorite food blogs. I really appreciate the real food aspect you adhere to, that so many others are oblivious to these days! Thanks for all the wonderful photos and recipes, they are truly amazing and the time you put into everything really shows! This cinnamon bread is like no other, it is rich and "eggy" and made the BEST french toast. I do enjoy tinkering with a recipe to get it just perfect, but what a thrill when I make your recipes, that have already been perfected - by you - no tinkering necessary! Take care and keep up the great work. Thanks so much.
Hey there! Im dying to make this bread (love everything with cinnamon in it) . Im vegetarian though so the eggs pose a problem. Will this work with egg replacer powder (I have the Organ No egg one). Many thanks!!
I made this bread yesterday and it came out perfect!!! Your site is wonderful, the recipes look yummy and the photos are beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.
Idont have oven,can I use the micro-wave oven to replace?do you have any idea for the micro-wave oven? i hope i can experiment successfully.
Made this yesterday even though it is so hot here in CA. Came out soooo good but my rolling is not that perfected yet. Top had a space when cut. Need to roll a little tighter next time. Love it toasted. Thanks for a great recipe. Using the Kitchen Aid is so easy.
This dough is wonderful to work with. I made the Blueberry walkaway this past weekend for my nephew's wife. She gets gestational diabetes so I made this on the birth of Silas John to celebrate her return to normal dining. Then made another tonight to bring to work so I can finally get a taste for myself. I used the scraps to make a tiny loaf of cinnamon bread. Delicious. I'm looking forward to making a couple of cinnamon loaves.
i have never baked bread before but it looked so delicious. Do you need to sift the dry ingredients first? Do you need to mix the active yeast with water before adding to dry ingredients? I am a novice but want to learn.
OMG!!!I just made this, it is delectable. And it is the first yeast bread I have ever made. Thank you for this recipe and the easy to follow directions. :D