Easy Recipe for Homemade Cinnamon Bread

This recipe for homemade cinnamon bread is easy enough for a first-time bread maker, and it makes any holiday morning feel special. A soft loaf with a cinnamon sugar swirl and a drizzle of vanilla icing is hard to beat with a cup of coffee.

Do you love easy breakfast breads? You should try my Hummingbird Bread or my Blueberry Orange Bread!

This cinnamon bread is another one from our family cookbook. The cookbook says the recipe came from a 1982 edition of Southern Living, and my Daddy used to make it. I made a couple of small tweaks to the original, but it's largely the same. Every time I make it, it makes me smile.

The original recipe calls for raisins in the cinnamon swirl. We're not big raisin fans, so I leave them out, but if your family loves them, go for it.

This is the cinnamon bread I reach for from Thanksgiving through New Year's. The dough can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to five days, so you can mix it up early in the week and bake it the morning your company arrives. The house smells amazing while it bakes, and your overnight guests will wake up to a warm loaf on the counter.

It also makes a great homemade gift. Wrap a loaf in parchment, tie it with some twine, and take it to a neighbor, teacher, or your child's bus driver. If there are any leftovers after Christmas morning (there usually aren't), slice it thick and use it for French toast.

Jump to:

• Ingredients Needed
• One Dough, Two Recipes
• How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Bread
• Pam's Expert Tips
• Storage Information
• Recipe FAQs
• More Easy Breakfast Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• Sweet Breads

Ingredients Needed

For the Dough

• Active Dry Yeast - I use regular active dry yeast, not the quick-rise kind. One packet is 2¼ teaspoons.
• Warm Water - It should be between 100 and 115 degrees. Too hot and it'll kill the yeast, too cool and it won't wake up.
• Shortening - This is what the original recipe calls for, and it makes a tender loaf. You can use softened butter if that's what you have.
• Sugar - Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness to the dough.
• Egg - Makes the bread richer and softer.
• Salt - Balances the sweetness.
• All-Purpose Flour - I use all-purpose flour, but bread flour works too and will give you a slightly chewier loaf.

For the Filling & Icing

• Butter - Melted and brushed over the dough so the cinnamon sugar sticks.
• Cinnamon and Sugar - The star of the show.
• Powdered Sugar, Milk, and Vanilla - Stirred together for a simple icing to drizzle on top.
• Pecans - Optional, but we love pecans in just about everything. Leave them off if you have a nut allergy in the family and the bread is plenty good without them.
• Raisins - Also optional. Add them to the swirl if your family likes them.

One Dough, Two Recipes

This recipe makes a basic yeast bread dough, and the cinnamon loaf only uses half of it. You can use the other half to make my Parmesan Crescent Rolls, or double the filling and icing and make two loaves of cinnamon bread. Bake one and give the other away, or keep both. I won't tell.

How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Bread

1. Proof the yeast. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let it sit for a few minutes until it looks a little foamy.
2. Make the dough. Beat in the sugar, shortening, egg, salt, and half the flour until smooth, then stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.
3. Let it rise. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour. You can also cover and refrigerate it for up to five days at this point.
4. Roll and fill. Punch the dough down, divide it in half, and roll one half into a rectangle. Brush it with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
5. Roll it up tight. Starting at the short end, roll the dough up as tightly as you can and pinch the seam and ends closed.
6. Let it rise again. Place the loaf seam side down in a greased loaf pan, cover, and let it rise until doubled.
7. Bake. Bake until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it.
8. Add the icing. Let the bread cool, then drizzle with the icing and sprinkle with pecans if you like.

Pam's Expert Tips

• Use regular active dry yeast, not quick-rise. This recipe was written for active dry, and it's what I always use.
• Save some flour for rolling. Keep about ¼ cup of the flour aside to sprinkle on your counter and on top of the dough when you roll it out.
• Give it a warm spot to rise. Set the bowl over a pan of warm water. Unless your house is 85 degrees, and if it is, bless your heart for making bread.
• Roll tight and pinch hard. Air pockets between the layers are what cause that big gap between the swirl and the bread. Roll slowly and keep it snug, then pinch the seams tighter than you think you need to.
• Cold dough takes longer. If you refrigerated the dough, expect the rises to take a little longer since it's starting out cold. It'll still turn out delicious.
• Check the temperature. If you're not sure it's done, an instant-read thermometer should read about 190 degrees in the center of the loaf.

Storage Information

Store leftover cinnamon bread tightly wrapped or in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Homemade bread doesn't have the preservatives store-bought bread has, so it won't last quite as long.

To freeze, let the loaf cool completely and wrap it well in plastic wrap and then foil. It's best to freeze it before adding the icing. You can also slice it first and put a piece of parchment paper between the slices, so you can pull out one at a time and pop it in the toaster.

Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature. Add the icing after it thaws.

Recipe FAQs

More Easy Breakfast Recipes

• Gouda Grits with Cajun Spice
• Cinnamon Scones
• Easy Cinnamon Biscuits (with only 4 ingredients)
• Ham and Potato Frittata
• Crustless Breakfast Quiche

📖 Recipe