Kay you guys KNOW I love breakfast foods, and last year I shared my BEST EVER french toast. While it’s GREAT with any bread, seriously, I love love LOVE making a batch of this homemade cinnamon swirl bread JUST for french toast!
Let’s face it, it doesn’t get much better than fresh carbs in ANY for! Fresh bread not only smells great, but tastes amazing, just melt in your mouth! So adding a swirl of pretty much anything is going to be a hit. Something about cinnamon in carbs is always a win win.
I love bread that’s easy and is hard to mess up. This dough is pretty strong, easy to make and JUST the right balance. It’s not super soft, but not too dense, and JUST the right amount of cinnamon without being a sweet or dessert bread.
You can leave the foil on as long as you want, I wanted a softer top crust so I left it on longer, if you want a beautiful brown crust take it off earlier. I MIGHT roll it out a LITTLE thinner next time to get just a little bit more of a cinnamon spiral going, but honestly it’s perfect just the way it is! Enjoy!
Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe
Ingredients
dough
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 3/4 C water heated to 112
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 C All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp butter room temperature
- 1/4 C nonfat dry milk
- 1/2 C instant mashed potato flakes
swirl
- 1/4 C granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp All-Purpose Flour
- 1 lrg egg slightly beaten
- 1 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Make sure the water is between 112-115 degrees. Mix the water, yeast and a tsp of the sugar in your mixer (with a dough hook)
- Let it bloom for 10 mins, it will bubble and expand
- Now add half the flour, the rest of the sugar, salt, butter, dry milk and potato flakes. Mix until smooth.
- The dough will be sticky at first - add 1/4 C of the remaining flour at a time, kneading in between.
- Add flour until the dough starts to clean the sides while mixing. Keep kneading until the dough is less sticky and will stretch thin without ripping.
- Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough inside, cover with a damp dishtowel
- Allow it to double in size, it will be around an hour, but depending on your humidity (or lack) and elevation it could be a little less or more.
- Once it's doubled divide the dough and place on a lightly greased surface and pat each half out to a 6x8 rectangle
- Beat the egg and water together and brush it over the dough (you won't use it all)
- Mix the sugar, cinnamon and flour, sprinkle over the dough generously.
- Start on one 6 inch side roll the dough up
- Pinch it closed
- Prepare two loaf pans, I like to use Bakers Joy
- Place the dough, seam side down in the pan
- Cover with a kitchen towel or a bit of greased saran wrap (again, I just spray it with bakers joy)
- Let them rise until it's about an inch above the pan, about an hour
- Preheat the oven to 350
- Bake the bread 40-45 mins. After the first 15 mins cover it loosely with aluminum foil to keep it from getting too brown.
- Let cool and slice!
Video
Nutrition
It makes great toast too… my kids are toast lovers with vanilla sugar on top. So I always make a few loafs ever time so there are a few slices left for toast, AFTER the french toast of course! Cut it thick or thin, it’s delicious either way… What’s YOUR favorite breakfast?
Nilda
I love cinnamon bread with raisins so I can only imagine it in french toast
Ashlee
oh so good!
Teresa
You made my favorite bread, anxious to try. Please clarify….recipe states makes two loaves, the photo shows two but the recipe states put into one pan, etc. How many loaves will this make? Thanks in advance.
Ashlee
It makes two, just divide the dough after the first rise before you pat out the rectangles
Jeanette L Bloomquist
What size is the bread pans?
Ashlee Marie
classic 9 1/2 x 5 inch pans