I’ve recently started making my own bread, and I’m enjoying it. So far I have only tried two recipes: a no-knead baguette and Dutch oven bread. The Dutch oven bread has become a favorite since it is ready in only a couple of hours. That’s part of what attracted me to this Cinnamon Swirl Bread. Time-wise, it falls between the two recipes I just mentioned. It’s not as quick as the Dutch oven bread, but it doesn’t need an overnight rise like the baguette recipe so I’m expecting this to be same-day bread. I’m also a little nervous because this recipe is a touch more complicated than the others I have made. Things didn’t go so well the first time I made the baguette, and I’m hoping that’s not the case here. Let’s find out!
This deliciously fragrant, homemade cinnamon swirl bread is beyond delicious fresh and even better as toast!
The Ingredients
I usually have a few ingredients on hand, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I had all of this recipe’s ingredients. Since I don’t keep dairy milk around, I did use powdered milk. I did have to mix it up as I baked, but I would have had to warm up regular milk anyway. Not much of a difference, really.
The Process
This recipe has several phases since it needs 2 rises. Here’s how it went:
- 25 minutes to prep
- 1 hour 30 minutes for the first rise
- 6 minutes to prep
- 1 hour for the second rise
- 50 minutes to bake
- 10 minutes to cool
- 4 hours 1 minute total
The recipe lists a total time of 3 hours, but that only includes time for the prep work plus both rises. I have a feeling it’s an error.
Prep & The First Rise
The prep work for this recipe actually wasn’t too difficult, but I did make sure I read and re-read this recipe before I started. The notes mention the recipe can be halved to make a single large loaf, so that’s what I decided to do.
First up was making the cinnamon sugar. All I had to do was mix up the ingredients in a small bowl and divide it. The real work was still to come.
This is one of those situations that makes me even more grateful for my stand mixer. And that it came with a dough hook. After adding the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl, I slowly added the milk. Once the dough cleared the sides of the bowl, I set a timer and let the mixer knead it for 8 minutes.
When it was ready, I put it into a greased bowl and covered it with greased plastic wrap. Tip: Sprayable canola oil comes in very handy for this recipe. I set the bowl by the window and let the dough do its thing over the next hour and a half.
More Prep & The Second Rise
The dough had easily doubled in size by the time I returned. It was time to make it into a loaf. The dough needed to be stretched into an 8″ x 14″ rectangle for this step.
Tip: To keep things accurate, I used a paper guide (there was no way I could eyeball it!). I wrapped a large cutting board in plastic wrap and slid the paper guide under the clear plastic. Then I shaped the dough into the size and shape of the paper. Perfect!
Next, I lightly sprayed the dough with water and added the cinnamon sugar. I didn’t take into account that the original recipe is for 3 loaves, so I only added 1/3 of the mixture. I could have used it all. Oh well, I have leftovers for cinnamon toast.
Anyhoo, once the cinnamon sugar was added, I rolled the dough, pinched the edge closed, and placed it into a greased 9' x 5' loaf pan for the second rise. Once again, I covered the dough with greased plastic wrap and left it to rise for another hour.
Baking & Cooling
My Cinnamon Swirl Bread was finally ready to bake! I brushed the top with melted butter, sprinkled on more cinnamon sugar, and put the pan into the oven. The recipe says the bread can bake from 40 to 60 minutes. I’m a bread novice, so I chose 50 minutes and crossed my fingers.
The top of the loaf was pretty brown after 30 minutes, so I tended it with a piece of foil and let it finish. Then I let it cool for 10 minutes, removed it from the pan, and let it finish cooling to room temperature on a wire rack (I didn’t time that).
It was too late to take photos by the time the bread had cooled. I ended up wrapping the loaf tightly in plastic wrap and taking them the next day. I was so relieved when I sliced into it and found it had baked perfectly!
