There is such thing as love at first sight and I don’t care what you say.
For instance, when I saw Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread for the first time in the grocery store years ago, it was love. I hadn’t even tasted it yet but I knew. You always know.
Shoes are another great example…but we won’t go there.
Today, let’s just talk about this bread instead. And how amazingly soft and fluffy it is, despite being whole wheat, with spicy sweet swirls of cinnamon sugar all throughout.
I made it last Thursday and by mid-day Friday it was all gone. Every last crumb. I don’t know how that happened! How rude.
You start with a very basic dough. Yes, you CAN do this! It’s really no frills: just whole wheat flour, white flour, a smidge of butter, yeast, milk, water and sugar.
New to baking with yeast? Read all about this friendly little fungus here!
The reason I use half whole wheat flour and not 100% all whole wheat flour is because whole wheat flour is very dense (due to a reduction of gluten development)…to create a super soft loaf, I used half and half. You still get the benefits of the whole wheat without the stone-like characteristics. Kinda like my pizza dough!
After a little rise, you just roll out your dough and smear it with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Well actually, I used Earth Balance not butter because I was out and clearly too lazy to walk the two blocks to the store.
Ain’t he cute? A wee bread butt.
40 minutes later……
Delicious smelling, soft, fluffy cinnamon swirl bread! No raisins ’cause they’re nasty not my cup of tea. The bread made a great snack and an even better breakfast the next morning, toasted and spread with some almond butter + more cinnamon sugar.
This bread was a total experiment and I let out a long sigh of relief when it worked. Sometimes things just don’t work…like the tomato feta pie I slaved over all day on Friday only to have it fail miserably. Poor Adam ate it anyway. Then brought me wine when I cried that my life was ending because I couldn’t make a simple pie. What a guy.
Anyway.
Double the recipe and make two loaves! One for you and one to freeze for later. Or better yet, for your sweet neighbor or friend.
Baking = Love.
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Swirl Bread
makes one loaf
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup warm water
1 (1/4th oz) package yeast
1/2 cup sugar + 1 tbsp
6 Tbsp softened butter (or earth balance buttery spread), divided
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1.5 Tbsp cinnamon, divided
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 egg + 2 Tbsp warm water
Directions:
Combine your warm milk, water, yeast and 2 tsp sugar in a measuring cup and let sit for 10 minutes until foamy. The temperature of the milk/water should be about 100 degrees…about the same temperature as a warm bubble bath but not too hot.
While the yeast is resting, combine the flours, 1/3 cup sugar, 3 tbsp softened butter, salt and 1 tbsp cinnamon in a large bowl. If you’re using a kitchen aid, use a paddle attachment and start to mix on slow. Then, drizzle in the water mixture while the machine is running. Increase speed to high and mix for about 6-8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. If you’re working by hand, simply add the water mixture to the dry ingredients and knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes until smooth. Put some muscle into it!
Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough ball in. Cover with a cloth and let rise for 1.5 hours in the warmest spot of the house. I like to rise dough on top of the dryer when I’m drying my clothes.
While the dough is rising, mix together the remaining 3 T butter with the extra 1.5 tsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp sugar in a small bowl until smooth. After the dough has risen to double it’s size, roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface to a long rectangle. Smear the butter mixture all over the top and roll up tightly.
Place dough in a greased loaf pan, cover with cloth and let rise for another hour in a warm spot.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the egg and warm water then brush all over loaf. Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool and slice.
Time:
about 3 hours
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{ 103 comments… read them below or add one }
And then make French toast with this loaf!
This is comparable to a loaf of cinnamon roll goodness
Yum!! Cinnamon bread is the BEST. That bread is so pretty, too!
Beautiful! And that applies to you and Adam…and that wee bread butt.
You don’t like raisins?! Cinnamon-raisin bread is the best…but this one may actually do just fine – looks soft and doughy.
Love the butt.
ha! I love the wee bread butt…too cute
oh my YUM. I am drooling already! I cant wait to try this out
Awww, what a sweet picture of the two of you!
And what amazing looking bread! I admit, I Am one of those people terrified of yeast, dough rising, resting, kneading…basically that I am going to screw it up, big time. So I have never made bread from scratch. Your post gives me a little hope though.
The bread butt is the cutest thing ever
Wow, this looks amazing!!!! Such a great breakfast!
That is a very cute bread butt! You definitely know how to make me smile on a Monday morning!
ooo, jenna! i do believe!!
I can’t wait to make this! I’ve been slowly ticking things off my “intimidating recipes list” including macaroons, crepes & curry. Next on the list: bread! And, I think this will be it.
Unfortunately, the way it’s going (see my macaroon post for disastrous details), I need at least four tries before I get it right.
OveLoves
Making this TODAY!!!
Making bread terrifies me…but this looks so irresistible that I tempted to rise above my fears and try this delightful recipe
This is just like the amazing cinnamon swirl bread I got at the farmer’s market last week! I definitely recommend saving a couple slices and making french toast when it’s a couple days old!!
Wow0 this looks amazing, I bet it smells (and tastes) heavenly! It would be perfect with french toast…or pb sandwich…or solo with a cuppa tea!
I am so intimdated to make my own bread. You make it sound so easy….
Delicious! I know exactly what Pepp Farm bread you speak of — and this looks just like it!
The wee bread butt is so adorable
We had pepperidge farm cinnamon swirl bread all the time in my house growing up. It was considered a “treat.” God, I miss that stuff!
I was (am) in love with that very Pepperidge Farm bread as well. It is my go-to bread for pb&j, but I’ve always wished the slices were thicker. And now they will be. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
That Pepperidge Farm bread is my favorite! I haven’t made bread in a whileee so I’d love this to be the kick in the rear I need! Thanks!
my heart skipped a beat with this bread.
This looks great! I need the courage to make my own bread more often. And I do love me some cinnamon bread!!
Oh for the love. We don’t stand a chance against this stuff…!
this seems delicious. i’m totally with you on the raisins thing. well, i don’t like raisins baked INTO things. raisins are sometimes okay just by themselves. just don’t ever give me a baked good with raisins. yuck.
This sounds yummy! I’m anti-raisins, too. When I get a cinnamon raisin bagel, I usually pick them all out.
Do you think we could use soy milk instead of regular milk??
when is the right time to freeze the loaf if I make double? after its all done or do you think its better to freeze after its risen but before its baked? thanks!!
Awww, your right. Better that it makes two!!!! Now I’ll be able to share!
it IS the cutest bread butt haha! I made some bread the other day and I sat there while it was cooking thinking about swirl bread and how they possibly could get those swirls in the middle of it so perfectly… so thanks for showing me the pretty obvious answer ahah!
Whole wheat cinnamon swirl bread is exactly what I make to show people I love them as well
The smell while it bakes in the oven can’t be topped!
I’m definitely going to give this a go next weekend when I go up to visit my boyfriend – baked goods are always the key to the heart
Yuuuuum! I can never buy cinnamon swirl bread because it almost always contains raisins and I can’t stand them. I can’t wait to try this! Now I just need to get over my fear of baking bread.
bookmarking and totally making this. I’m so happy it’s for one loaf too!
Good. Grief.
I could snuggle with that bread. Seriously.
I take every failed recipe as a life failure–you’re not alone! How can you not love raisins?!!!!!!! I could literally live off of them.
Yummy! And you make it look easy.
Goodness Gracious! Reading this post makes me miss bread something fierce! I think I can smell it through the computer screen!
I could really use a slice of this bread for breakfast! YUM!
Cinnamon Swirl bread is one of my absolute favorite breads! I want to make this today, then curl up with a slice of the baked bread, some good tea and a book (its a rainy day in MN)!
Oh I am making this today! I just bought a whole wheat raisin bread form whole foods and its well a little well blah. I think this will be much better. It could be really good as french toast too! Thanks Jenna
Your loaf looks perfect!
this is such a feel-good post! love it
Do you think I could substitute almond milk for regular milk in this recipe?
yep! I actually used almond milk in the recipe.
Mmmm I wonder how this would work using all white whole wheat?
it would be heavy and dense…i don’t suggest it!
That looks delicious! I want to make it some day soon!
That bread looks SOO beautiful!! I am in love!!
Gorgeous! I will be making this for sure!
I’ll have to try this. and I totally agree…raisins? there’s just no place for them
I am so glad you made this! I can never find a whole wheat cinnamon swirl loaf of bread… But i’d so much rather bake my own!
I love cinnamon swirl bread. I love even more that this is whole wheat. I cannot believe you got our swirl so perfect. Mine always turns out a bit off. Lovely!
This looks delicious! My Mother in Law makes french toast out of cinnamon swirl bread–its to die for!
yum, but it needs raisins! i just made my first challah this weekend, so i’m not scared of yeast anymore. can’t wait to try this. i’m on a bread baking kick. feel so accomplished making breads!
Yum yum yum! I’m totally craving cinnamon toast right now. I can’t wait to try this out!
A wee bread butt! Hahahaha I needed that today
You make bread baking look so simple!! The loaf came out so perfect. I’m not sure if my oven could turn out something so beautiful. What type of loaf pan do you use? How important is type of loaf pan used do you think??
Love cinnamon swirl bread!! You make it look so easy
I love first for the raisin line, and second for this deeeeelicious sounding recipe.
Looks delicious!
I agree with cinnamon swirl pepperidge farm bread love at first sight. My grandmother always use to have it for us as kids. Nothing better than that sweet bread Slathered with butter. Yours looks fantastic!
This sounds delicious! The cinnamon swirls make me happy.
mmm…swirl-alicious. i’ll have to make some. if i dare.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been looking for a recipe like this. Going to try it this week.
Aww, that picture of you two is adorable. Glad that this experiment turned out!! Now we all benefit! lol
This bread looks totally delish, even better than the Pepperidge Farm version. Will definately give it a try this weekend. I am thinking it would make delicious french toast!
This is in my oven as I type
My house smells amazing! I can’t wait to try it.
Wow…it looks glorious! I love how shiny the crust is…I would eat that whole loaf in a couple days
I bet this smells amazing while baking in the oven, I just might have to give it a go! Love your style, too!
Bread butt! So cute
mmm i love cinnamon bread. yum!
I bought a loaf JUST like this one at the Farmer’s Market yesterday…now the thought of making my own is enticing me. I’m using it to make strawberry stuffed french toast tonight for dinner- can’t wait. I <3 breakfast for dinner!
Making this STAT!
Do I use fast rise yeast or regular?
instant yeast…either will work.
that looks amazing!
yum! this looks fantastic. i will add the raisins though, as i love them! thanks for another fantastic recipe!
Mmm, yum! I don’t like raisins either, well not the black ones.
Omg! This bread is fabulous! My husband thinks I’m a goddess now. Thanks, Jenna!
Holy yum!! I love how this recipe is somewhat “healthy” in comparison to usual cinnamon bread
Yum! Your bread looks delicious! I made another version of this bread a couple of months ago: http://chocolateandcarrots.com/2011/04/whole-wheat-cinnamon-swirl-bread It was amazing!
Yum!
How wonderful! I could almost smell this.
But considering how “nice” I am, I’ll probably share some with my gym buddies. lol
This looks awesome!!! I was wanting to make bread this week, but wasn’t sure what to make. This is the answer! Thanks for sharing.
Wow, LOVE this idea! I will definitely be making this today. Great tip about rising bread near a running clothes dryer…I’ll be trying that, too!
This bread looks incredible. Imagine how this would taste as french toast bread! Love from runningwithmascara.com
I made this yesterday and the loaf was gone within 6 hours. In the filling, I put in some maple bites from King Arthur Flour and it was delicious! Thank you!
Love the pic of you two! And how perfect does that loaf of bread look? Jealous!! I can still never get my bread to rise.
At what point in the process would I freeze it to finish another time?
I have a feeling that favourite daughter status is within my reach if I conjure up this bread sometime soon
I just made this bread yesterday and it was AMAZING! i have a fairly low success rate with yeast breads (this one actually didn’t really rise at all b/c i overmixed it) but this was pretty easy. We already ate half of the loaf!
Thanks for the great recipes Jenna!
Made this tonight and it’s such a treat! Super easy to make too! Which I love…
I thought it would be more sweet like a cinnamon roll but it wasn’t…not a bad thing though! Can’t wait to have another piece in the morning.
I just noticed the ingredients list calls for 1/2 cup sugar and in the directions it calls for 1/3 cup. Maybe this is why mine wasn’t as sweet?
I finally made this yesterday and it is absolutely delicious!!! My whole family loves it!! I have a fair bit of baking experience but think this is so easy for anyone. I didn’t find my yeast to get very foamy but since I had just used that yeast earlier for a no-knead bread, I didn’t worry and just dumped it in. I popped it into my plain old 9×5 loaf pan and it was perfect. A gorgeous loaf!!!
I freeze other loaves all the time and it works fine. Once the bread is cool, I wrap it tightly in foil then put in a ziploc bag. Works every time!!
And for those asking, I’d recommend baking then freezing. While I did pop a second loaf of this into the freezer last night
Thanks so much for sharing this delicious recipe!! Now tonight – your tamale pie!!
Finally got around to making this bread today. Made one loaf for me and my boys and one loaf as a gift for family who just moved into town. A little bit of home in a loaf! It’s amazing! Anything cinnamon and I’m in.
FYI, I made it with rapid rise yeast and it worked just fine. Never tried that before–usually use the old fashioned stuff.
Saw you are sick. I had strep throat last week and was miserable! Hope you feel better!
YES! finally, someone who shares my feelings on raisins. lol. this looks so yummy though, i’m making it right now waiting for the dough to rise
Thanks for the recipe
yum, this is in the oven right now and i am getting ridiculously excited!! thanks!
Yummmmmm!! Made this today and everyone in the family loved it. Thanks so much for posting this recipe! I linked to it on my blog. Thanks!
Hey, Jenna –
Getting ready to make this and I just wanted to let you know that your ingredients list and directions talk about different amounts. It mentions adding cinnamon to the bread, but only 1-1/2 T is in the ingredients list (for the smear). The sugar amounts are also different throughout. Nothing catastrophic, but just something you might want to fix real quick! Can’t wait to make it..looks delish!
Thanks!
Thanks, Emily! I’m going to have a look at it right now.
Looks like the amount of cinnamon says “divided” in the recipe and then in the instructions it tells you how much to use for both the bread and the smear. I believe that it’s 1 tsp in the bread itself and 1.5 tsp in the smear. Hope that helps!
I believe in the recipe it states 1 tbsp in the bread. I was wondering why my dough was a lot darker color then yours. Oh well, I hope the extra cinnamon doesn’t affect the taste.
I am munching on it right now! YUMMMMM! It’s like a cinnamon roll in bread form. Mine is a bit denser (Hard to find a warm spot in this cold house!) so I had to bake it for 50 instead of 40 minutes. I also used 1/2c sugar like the ingredient list says, not 1/3c like the directions say. For my filling, I used 1.5T cinnamon and 1.5 T sugar. Perfect weekend recipe!
Well, I am happy as a clam. I googled “cinnamon whole wheat bread” just HOPING I’d find something similar to Pepperidge Farm’s, and BINGO this is what popped up! I’ve printed this and can’t wait to try it out – maybe this weekend. Thanks Jenna!
Oh bummer! What did I do wrong, Jenna? This bread didn’t work out for me. It simply didn’t rise, at all. Could my yeast have been dead? How can one tell? Could this bread work as a non-yeast bread? how would you modify the recipe to make it yeast-free?
Thanks for any advice
PS. I’m totally a novice bread-maker
I randomly googled Whole Wheat Cinnamon bread because I had a huge bag of WW flour. That was a week ago. I have made this FOUR times since then. Bless you.
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