This soft sourdough sandwich bread is filled with a swirl of flavorful cinnamon and brown sugar. Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread is easier to make than you might think.
Why This Recipe Works
If you layer bread dough with cinnamon sugar and roll it up, you often end up with a large air gap near the top of the dough where the dough separates from the cinnamon/sugar filling.
This recipe avoids this “air gap” problem by using a cinnamon sugar paste made with cinnamon, brown sugar, flour and milk. The starch in the flour helps the cinnamon sugar filling bind to the bread, creating a perfect cinnamon swirl throughout each slice of bread.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Main Dough Ingredients
- Bread Flour: I used King Arthur bread flour for this recipe. You can use any plain white bread flour that contains around 11-13% protein.
- Water: Plain, un-chlorinated tap water is best. Use filtered water or bottled spring water if your city’s tap water contains harsh ingredients or has a bad taste.
- Whole Milk: For richness and flavor, I prefer to use whole milk for this recipe, but any other milk or non-dairy milk should work fine.
- Sourdough Starter: You’ll need a 100% hydration sourdough starter for this recipe (fed with equal parts water and bread flour).
- Butter, Melted: You’ll need to use two tablespoons of melted butter for this dough. See optional substitutions below.
- White Sugar: This recipe calls for a small amount of white sugar to bring sweetness and softness to the dough.
- Salt: I used Kosher salt for this recipe, but sea salt or plain table salt will also work well.
Cinnamon Sugar Paste Ingredients
- Brown Sugar: I used light brown sugar for this recipe, but dark brown sugar would work as well.
- Bread Flour: I used the same bread flour in the paste that I used for the bread dough.
- Cinnamon, Ground: You’ll need about 2 tsp of ground cinnamon.
- Whole Milk: Whole milk will bring all of the dry ingredients together into a spreadable paste. You can replace this ingredient with non-dairy milk or another type of milk if desired.
- Egg: You will need one egg to make an egg wash for the top of the dough. This will give the dough a shiny top as it bakes in the oven. See substitutions below if you don’t want to use an egg.
Note: See recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and quantities.
Substitutions and Additions
- Milk: You can use any plain non-dairy milk instead of whole milk in this dough. Something with a neutral flavor is preferred, like soy-, rice-, almond-, or oat milk.
- Butter: You can use an equal amount of vegetable oil or olive oil in place of the melted butter in this recipe.
- Eggs: You can use milk or non-dairy milk instead of an egg to brush on top of the loaf before baking. This can replace the egg wash and still give you a great result.
Ingredient Amounts
Starter Feeding
- Sourdough Starter, leftover – 25 grams
- Water – 50 grams
- Bread Flour – 50 grams
Main Dough
- Bread Flour – 450 grams
- Water – 200 grams
- Whole Milk – 50 grams
- Sourdough Starter, active – 100 grams
- Butter, Melted – 2 Tbsp (26 grams)
- White Sugar – 10 grams
- Salt – 10 grams
Cinnamon Sugar Paste
- Brown Sugar – 75 grams
- Bread Flour – 30 grams (3 Tbsp)
- Cinnamon, Ground – 2 tsp. (5 grams)
- Whole Milk – 30 grams
- Egg (for Egg Wash) – 1 egg (50 grams)
Suggested Timeline
| Time | Step |
|---|---|
| 10:00 PM (Day 1) | Feeding the Sourdough Starter |
| 6:00 AM (Day 2) | Mixing the Dough |
| 6:05 AM | Kneading |
| 6:15 AM | The First Rise (Bulk Fermentation) |
| 11:00 AM | Making the Cinnamon Swirl |
| 11:15 AM | Filling and Rolling the Dough |
| 11:30 PM | The Second Rise (Final Proof) |
| 2:00 PM | Baking |
How to Make Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Step-by-Step Instructions
Feeding the Sourdough Starter
Take 25 grams of leftover sourdough starter out of the fridge. Feed your starter 50 grams of water and 50 grams of bread flour. Mix the flour, water, and starter around in the jar until it has a pancake batter-like consistency. Mark the top of the starter with a rubber band and cover the top of the jar loosely with a lid. Let the starter rise at room temperature overnight, for around 6-8 hours, or until it doubles in size.
Mixing the Dough
To a mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, add all of the water, whole milk, white sugar, salt, melted butter, and the active and risen sourdough starter. Stir together until thoroughly combined. Then, add all of the bread flour, and stir together until a rough dough forms.
Kneading
Turn the dough out onto an un-floured kitchen counter and knead the dough by hand for 8 minutes. You can also knead the dough in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment on medium speed for about 8 minutes. When the dough holds together well, form it into a ball.
The First Rise (Bulk Fermentation)
Move the kneaded ball of dough to a greased glass container with a lid. Close the lid and let the dough rise at room temperature for 4-6 hours, or until the dough is almost doubled in size. When the dough has doubled in size, you can move on to filling and rolling the dough.
Making the Cinnamon Swirl Paste
When the dough is still rising, prepare the cinnamon swirl paste. In a small mixing bowl, add the brown sugar, the ground cinnamon, and the bread flour. Mix these together with a fork and try to get out as many clumps as possible. Then, add the whole milk and whisk the ingredients together until a smooth and spreadable paste is formed. Put this paste aside at room temperature until the dough is ready to be shaped.
Filling and Rolling the Dough
Once the dough has doubled in size, dust the top of the dough with bread flour and turn the dough out of the glass container and onto the kitchen counter. The dough should be flour-side-down and sticky-side-up.
Get out a standard 1 lb. loaf pan and grease it with a small amount of butter if necessary. I like to use this non-stick loaf pan from USA Pans (affiliate link) so that I don’t need to grease the pan with any butter or oil.
Press the dough into a rectangle using your fingertips. The dough should be just as wide as the bread pan and about twice as long. Once the dough has been pressed into a large rectangle, spread the cinnamon/brown sugar paste onto the dough and smooth it out into a single thin layer. Try to cover as much of the dough as possible, leaving about an inch of dough uncovered on one end.
Starting from one of the ends that is just as wide as your bread pan, roll the dough into a tight spiral. Smooth out the sides of the loaf and transfer the dough into your bread pan with the seam side facing down.
The Second Rise (Final Proof)
Cover the bread pan with a kitchen towel and let the dough proof at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or until the bread roughly doubles in size and reaches the top of the pan. When the dough has doubled in size, it is ready to bake.
Baking the Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Start preheating your oven to 450°F (232°C) 30 minutes before your dough is done proofing. Keep a metal cake pan on the bottom rack of the oven to use as a steam tray. You’ll want this metal pan to preheat in the oven as well.
When the dough has doubled in size you can brush egg wash on top of the dough. Whisk one egg until smooth and brush egg onto the top of the loaf with a pastry brush. This will give the bread a golden-brown shiny top when it bakes.
Slide the bread into the center rack of your oven and then pour about one cup of boiling and/or hot water into the metal cake pan on the bottom rack of the oven. The pan will release steam as the bread bakes. Bake for 20 minutes with steam, then remove the steam tray, and keep baking for another 20 minutes without steam.
After 40 minutes of baking, remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on a cooling rack for at least one hour. Slice, serve, and enjoy your sourdough cinnamon swirl bread.
