Warm swirly Cinnamon Donut Bread is the perfect breakfast or snack, and so delicious with its donut coating outside and tender bread inside!
Cinnamon Donut Bread is loaded with sweet, cinnamon flavors, coated in a buttery, cinnamon-sugar topping, and it’s so easy to make with pantry staples! Pull out all the usuals, like flour, butter, and sugar, plus goodies such as sour cream, molasses, and lots of cinnamon to make a fantastic bread the family is sure to make disappear before lunch!
Delicious Swirls
You’ll never see me or anyone in my family turn down a donut, and that’s a fact. While donuts aren’t hard to make at home, bread is much easier, and if I can make it taste like a donut, that’s amazing. Cinnamon Donut Bread is simple to make with ingredients I have on hand and is a great way to keep using all of the molasses I bought for my holiday baking! Donut bread is a great sweet goodie that we try to make last the day, but it never happens- it’s always gone too quickly!
Making delicious donuts at home is easy with Air Fryer Donuts or stick to baking lots of donut-like confections, like Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins!
Other Recipes to Serve with Cinnamon Donut Bread
- Coffee and donuts are two peas in a pod, so why not whip up an easy Iced Caramel Macchiato to enjoy the morning?
- Balance out that excellent sweet breakfast with savory Spinach and Cheese Breakfast Egg Bites– they’re the perfect start to the day!
Ingredients
Pantry items: To make this bread, you will need all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, molasses, and baking powder.
Refrigerated items: Eggs, butter, sour cream, and milk will be used in this recipe. You can also substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream.
Spices/extracts: Set out the salt, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.
To make the topping: You will need even more butter, sugar, and cinnamon for the topping, along with brown sugar.
How to Make Cinnamon Bread
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray an 8×4 loaf pan with non-stick spray. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until it is fluffy, then add the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Mix this until smooth.
STEP TWO: Add half of the dry ingredients and half of the milk to the bowl of wet ingredients and mix. Add the remaining half of the flour and milk to the wet ingredients and combine well.
STEP THREE: Pour one cup of the batter into a small bowl and mix the molasses and cinnamon. You now have two batters, one plain and one mixed with cinnamon and molasses.
STEP FOUR: Pour half of the plain batter into the prepared loaf pan and top it with all the cinnamon batter. Pour the last half of the plain batter over the top. To make the swirls, stick a butterknife or long toothpick into the batter and move it around in a circular motion until you see the swirls take shape.
STEP FIVE: Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove the loaf and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack
STEP SIX: On a large plate, whisk the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Brush the loaf with melted butter and dip each side into the cinnamon/sugar mix before slicing.
Tips for Success
- Allow the bread to cool completely before applying the topping. There is a good chance the loaf will break if it is still warm when you dip it into the topping.
- To swirl or not to swirl, the choice is yours! Even without swirling, you will still have the delicious cinnamon center. The same goes with the topping- if you want to skip that, you can, and you will have an excellent cinnamon bread without the donut-like topping.
- Remember to set out the eggs, butter, sour cream, and milk ahead of time to come to room temperature for easier mixing. This will also help prevent overmixing so your bread turns out nice and light.
- Greek yogurt can be used instead of sour cream if that is what you have on hand or prefer.
What kind of bread is a donut?
There are two types of donuts or doughnuts; the only thing separating them is typically one ingredient. Cake donuts, also known as Old Fashioned Donuts, are made with baking powder and/or baking soda, similar to this recipe, so the texture is thicker and, as the name implies, cakier. Donuts made with yeast are much lighter and have pockets of air, like your typical glazed donut. Both donuts can be baked or fried, and yeast donuts are almost always fried. So donuts are made with both kinds of dough, a quick dough and a yeast dough, but most importantly, they are delicious no matter what dough you make them with!
How long will Cinnamon Donut Bread last?
Like most bread, this bread will store well on the counter for up to five days. When refrigerated, the bread will last a little longer, but the cool temperature dries out the bread, so your bread will not be as tender and moist after a few days. Donut bread can also be frozen for up to three months. Once the bread has cooled completely, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container. Once you’re ready to serve it, let it thaw on the counter, and if you want, warm individual slices in the microwave for a few seconds.
More sweet loaves to love!
- Pineapple Bread
- Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread
- Peanut Butter Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Bread
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Topping
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the inside of an 8-inch x 4-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Then add in the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream and mix until smooth.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl and mix. Then add half of the milk and mix again. Repeat until the rest of the dry ingredients and milk have been incorporated into the batter.
- Remove 1 cup of the batter to a small bowl. Stir in the cinnamon and molasses until combined.
- Add half of the vanilla batter to the prepared loaf pan. Top with all of the cinnamon batter. Then pour the remaining vanilla batter on top. You can bake as is or use a butter knife to swirl the layers together a bit.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (with a few crumbs is okay, but not with wet batter).
- Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge, remove it from the pan, and transfer it to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. (Make sure the loaf is cooled completely before attempting to move onto the nest step. Otherwise, it will be too soft and could break when you try to lift and dip it.)
Topping
- Mix the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon on a large plate. Spread the mixture into an even layer. Brush the entire outside loaf with melted butter and then dip all sides into the sugar mixture. Cut into slices and enjoy!
Rosana says
It looks so yummy and easy to do. The ingredients are already in the pantry. We will enjoy it for breakfast!
Thanks.