Sweet

Braided Cinnamon Bread

Braided Cinnamon Bread // take a megabite

I’ve been wanting to swirly-twirl braid up some cinnamon rolls for awhile. It’s way easier than fish-tail braiding hair. I mean, I assume so since I didn’t have to watch a youtube tutorial in order to get this dough swirled, twirled, and ready to head out on the town… That is, if “head out” means riding on a rainbow potholder on the floor of your car and “the town” is your boyfriend’s house.

Braided Cinnamon Bread // take a megabite

I’d recommend baking this up the morning you’re going to eat it. It was totally good reheated the next day (for about 10 minutes in a 350F oven), but I PROMISE with all the honesty in my heart that this is a best-right-out-of-the-oven type deal. But don’t worry. I bet you could chill this overnight and bake it up in the AM with some casual “oh this old bread” flair.

P.S. Serve it up with frosting! Try to save it to eat WITH coffee, but if you can’t help but eat your whole half pre-sip, I’m not judgin’. That’s my move. I mean, if I wake up for longer than 5 minutes in the night my stomach growls, so…

TIP: No youtube tutorial needed, but I’d recommend checking out Joy’s post for step-by-step photos of how to braid dat bread… I was too eager to shoot da steps.

Braided Cinnamon Bread // take a megabite

Braided Cinnamon Bread (makes 1 big or 2 small loaves, serves 4 f’real)
Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

dough –

  • 2 1/4 t active dry yeast
  • 1 T granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup whole milk, warm but not hot
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 t kosher salt
  • 2 T unsalted butter, softened

filling –

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 3 t cinnamon
  • 1 vanilla bean, scraped

top it –

  • 1 egg + 1 t water whisked together
  • swedish pearl sugar or granulated
  • simple vanilla buttercream (recipe below)

Directions:

  1. In a 2-cup measuring cup whisk the yeast with sugar and milk. Set aside for 5 minutes so the yeast can froth it up. Whisk in the egg yolk.
  2. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the flour and salt. Mix in the softened butter until incorporated. Add the milk mixture and knead with the dough hook (or by hand) until smooth, soft, damp, and not too sticky. Place in a  greased bowl, turning once to coat. Set aside to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease one 10-inch cast-iron skillet (or 9-inch cake pan) or two 6 inch cake pans/iron skillets. If making two small loaves, divide the dough in half. Roll each into a 9×6 inch rectangle (or for a big loaf one 18×12 inch rectangle). Stir together the filling ingredients. spread evenly over each rectangle. Roll up the long side into a jelly roll pinch to connect. with a sharp knife cut each log in half length-wise. Start braiding the two pieces together by carefully lifting the left strand over the right hand. Repeat until braided. Form into a round and connect the two ends. Repeat with both rectangles. Brush each loaf with an egg wash and sprinkle with swedish pearl sugar.
  4. Transfer both loaves to cake pans/skillets. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until deeply golden and set in the center. Server right away with vanilla buttercream.

Simple Vanilla Buttercream

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3/4 cup of butter, room temperature
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 2-3 T milk

Directions:

  1. Mix butter and powdered sugar until combined. Add vanilla and milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until a thick consistency.
  2. Top cinnamon rolls!

Yay! Click HERE for a printable pdf of the recipes above.

Insta-living // take a megabite

Cookbookin’ // Brunchin’ // Bon Bon Bon shoppin’ and eatin’.

P.S. These photos were all taken with my iPhone 6 and edited with the VSCOcam app. Sometimes I keep things casual. Hope you don’t mind!

17 thoughts on “Braided Cinnamon Bread”

  1. This was exactly what I wanted to do with that Joy the Baker recipe as well. I’m not a fan of fruit in food so I thought cinnamon and stuff would be fab.
    I made chocolate babka over the weekend (which looks a lot like your pics) but I forgot to take a picture after it was baked. It was lovely and now I know what I’m going to try next. Thanks!

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