Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This is a soft, enriched white loaf with a beautiful cinnamon-sugar spiral running through every slice — exactly like the steaming loaf in your photo.

Ingredients (1 large loaf)

Dough

• 300 ml (1¼ cups) warm milk (about 40 °C / 105 °F)
• 7 g (2¼ tsp) instant yeast
• 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 60 g (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 500 g (about 4 cups) bread flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt

Cinnamon Filling

• 50 g (¼ cup) soft unsalted butter
• 80 g (⅓ cup + 1 Tbsp) granulated sugar or light brown sugar
• 2–2½ Tbsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Make the dough
   Mix the warm milk, yeast and a pinch of the sugar. Let it sit 5–10 minutes until foamy.
   Add the remaining sugar, egg, softened butter, flour and salt. Knead for 8–10 minutes (by hand or dough hook) until the dough is smooth and elastic.
   Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1–1½ hours until doubled.
2. Prepare the filling
   Mix the soft butter, sugar and cinnamon into a spreadable paste (or simply mix the sugar and cinnamon and spread the butter separately).
3. Shape the swirl
   Punch down the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 40 × 25 cm (16 × 10 inches).
   Spread the cinnamon-butter mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1–2 cm border on one short side.
   Starting from the opposite short side, roll the dough up tightly into a log. Pinch the seam and ends to seal.
   Place the log seam-side down in a greased 23 × 13 cm (9 × 5 inch) loaf pan.
4. Second rise
   Cover and let rise for 45–75 minutes until the dough has risen about 2–3 cm above the rim of the pan.
   Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 350 °F toward the end of rising.
5. Bake
   Bake for 35–45 minutes until the top is deep golden brown and the internal temperature reaches about 93–96 °C (195–205 °F).
   If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the last 10–15 minutes.
6. Cool
   Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack for at least 1–2 hours before slicing (the steam will continue rising for a while, just like in the photo).

Tips for perfect swirls

• Roll the dough tightly so the layers stay neat.
• Don’t skip the second rise — under-proofed dough can cause gaps in the swirl.
• Cool completely before slicing for clean, beautiful spirals.
• Delicious toasted with butter the next day.

Enjoy your warm cinnamon swirl bread!