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This Bread Machine Cinnamon Bread is the best you will ever make, and so easy to make at home. Give it a try – you'll love it!
Bread Machine Cinnamon Bread Recipe
This cinnamon bread recipe is SO good – it's really not difficult to make and your family will definitely thank you for whipping this one up!
Several years ago, I was near our local Great Harvest Bread Company (goodness, I love that store!), and everything in me wanted to go sample some of their yummy bread and grab a loaf to bring home.
But at $6 a loaf (craziness!), I knew there was no way I could manage that and stick to our no spend grocery challenge that we were doing at the time.
Sticking to a tighter budget makes me a little more creative, and it dawned on me that I could surely make a similar cinnamon bread at home. I hunted down this recipe, dumped everything in my bread machine, and goodness, my family devoured that bread.
In fact, my husband (by far my biggest critic) told me it was better than the bread at Great Harvest.
Wow.
The best part? I saved $12 by making 2 loaves myself, and a huge amount of drive time getting there and back. Plus, my family has one more reason to think I'm a rockstar.
Um . . . so far I've found cooking and baking are the only things that make me awesome around this place, so I'll keep at it. 😉
Here's the recipe for you to try out too ~ if you're in the market for a bread machine this one is similar to the one my mom bought me 15 years ago ~ it's definitely paid for itself a time or two!
Ingredients for Cinnamon Bread
- milk
- eggs
- butter
- bread flour (you can totally use all purpose flour if that's all you have!)
- sugar
- salt
- active dry yeast
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
- butter
- powdered sugar
How to make Cinnamon Bread in a Bread Machine:
- Combine your milk, eggs, butter, flour, sugar, salt, and active dry yeast in the bread machine according to the order that the manufacturer recommends. Set the bread machine to the dough cycle, and run the cycle through.
- Once the dough is complete, transfer to a floured surface, punch the dough down, then let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough in half and roll into two rectangles that are 9″ x 14″.
- Mix together cinnamon and brown sugar, then spread softened butter on top of the rectangle and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Roll dough into loaf starting with short ends and pinch seams closed. Grease 2 loaf pans and place loaves in pan.
- Cover and let rise another 30 minutes until doubled in size.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, sprinkle with confectioners sugar, and cool slightly before enjoying.
I'm betting you could make the same cinnamon bread recipe even without a bread machine ~ if anyone has any suggestions on how to make it as a regular bread dough leave a comment to share.
Bread Machine Cinnamon Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup butter
- 4 cups bread flour You can use regular as well
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp butter softened
- 2 tsp powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine first seven ingredients in bread machine according to order manufacturer recommends. (I just dumped mine in - flour first - it worked fine.)
- Set bread machine on dough cycle.
- Once dough is completed, transfer to floured surface and punch dough down. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Divide dough in half and roll into two rectangles that are 9"x14".
- Mix together cinnamon and brown sugar.
- Spread 1 tablespoon softened butter on top of rectangle, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Roll dough into loaf starting with short ends and pinch seams closed.
- Grease 2 loaf pans and place loaves in pans.
- Cover and let rise another 3o minutes until doubled in size. (I actually skipped this step, but my dough was left in the bread machine for an extra hour so it had risen mostly while in the machine.)
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and cool slightly before enjoying. Yum!
You can also make homemade sandwich bread in the bread machine – it's one of my families favorites!
Looking for more recipes like this Bread Machine Cinnamon Bread? Here are a few of my favorites:
Love the recipe! I’ve used it to make cinnamon bread, cinnamon rolls, garlic cheese bread with jalapeño and traditional sandwich bread. I’ve used the cinnamon bread to make French toast and I’ve also just sliced it slathered it with butter and grilled it on a skillet and topped it with powder sugar. We eat it like popcorn! I’m cur though. I saved your recipe a long time ago and it called for 1/4 C sugar. And the website says 1/2 C sugar. I’ve done it both ways and am actually content with the 1/4 C. What was the reason for the change? Thanks for the amazing recipe!
The cinnamon she uses is just NOT enough. Yours sound better. I will follow your measurements!!
Do you have instructions for making this bread without using a bread machine? I don’t have a bread machine but would love to try this.
Hi there! You could also make it without a bread machine if you have a good mixer. I hope that helps!
Would it be difficult to bake entire loaf in The machine? I’m showing my niece, brand new to it and would like to show her this way instead.
You should be able to!
This is such a great recipe! I made it exactly how you specified except I heated the milk in the microwave for 40 seconds and melted the butter. It came out beautifully. I’m making it again but, this time I think I am going to put cinnamon chips in it.
I have tried this recipe twice. First time I threw the dough away because it just would not rise and my milk, butter, and eggs were cold. Second time I let everything come to room temp and it still didn’t rise well. I baked the second dough and while it tasted good it wasn’t light and fluffy, it was too dense. What am I doing wrong?
Maybe try proofing your yeast? If it’s not rising, I’m thinking that may be the problem.
In a bread machine you should always use “instant yeast”. There are 2 different kinds of yeast. The other kind is used when making bread without a bread machine.
When making the dough, is the butter melted before hand?
No, your dough won’t turn out right if you melt the butter. 🙂
Yum! I’ve made this twice now and it’s cool-proof. Turns out great each time. My husband and 2 little girls (7yrs and 5 yrs) LOVED it & asked for more. I like that it made 2 loaves, so I can bring one to a neighbor each time. Saved on my Pinterest board forever!
I’m so happy you’re family loves it – Thank you for your feedback!
Long shot…but, is there anyway to make this as fabulous as it sounds by combining all the ingredients at once with the dough and let the whole process go thru the bread machine?
Hi Chas ~ You have to combine all of the first seven ingredients in the bread machine on the dough cycle. Once this step is complete, you will then add the cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter. This is how it gets incorporated well. I hope this helps!
You should be able to do the whole thing in the bread machine. My machine has an add in step, so you can add in those next ingredients.
Thanks for letting us know! 🙂
I have made this multiple times before exactly as written and I will say if you are reading the recipe but feel intimidated by working with yeast dough, this is VERY easy dough to work with (and I am absolutely awful with dough, so I promise, it’s a fair assessment).
I tried this today as cinnamon rolls, slicing it into 9 rolls. They taste FANTASTIC and I will do this again but next time I will use a bigger pan. I used a 9×9″ square pan (stop laughing, spatial skills aren’t my thing) and after the second rise, everyone looked all cozy and snug as a bug in the pan… after 5 minutes in the oven I knew there was going to be a problem. I ended up with one perfect cinnamon roll surrounded by a small mountain range of cone-shaped deliciousness. So maybe allow for a little more expansion during baking than I did!!! And I just followed the same baking instructions (30 min at 350 degrees) and they’re perfect. Ugly as sin, but perfect.
Hey there ~ I am so glad this recipe was a hit for you, thank you so much for sharing your feedback with us!
As someone who is deathly allergic to cinnamon but still loves cinnamon rolls, I made this minus the cinnamon and used pumpkin puree in the middle with brown sugar. It turned out delicious. My family really loved the warm fall feeling without worrying about making me sick. I was a little worried about rolling out the dough as I have not done a lot of bread that needs to be rolled. I have plans for making individual rolls as well as making loads and freezing it. Thank you for the inspiration!
Rolled out the dough in one piece, added a little extra brown sugar in the filling, sliced it into 8 pieces, and let them rise the second time in a 9×13 cake pan. Made the best cinnamon rolls!
My husband loves this cinnamon bread! Thank you SO much for sharing. I was wondering if I could follow the same steps but instead of letting the loaves rise- could I cut the “rolled loaves” in to sections to rise and make cinnamon rolls? My grandchildren would really love it. Thank you again!
Yay! So happy to hear that. I don’t know why that wouldn’t work. Let us know if you try it. 🙂
Does this recipe fit in a 1.5 lb loaf bread maker…or is a 2 lb loaf size required?
Can you refrigerate a loaf to be baked the next morning? Any adjustments needed?
Yes, you can! Just be sure to cover it. I hope this helps!
This recipe came out really tasty!! The only thing is that the dough didn’t rise to double it’s size during the 30 minute rise time. It rose but not by too much. So at this point I was thinking the bread was gonna be a failure. But I put it in the oven anyways and although the shape was horrendous lol, the taste was fantastic!! I will definitely be making this recipe again. Thanks
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us April! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi I would like to but a bread machine but I’m confused about what brand. What brand do you recommend?
Hey Maria! They bread machine Laurie uses is around 25 years old. It’s a black and decker so I would definitely recommend that brand. Can’t wait to find out what all you make!
Has anyone tried subbing apple sauce for the eggs?
I was wondering the same thing. Did you try it?
I wonder if this would work with cinnamon and chocolate chips? Maybe the minis.
That sounds super yummy Patrice! Would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try! 🙂
Hi! Can I use self-rising or does it need to be all purpose?
I think self rising will be fine – just watch as it will most likely rise a little faster!
I’m a complete beginner at baking bread, and I live at high altitude, but this recipe was PERFECTION!!! It’s definitely my new go-to if I need to impress anyone at pot lucks or family events! I love it so much, thank you!!
I made this yesterday but it came out so dense and would barely rise. It seems it also needed water. I just left it round and baked it for soup and went back to my own recipe which turned out great so I know the yeast was working fine. I kept rechecking the recipe.
I am just mixing this right now in my bread machine. I adjusted a little I put a2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast in mine 1 1/4 didn’t sound like enough. 2 1/4 is equal to one packet of yeast. And I also added a little cinnamon in the bread dough. I guess I will see how it turns out.
Sorry, to me this defeats the purpose of the bread machine. The bread machine is supposed to do all the work for you. Your recipe is just using the bread machine as a dough mixer. I have a stand mixer with the dough hook. I would consider renaming the title of this article to just Cinnamon Bread.
You could totally do that too! For me, I don’t often mix bread with my dough mixer, so it’s just convenient to use my bread machine. But, you could also make it without a bread machine if you have a good mixer!
Will give this a try but I would really encourage you to use you bread machine as a dough preparation machine. At least mine has become s great helper, no need to worry about my doughs not rising, or getting my yeast to work.
The only reason I bake it separately is because I have an OLD bread machine that kind of makes a big square clump, and I like a more traditional loaf. But YES – you can definitely let the machine do all of the work!
I destroy bread dough and finally have had success when letting the bread machine do most the work and bake in the oven on the final step. This recipe gave me tons of confidence to try other things and I’ve finally become a great baker. Everyone has their own opinion but I’m grateful for this page!
I agree my bread maker doesn’t even mix well so I think my kitchen aide would be better.
For the cinnamon bread, do you warm the milk?
I don’t usually Peg!
I just made this for brunch and it was amazing!! Thanks for a great recipe!
I made your cinnamon bread, I added raisins. After it was bake and cooled I cut a slice and I have a tunnel what causes this. Bread very good!!
These rotten tunnels! Can someone offer some more advice please?
I make enough dough in my bread maker to fill two medium bread pans. My wife loves to see a swirl of cinnamon when she has toast for breakfast. I generously sprinkle powdered cinnamon fairly evenly over the dough after I’ve knocked it down flat. I then scatter sufficient raisins before rolling up the dough tight, and dividing it between the two pans. I’ve not been very successful in producing a ‘swirl’ yet, but I do get a big tunnel most times, and pockets of air, just like in the pictures! I’ve noted the reference info given here, and have tried to follow the guidelines, but when I cut the end crust off my cinnamon/raisin loaf I often release a cloud of choking cinnamon powder. A few dusty and unappetizing looking raisins fall out too.
I don’t have this problem with any other loaves I make.
How can avoid these horrors please?
Many thanks!
Are you spreading the butter before you add the sugar and cinnamon mixture? It sounds like the cinnamon does not have anything to dissolv3 into. Also, are you letting the bread cool a bit before cutting open?
Yes – spreading the butter and then adding cinnamon and sugar. And I would definitely let cool a bit before slicing. Hope that helps!
When would you add raisins in the bread machine?
Bread machine will usually beep about 5 min before the end of the dough cycle. Add them then or they will be really chopped up. Then take the dough out and shape to fit in your bread pans, let rise for 30 min and bake.
Hi there! this sounds de lish! However, I have an old machine and lost the manual. Do not have a dough setting but a white, sweet, French and manual setting. Do you know how long it takes to knead for this recipe? Or do you have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Janice
My bread machine is an older Panasonic model but it has a yeast dispenser for using instant, rapid rise yeast and even in the basic dough mode it adds the yeast at the correct time. None of my recipes for the machine say I can add it directly in the pan. I only use instant dry yeast and wondering if I need to make adjustments for this.
Hi, regarding your bread machine recipes, can you just cook them in the bread machine? i haven’t used mine in years because I cannot find mixes at the store, so i would love to try a homemade recipe, but I don’t have a large enough loaf pan to make bread.
Please advise and thanks!
Hi Sandra! You can definitely go ahead and cook your bread in the bread machine! 🙂 Hope that helps!
If we did just use the machine to also bake what setting would we use?
You’ll want to check with your machine to see what bake time you’ll need for the average loaf Kathryn ~ it’ll depend on the size of your unit! 🙂
Love this recipe! I added dried cranberries to the dough and used a brown sugar instead of powder sugar- it was wonderful and my entire family wants me to
Make more! Great recipe!
Yay Nadine! So glad you enjoyed it!
Ugh I accidentally selected the leavened dough button instead of the raw dough button… so it was on a warm setting that let the dough rise. I want able to roll it out to the 9 by 13 shape. What would you do??
Hi Jessie! Hmmmm, I’m betting it won’t let you roll it out (but I would try if you can, then just let rise a short bit more and bake – just watching to see when it’s cooked thorough?) Most likely it will work – and if not you experimented it and lesson learned! 🙂
Hello! I’m so excited to try this! What changes do I need to make if I’m high altitude?
Hope you enjoy it Holly! 🙂 Here are some tips for high altitude baking! –> https://bit.ly/3dDwt9G
The recipe says 1/2 cups for the brown sugar, is it a 1/2 cup or with the “s” at the end of cups is it suppose to be more?
Hi Tara! It’s supposed to be 1/2 cup ~ so sorry for the confusion! We’ve updated the post! 🙂
Hi I am new at this, do you have to proof the yeast? The first time I made this, it was rock hard. I am trying again with new yeast, but the bread doesn’t seem to be raising at all. Should I of proof the yeast first?
Hi Kim! You don’t have to proof the yeast – I have no idea why taht happened Was your water warm Kim? I can’t think of what else would have made it come out hard (I’m so sorry!)
I do not see water listed as an ingredient. Is it missing?
No water’s required as it uses milk!
this is confusing. I didn’t warm the milk based on another reply you left and mine won’t rise in the slightest.
I had the same problem.
There’s something off with this recipe, but I can’t quite figure out what.
My dough never raised. I know it’s not my yeast because it’s the same yeast I’ve used making other breads.
Also, this isn’t a bread machine recipe and shouldn’t be called such.
You can do the same thing with a Bosch mixer.
Looks amazing! Do you know if the amounts in the recipe will work for a bread maker that maxes out at 1.5 lb loaves? Or do you think it’s smart to just cut the recipe in half?
I *think* it will fit John – it’s only a single loaf so should work! 🙂
Ooh wait, the recipe says it’s two loaves… am I missing something?
You’re right – I was thinking of my recipe for homemade white bread! I think I’d half the recipe to be on the safe side!
John I made it in my machine that says 1.5lb max and it’s fine. Just make the dough in bread maker and then bake in loaf pans. Hope it helps!
Which type of flour do you prefer to use for this? I see you mentioned bread or regular. Can’t wait to make this!
Has anyone tried using walnuts or pecans in the roll?
Loved this Bread, one loaf I added some raisins that I soaked in warm water, then drained.
My raisin were a little hard that’s why I soaked them. Turned out wonderful.
Absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing, I’ve used a dough recipe for ages that is just slightly different so I used that and the result was still awesome! The only trouble is that I will be making this too often during this quarantine! 🙂
Yayyy! So glad you enjoyed it Amber! Enjoy!!
Made two loaves…. loved the recipe and will DEFINITELY make again!!!!! Easy and DELICIOUS!!!!! Thanks for a new favorite recipe!
Karen I’m so happy to hear you loved this recipe – thanks so much for sharing!
Love this recipe, I make yogurt in my instant pot and strain off the whey. I can only put so much whey on my blueberry bushes so I thought I’d try it with this recipe substituting the whey for the milk. This turns out perfect every time I make it, which is once a week since Christmas!!! Thanks for a great recipe. K
Yayyy! SO glad you like it Kay! 🙂
My family loved it! It was so easy. Might add raisins next time or use poppy seeds instead of cinnamon.
When would I add raisins to the dough? And can they be added along with the other ingredients? So excited to try this
Hi Donyale! I peeked at another recipe that said to add the raisins 5 or 10 minutes before the last kneading cycle ends (or add them in when your machine does it’s “add-in” beep, if it has one of those!). Hope that helps!
Wow,wow,wow, I have eaten more cinnamon bread within the past 2 weeks than in my whole life. I have been using the rapid rise bread machine yeast and using a 1/2 cup of softened butter. Thank you for sharing this recipe! I am making a loaf for my mom and sister right now.
Yayyyy! SO glad to hear you’ve been enjoying it Diane! 🙂 Happy baking!
Am I able to use rapid yeast if I don’t have active dry?
Hi Renee! I’ve heard you can, but I’ve read to use 25% less of it, and that you don’t need to prove the yeast, simply add it to the dry ingredients! 🙂 Hope that helps!
Okay, so your recipe doesnt say to prove the yeast, does it? I just put the active yeast in with the dry ingredients. I thought it was strange, but ? It also only says to put cinnamon and brown sugar on one of the rectangles. I’m new at this, so this confused me at first. I thought, so I put the other rectangle on top and roll it up? Then it said put them in two different pans, so that solved that. I figured it out, but it doesn’t state it clearly. For someone new, that was an adventure!
I tried it again today and it worked great. Weird! It’s baking now. Can’t wait to eat it. Thanks
Yayyyy Barb! 🙂 So glad to hear it ~ enjoy!
I was so excited to make this cinnamon bread. I put on the dough cycle but nothing got mixed. I could hear the machine but just didn’t mix. Any ideas on what I did wrong?
Hi Barb! Hmm, was the paddle attachment perhaps not on all the way? It might have just been a mechanical error! So sorry that happened ~ I hope you’re able to have better success next time! 🙂
That happened to me once. I discovered that I didn’t have the pan locked in the correct position in the machine. I now check to make sure it’s secure before I turn on the machine.
The bread machine now says “rise” is it time to take it out?. Or do I leave it in longer?
Hi Lynda! If it’s just finished it’s mixing cycle, you’ll want to transfer it to a floured surface and punch dough down. Let rest for 10 minutes. Then divide dough in half and roll into two rectangles that are 9″x14″. Mix together cinnamon and brown sugar (set aside). Spread 1 tablespoon softened butter on top of rectangle, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll dough into loaf starting with short ends and pinch seams closed. Grease 2 loaf pans and place loaves in pans. Cover and let rise another 3o minutes until doubled in size. Then bake at 350 for 30 minutes! Hope that helps! 🙂
Oh my… this was good. I wish it was harder to make and didn’t use ingredients we always have… HA!
Just got the bread out of the oven and it turned out perfect. I thought it would be great for Thanksgiving morning. We had to cut into one loaf tonight just to taste it. 😉 The family loved it and I will be making this recipe again.
Hi..will it still b ok if i melted buter n put it into the brown sugar and cinnimon.it will b like a spread
If you are talking about for the cinnamon swirl, I have done this before! And it does work! I brush the melted butter over the dough and then put the cinnamon sugar on and roll up into the loaf. It works just fine.
So, I don’t have a bread maker, after I mix all the ingredients together what do I need to do that would be the same as the “dough” setting on a bread maker
I’m looking for a true bread machine recipe. How big of a loaf will this make? How would you adjust the directions for those who want to use their bread machine from start to finish?
Thanks so much for your time- I’d love to make this but am new with my machine and want to use it.
Hi Sarah! I don’t think you can make this one completely in the bread machine bc the cinnamon swirl would get combined and messy. BUT, you could definitely try this one – I’m not sure exactly the sizes on these but promise they’re both tried and true winners!
https://passionatepennypincher.com/2015/09/the-best-bread-machine-dough-recipe/
Perhaps I am just missing it but what size loaf pan do you recommend? Thanks!
Is the yeast supposed to be a bread machine yeast or just regular active yeast?
I usually just use regular yeast Melissa – hope that helps! 🙂
Do you mix the yeast with water first, before adding to your bread machine? (Like the package says) Newbie bread baker here!!
Hi Kelsey! You can just add the first 7 ingredients (including the yeast) to your machine without mixing it with the liquid first! 🙂 Hope that helps!
One word: deliciousness!!!!! I cut the recipe in half and was worried when I pulled a tiny ball of dough out of my machine, but the end result was perfection. Thanks for sharing!
Ok, please forgive me if this is a silly question, but I haven’t used my bread machine in at least 10 years! Is the butter that is part of the dough supposed to be melted or do I just cube it and put it into the machine? Thanks 🙂
Not a silly question at all Angie! Just cube it and put it in (not melted.) Hope that helps!
Thank you so much! I can’t wait to make this today!
You’re so welcome Angie – enjoy! 🙂
Could this all be done in a bread maker?
Yes Jenny! I just like baking it in a regular loaf pay because it makes it a more regular loaf (I have a very old machine and bread that I bake in it otherwise is shaped in a weird rectangle!) 🙂
my family LOVED this bread and it does taste JUST like Harvest Bread Co. version!! I am taking a meal to a family and doing a breakfast dinner…I will not have time to take it to them fresh out of the oven, i may have to make it the night before…what would be the best way to store it and then give it to them? should i just bake the night before, allow it to cool and ziplock it? or do you think it would be better to prepare to baking and have them bake it? not a big baker, so I just want to make sure they are able to enjoy the yumminess in all of its glory!!!
Hi Chrissy – so glad you liked it! I would bake in oven, then let cool completely and then store in ziploc or even foil. It should work perfectly – enjoy! 🙂
It’s in the oven now!
I am SO happy I found this recipe. It is absolutely our favorite bread recipe. We can’t keep two loaves in this house longer than a few days everyone loves it so much. I wrote about my fantastic experience here: https://healthykitchenhealthybudget.com/2016/04/28/cinnamon-swirl-bread/. Thank you!
So glad it worked for you Molly – thanks so much for sharing!
Oh my goodness I just made this and it amazing! My 4 boys just polished off one loaf almost straight out if the oven!
So glad you all enjoyed it Jill!
What is the best way to freeze half of the dough? I don’t really need to make 2 loaves at a time. Thanks in advance 🙂
Bake it and freeze the Loaf, it will thaw better
Hello, i have just made it and OMG that is really really soft and yummy. Hardly stop myself not to finish it all. Thx for sharing the receipt.
I finally got around to making this today and we ate a whole loaf at dinner. Yummy! Thanks for a great recipe. I’ll definitely be making it again. (I can’t compare it the bread at Great Harvest because I’ve never had it, but I will say it was fabulous.)
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Rebecca! 🙂
I have this recipe also but i make the dough in my bread machine and cook the bread after let it rise to where it is almost doubled in size in the microwave i spread butter on it then i sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mix on the dough then i cook it on 350 for 30 minutes until light brown. I have a white glaze mix I make and put over it after its done and its makes it very yummy. Sorry i dont have the white glaze recipe in front of me right now but you can google it for cinnamon bread.
Beth
That sounds super yummy Beth! 🙂
The white icing glaze makes the cinnamon roll otherwise very plain. Recommend if you like actual cinnamon rolls add the icing!