This is an easy Cinnamon Bread Recipe that is perfect for breakfast, snacks, and gifting to friends, neighbors and co-workers! This Christmas bread makes a beautiful gift wrapped into inexpensive giftable loaf pans.
Our tried and true Cinnamon Bread is an easy quick bread, which is a no yeast bread. Instead, it’s leavened with baking powder making it simple and fuss free!
It’s a moist bread full of flavor often synonymous with Christmas because of the amazing cinnamon sugar scent and flavor! It’s a delicious breakfast or snack on its own or slathered in butter.
However, it also makes an amazing afternoon treat, as a dessert with a cup of coffee or tea. One bite and you’ll see why!
When you bake this bread, your kitchen will smell like Christmas! It’s a great homemade food gift to give to friends and family throughout the holidays. That’s exactly why I’ve dubbed this Christmas bread!
Each year I bake up giftable loaves for friends, family, teachers and neighbors. Even better, it’s quick and easy to make (just about 5 minutes hands on time) with ingredients you have in your pantry!
I’ve got an incredible, FREE quick bread guide that will walk you through each and every recipe in my line-up, along with tips and tricks to enhance your baking experience!
There’s never a bad time to enjoy this bread! It can easily be served as a breakfast bread, a mid morning or afternoon snack or as an after dinner treat. It’s so perfectly festive and the smell of cinnamon when you bake this bread is to die for!
Cinnamon Bread
Why You’ll Love It
It’s the perfect bread recipe if you are short on time! It’s made with pantry staple ingredients, so the chances are you don’t even need to plan a trip to the store.
★★★★★
5 STAR REVIEW
“The best tasting bread I have ever made…it gets my kids up when they smell it all over the house. It is so easy to make and I always have these ingredients around. This is a real joy to bake. Thank you for sharing the recipe!”
— CINDI —
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Sugar – White granulated sugar sweetens this bread. You can substitute brown sugar if you prefer.
- Flour – All purpose flour, no need to sift.
- Baking Powder – The leavening agent in this no yeast quick bread.
- Salt – A hint of salt brings out all the other flavors.
- Eggs – Eggs are the binding ingredient and help leaven the bread.
- Milk – Use whatever you have on hand from skim to vitamin D! You can make it dairy free using almond milk. This contributes to the light texture of the bread.
- Vegetable Oil – This helps to make the bread incredibly moist. You can substitute canola oil or melted butter if needed.
- Cinnamon – The star of the show that gives this bread so much color and flavor.
Variations
- Glaze – This bread is amazing on its own, but you can also cover it (or drizzle if you show any restraint) with Glaze, Cream Cheese Glaze or Apple Glaze.
- Or, use this Cinnamon Cream Cheese for a topping.
- Make Cinnamon Raisin Bread – Swirl in up to 1 cup raisins.
- Make Cinnamon Nut Bread – Swirl in 1 cup walnuts, pecans or almonds and sprinkle on top just before baking.
- Make Apple Cinnamon Bread – Dice 1 large apple (or up to 2) and swirl into the mixture.
- Spice it Up – Alternatively, you can use apple pie spice.
- Add a Topping – Simply combine cinnamon, brown sugar, flour and butter until crumbly and add just before baking.
- Make it Healthier –Replace half the oil with unsweetened apple sauce and eliminate the cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
Tools to Use
- Mixer (You can also mix by hand)
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Loaf Pans (the Michael’s loaf pans are 3.5 inches by 9 inches, these are similar)
How to Make Cinnamon Bread
- Prep – Preheat oven and grease loaf pans.
- Combine Dry Ingredients – Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
- Beat Wet Ingredients – Combine eggs, milk and vegetable oil.
- Combine – Gradually fold dry mixture into wet until just moist.
- Make Topping – Combine cinnamon and sugar.
- Swirl – Fill pan 1/4 of the way. Top with cinnamon sugar mixture. Use a knife to make swirls in the mixture. Pour batter on top and repeat.
- Bake.
Tips
- Need help with baking conversions? Check out my Essential Measurement Conversion Chart or use the slider in the recipe card.
- Don’t Overfill Your Loaf Pan – Fill 2/3 full to compensate for rise.
- Use the Correct Loaf Pan – Learn more about Loaf Pan Sizes here.
- Grease Baking Dishes – Be sure to grease your baking dishes for easy removal.
- Don’t Overswirl – Swirl gently or the cinnamon sugar mixture will begin to settle into the batter.
- Use the Toothpick Test – Bake time varies with oven, altitude, loaf pan size and material. Use the toothpick test to determine when your loaves are baked through. When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, it’s ready to be removed from the oven.
Gift this Cinnamon Bread
While they don’t list them online, Michael’s Crafts carries the cutest ceramic loaf pans for just $1. They’re perfect for gifting my cinnamon bread – the quintessential Christmas bread. You can also use paper loaf pans, which are great for gifts.
Year after year they offer shades of red and green and a great standard, white! You can also now find white year round. It makes perfectly delicious little giftable loaves every time!
- Wipe the top of the baking dish with a wet paper towel to eliminate any residue from cooking spray.
- Let the bread cool to room temperature before wrapping or serving.
- Wrap the loaves with parchment paper, baker’s twine or ribbon and garnish with cinnamon sticks.
A batch yields six mini loaves, so that’s a lot of happy friends and neighbors! I love that I can make six gifts of homemade cinnamon bread in just 10 minutes hands on, or easily double the batch for more.
These adorable little loaves make great neighbor and teacher gifts – as well as breakfast for yourself. Enjoy alone or with a little butter. You definitely want to save a loaf for yourself!
Alternative Baking Options
- Large Loaves – Don’t want 6 miniature loaves? You can also make this Sweet Bread recipe in 2 – 1 pound loaf pans or cut the recipe in half for just 1 loaf pan and bake 50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
- Make Cinnamon Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.
- Make it Ornate – Alternatively, you can also bake it in an ornate loaf pan with the same minimal effort!
How to Store
- Room Temperature – Store no yeast bread in a sealed plastic bag or covered in saran wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Refrigerate – Up to 1 week in an airtight container.
- Freeze – Wrap them tightly in heavy foil, saran wrap or place them in freezer bags (I like to do at least 2 to prevent freezer odors from seeping in), and freeze for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature to serve.
Dietary Considerations
- To Make Gluten Free: Use a gluten free flour intended for 1:1 baking.
- To Make Dairy Free: Sub with almond milk.
- Nut Free
- Vegetarian
For more tips and tricks to store quick breads and keep them as fresh as the day they were baked, don’t skip How to Store Banana Bread.
More Quick Bread Recipes
Cinnamon Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
TOPPING:
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon + 1 teaspoon
- ⅔ cup white granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease loaf pans (see notes below for baking times based on the size you choose).
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or mixer, beat eggs, milk and oil.
- Gradually add dry mixture to wet until just moist.
- Pour mixture into loaf pans 2/3 full to compensate for rise.
- Combine topping, spoon on each loaf and swirl in with a knife, leaving some on top.
- Bake 40 minutes for 6 miniature loaf pans or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. See additional loaf pan sizes and bake times in notes.
Tips
Substitutions
- Sugar – Give it a rich molasses flavor substituting brown sugar.
- Milk – Use whatever you have on hand from skim to vitamin D! You can make it dairy free using almond milk. This contributes to the light texture of the bread.
- Vegetable Oil – This helps to make the bread incredibly moist. You can substitute canola oil or melted butter if needed.
Variations
- Glaze – This bread is amazing on it’s own, but you can also cover it (or drizzle if you show any restraint) with Glaze, Cream Cheese Glaze or Apple Glaze.
- Make Cinnamon Raisin Bread – Swirl in up to 1 cup raisins.
- Make Cinnamon Nut Bread – Swirl in 1 cup walnuts, pecans or almonds and sprinkle on top just before baking.
- Make Apple Cinnamon Bread – Dice 1 large apple (or up to 2) and swirl into the mixture.
- Add a Topping – Simply combine cinnamon, brown sugar, flour and butter until crumbly and add just before baking.
- Spice it Up – Alternatively, you can use apple pie spice.
- Make it Healthier –Replace half the oil with unsweetened apple sauce and eliminate the cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
Baking Alternatives
- Large Loaves – Don’t want 6 miniature loaves? You can also make this Sweet Bread recipe in 2 – 1 pound loaf pans or cut the recipe in half for just 1 loaf pan and bake 50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
- Make Cinnamon Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.
- Make it Ornate – Alternatively, you can also bake it in an ornate loaf pan with the same minimal effort!
Tips
- Grease Baking Dishes – Be sure to grease your baking dishes for easy removal.
- Don’t Overswirl – Swirl gently or the cinnamon sugar mixture will begin to settle into the batter.
- Use the Toothpick Test – Bake time varies with oven, altitude, loaf pan size and material. Use the toothpick test to determine when your loaves are baked through. When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, it’s ready to be removed from the oven.
- Do Not Overfill – Allow room to compensate for rise. As you over bake, it can push out the excess batter causing it to overflow and will not bake evenly.
To Store
- Room Temperature – Store no yeast bread in a sealed plastic bag or covered in saran wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Refrigerate – Up to 1 week in an airtight container.
- Freeze – Wrap them tightly in heavy foil, saran wrap or place them in freezer bags (I like to do at least 2 to prevent freezer odors from seeping in), and freeze for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature to serve.
Video
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
4 c flour – 2 cups sugar, plus another 2/3 for the cinnamon mixture. It’s so moist-even a few days later.
In the instructions it said 4c of sugar….is that really right?
This bread sounds so good!
Thanks for posting….
Carol
What size pans for the small loaves?
Hi Betty,
I like to use the miniature ceramic loaf pans from Michael’s: https://rstyle.me/+C13p38LWMk_GLoLR3eYFUg
They are approximately 3.5 inches by 9 inches, if that helps!
Have a wonderful holiday season,
Julie
The recipe is for 2 loaves. Half recipe to make only 1 loaf or 12 muffins.
lol – perfect
Confession: 5 loaves are being gifted, 1 has been eaten.
I don’t think I’ve had cinnamon bread before but I am a huge cinnamon fan,..and come to think of it I’m a huge bread (any carbs really) fan as well. I’m sure this would be great. Love the little dishes!