This easy Cinnamon Bread recipe 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 recipe collection 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!
Why You’ll Love this Cinnamon Bread
- Over 417 5 star reviews!
- Quick and Easy – It takes just 5 minutes hands on time.
- No Yeast and Made with Staple Ingredients – No yeast, no fuss, no special ingredients required! Mix this easy quick bread, bake and enjoy on a whim!
- Great for Gifting – It makes the perfect Christmas bread, hostess gift and more!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Sugar – White granulated sugar or substitute brown sugar for rich flavor to sweetens the bread.
- 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 bind the ingredients and leaven the bread.
- Milk – Use whatever milk you have, Skim, Whole, Vitamin D or make it dairy free using almond milk. Milk adds texture, moisture and flavor to bread.
- Vegetable Oil – Oil makes bread incredibly moist! Vegetable oil is preferred, but canola oil or melted butter can also be used.
- Cinnamon – The star of the show that gives this bread so much color and flavor. Substitute Pumpkin Pie Spice or Apple Pie Spice to mix it up!
Variations
- Cinnamon Raisin Bread – Swirl in up to 1 cup raisins.
- Cinnamon Nut Bread – Swirl in 1 cup walnuts, pecans or almonds.
- Apple Cinnamon Bread – Swirl in 1-2 diced apples.
- Cinnamon Roll Bread – Top it off with Cinnamon Roll Icing to make the best cinnamon roll, in bread form!
- Add a Crumble Topping – Just before baking, top with crumble topping. It adds so much flavor and texture!
- Add a Glaze – Top it off with classic Glaze, Cream Cheese Glaze Apple Glaze.
Tools to Use
- Mixer (You can also mix by hand)
- Measuring Cups + Measuring Spoons
- My Favorite Baking Spray
- Ceramic Mini Loaf Pans – 5.23″ x 3.54″ x 2.16″ size. Michael’s generally offers seasonal versions in their Celebrate It® line of baking products. I love these for their size and price point!
- Loaf Pans (Mini kraft paper)
- Or, try these Mini Ceramic Loaf Pans
How to Make Cinnamon Bread
An overview, see printable recipe card below.
- Prep – Preheat oven and grease loaf pan or loaf pans.
- Make Batter – Whisk dry ingredients together and set aside. Combine wet ingredients and gradually fold dry mixture into wet until just moist. Pour batter into loaf pans and swirl in cinnamon sugar.
- Bake and Enjoy!
Tips
Don’t Overfill Your Loaf Pan – Fill 2/3 full to compensate for rise.
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.
Loaf Pan Sizes
Not sure which loaf pan to use or how to adapt? Get all the details here!
Baking Conversion Guide
Print this Measurement Conversion Chart for easy reference when halving or doubling a recipe.
Cinnamon Bread Gifting Suggestions
Ceramic or paper miniature loaf pans are great for gifting! A single batch yields 6 miniature giftable loaves for teachers, neighbors, friends and co-workers!
- Prepare ceramic loaf pan with baking spray. Wipe the top of the baking dish with a wet paper towel to eliminate any residue from cooking spray. Bake as directed.
- Bring loaves to room temperature.
- Wrap loaves with parchment paper, or place in a cellophane bag, and tie with baker’s twine or ribbon and garnish with cinnamon sticks.
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
Cinnamon bread is nut-free and vegetarian. Make it gluten free by substituting 1:1 flour. Make it dairy free by substituting milk for almond milk.
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 large eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
TOPPING:
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon + 1 teaspoon
- ⅔ cup white granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease loaf pan or loaf pans.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk to combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment beat eggs, milk and oil on low until just combined. Using the paddle attachment, gradually add dry mixture to wet on low speed until just moist and combined.
- Pour mixture into prepared loaf pans ⅔ full to compensate for rise.
- In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. Spoon onto each loaf and swirl in with a knife, leaving some on top.
- Bake 6 miniature loaves 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. *See additional loaf pan sizes and bake times in notes.
Julie’s 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
- Large Loaves – You can also make this in two one-pound loaf pans (or cut the recipe in half for just one loaf pan) and bake 50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
- Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 17-20 minutes, checking frequently.
Tips
- 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.
i have a question…How do you know when the loaves are done? Do you use the toothpick test? I can’t wait to try the recipe!
I do! Enjoy!
Do you know if Michael’s still has these ceramic loaf pans? They are too cute!
They do!
This recipe looks delicious and just what I was searching for! Looking for Christmas gifts for the teachers in our life, I found some gourmet hot chocolate at Home Goods and thought to pair it with a homemade cinnamon bread. Thank you for posting this, albeit so many years ago! I love the internet. 😉
I am wondering about something, though… Have you ever made this using butter instead of the oil? If so, did you use a 1-to-1 ratio of oil to melted butter or did you perhaps use a smudge more melted butter? How did it turn out? Thank you in advance!
I haven’t – I always make it with oil, but I would think it would be delicious with butter {see my meltaway muffins}. Unfortunately, I haven’t tested it.
I wanted to let you know that I ended up making the recipe, only substituting the melted butter for the oil, and it turned out wonderfully! Very moist, dense but still crumbly. Delicious! I’m so happy to have this recipe – thank you. Fwiw, I used 3/4 cup of melted butter to compensate a bit for the loss of fat from not using oil. As a result I used room-temperature eggs and warm milk so the butter would not solidify when added to the wet mixture. ☺
That’s great to hear, Karen! Thanks for sharing. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
You had me at “Cinnamon”! Love it!! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Your presentation is beautiful.
Thank you, Celia! It’s great to see you! Have a beautiful weekend.
I cut the recipe in half because I didn’t want to make a lot, is it supposed to make a rather dense batter?