Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread

cinnamonrollpullapart-24
 I needed the perfect opportunity to make this, and believe me, when you’re in the middle of exams, you need some of this cinnamon goodness to pull you through the next two weeks.This really is perfect. It’s extra cinnamony and the swirled dough means pulling the bread apart is even more fun!

Mmmm, just look at those coils of pillowy soft dough, uncurling as you pull apart each layer…
The satisfaction of doing that is well worth having to wait for it to rise.  I thought I might as well brush on a vanilla glaze too, just for the heck of it. Oh and for leftovers (ha, probably no chance of that but…), can you imagine how good this bread would be for french toast!? Any excuse to eat this for breakfast, and I’m in. Just look at it, come on, you know it’s your destiny to eat this.
Anyway, you don’t need me distracting you from baking this right. now. Get mixing!


Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread
adapted from Flo Braker’s ‘Baking for All Occasions’ 
and Inspired by Joy the Baker’s Cinnamon-Sugar Pull apart bread

2 3/4 cups (13 oz / 360g) all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp dried active yeast
1/4 cup (2 oz / 55g) sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
1/4 cup (2 oz / 55g) butter
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling
2/3 cup (5.3 oz / 150g) dark brown sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup (2 oz / 55g) butter, melted

For the Glaze
3/4 cup (3 oz / 85g) powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
hot water

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached, place the cornstarch, sugar, yeast, salt and 2 cups (9.2 oz / 260g) of flour.

Heat the milk and butter together in a small saucepan until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and add the water. Let this cool for about a minute, then add the vanilla, and pour all the liquid into the bowl with the flour. Stir this all together until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Start the mixer on a low speed as you add the eggs one at a time until they’re just incorporated. Stop the mixer and add 1/2 cup (2.3 oz / 65g) more flour to the bowl. Mix again at low speed for about half a minute. Add 2 more tbsp of flour and mix in on medium speed until you get a smooth, slightly sticky dough (about 45 seconds).

On a work surface sprinkled with 2 tbsp of flour, knead the dough until it’s not sticky (about 1 minute). Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl and cover it with cling film. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it’s doubled in size which should take about an hour.

While the dough rises, make the filling by combining the dark brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch in a small bowl.

Once the dough is ready, lightly flour your work surface and gently tip the dough onto it, sprinkling a little more flour on top of the dough. Roll the dough out into roughly a 40 x 40 cm square, then brush about 2/3 of the butter over the entire surface of the dough. 


Sprinkle 3/4 of the filling mixture evenly on top of the butter on the dough, then roll the dough tightly into a log. 

Place the log horizontally on your work surface. Take a piece of thread and then follow the instructions below to cut the dough: 



On a piece of baking paper, use a rolling pin to flatten each slice to 3-4 mm thick. Brush the top of each flattened slice with a little of the remaining melted butter, ans sprinkle on about 3/4 tsp of filling mixture. Place them on top of each other so you have 4-5 stacks each containing about 5 slices.



Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Place your stacks of dough into the greased loaf pan, cover loosely with clingfilm, and leave to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.



Bake the bread for 25-35 minutes when it should be golden brown on top. Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Meanwhile make the glaze by stirring the vanilla then the hot water, a little at a time into the powdered sugar in a small bowl until you get a slightly runny icing.

Run a butter knife around the edge of the pan and gently tip the loaf out onto the wire rack. Put the bread the right way round again and then brush with the glaze.

36 thoughts on “Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread”

  1. I may have to close up the shop early and go home to make this! Since it’s snowing here this may be a perfect recipe to make today. From your descriptions sounds like just over 2 hours to make it for dessert tonight and a perfect breakfast for tomorrow morning as well.

  2. I saw this in joythebaker..i wanted to try..but your’s look much simp;er..thanls..I’ll use your style of arranging the slices.

  3. oh my goshhhh! This is the BEST looking version of the pull apart bread i’ve ever seen. PLEASE JUST SHIP THIS TO MY HOUSE 😉

  4. My gosh! This cinnamon pull apart bread looks incredible. If dough didn’t take so long to rise, I’d go in the kitchen and make this right now.

  5. Looking at this bread is seriously making my mouth water. I love how you can see from the photos how soft it is. I will be making this soon, no doubt!

  6. OMG-It looks unbelievable-BUT
    I am very unclear about how/where you place the thread to get it to slice the roll??? Could you please try to clarify?

  7. This looks and sounds delish. Maybe a little too much cinnamon for me, but I may just make it with a little less and see, thanks.

  8. @ Anonymous : Sure thing! Sorry, it’s quite hard to explain how to do it, but I’ll go edit it now so it’s easier to understand. If you find the explanation confusing still, try searching the internet for ‘cut cinnamon rolls with floss’ – you can find some good step by step pictures and videos!

  9. glad you’re in school, but wish you had a bakery in kalamazoo, mi….these recipes will be worth my efforts, tantalized as i am by these gorgeous photos! thanks to 2graces for the blog tip!

  10. Oooooh! I’m in the middle of exams too. But girl, if I baked this, … I would eat the whole darn thing. This just looks like a little piece of heaven on your table. You have a new frontrow-fan.
    Good luck with your exams, I’m wishing for the best.

  11. It is really cold and snowing here in Ohio so instead of hiking, I’m making this bread this am….getting ready to roll out the dough…my kitchen smells so good…my FB friends all want to come over to enjoy this…at least my neighbors will benefit…making a loaf for me and a loaf for my unsuspecting neighbors…hope the thread thing won’t be difficult..

  12. Made this today. It was a bit time consuming…but a great project for a cold winter afternoon. The house smelled great and the bread was outstanding. I changed a few things…melted the butter and mixed it with the sugar and cinnamon instead of on top of the butter…worked fine…shared with friends…I have more new friends now…thanks;) BTW using the thread to cut the dough.excellent tip…cutting soft dough with a knife was a pain…

  13. I made this last night and it ended up being the best midnight snack imaginable. Bread takes work, but its definitely worth the effort. This was fantastic…thanks for sharing!

  14. Thanks for sharing! I saved this on Foodgawker a while ago and I finally got around to making it. I love this idea and it turned out really great! I linked back to your blog 🙂

  15. This is a wonderful recipe.Thanks for sharing. I’m going to try it , I hope it is similar. I love it!!!

  16. Hi! Just made this and was a little sad that mine didn’t have that whole in the middle… maybe I pressed them too hard. Also, I think I will put more sugar next time. Tks for sharing!!

  17. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU IZY
    for the world’s best cinnamon swirl recipe!!!
    As cinnamon is my favourite spice and I just love anything cinnamon-y, I always looked for a really good and simple recipe – and now I found it. All the swirls I made in the past were nothing compared to these bad boys :~)
    Besides I’m a big fan of your baking/cooking and I love trying your recipes (today I’ll make the cheesecake swirl lemon blondies hehe), please keep up the good work (and the fantastic photography) :~)

  18. Hey Izy 🙂
    Those look simply gorgeous! I have been looking for a good cinnamon roll recipe for a while, I should have known that I should come here first!
    There is only one problem – I don’t have a mixer for dough 🙁
    What do you think would be the best option for kneading by hand:
    Whisk the eggs and mix then with the milk ? Or do they have to go in whole ?

  19. This is one of the best cinnamon roll pull apart breads we have seen. Love the pictures and the detailed instructions. So easy to follow. Now you have made us have a craving. Darn it. 🙂

  20. Thank you for a delicious sounding recipe. I think the bakers who are having trouble with understanding the floss method for cutting the dough, are making it harder than it is. I used this method for my 8th grade students when I had them bake bread and cinnamon bread. It worked great for them. I thought your diagram and explanation was excellent. My son sent me this web-site. I always make cinnamon -sticky rolls for Christmas morning and he said he thought I might be interested in these recipes. I am going to make yours as soon as I finish this e-mail and clear off the counter. I like the recipes on this site because the recipes seem to make a smaller batch. Thank you very much. Baking and cooking is such a feel-good activity. Best of luck with baking and supplying us with recipes. Mary

  21. Got up to baking this today, pulled it out of the oven 30min ago, and we’ve already eaten half of it. The pastry is sooo fluffy & the filling is so delicious, the kitchen smells delicious, and let me mention it’s super photogenic. Thank you for sharing this recipe, my family loved it.

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