Cinnamon Quick Bread

This easy cinnamon quick bread recipe creates a moist vanilla loaf cake with a flavorful swirl of cinnamon-sugar inside and out. No mixer and no yeast needed for this quick bread! Perfect for breakfast or dessert.

Cinnamon Loaf Cake

This cinnamon loaf cake or cinnamon quick bread is a nice twist on a traditional cinnamon swirl yeast bread.

Both have a thick layer of cinnamon-sugar inside, and taste a lot like cinnamon rolls, but this easy cinnamon bread is quicker to make with very basic ingredients. It makes a great breakfast, afternoon snack, or dessert.

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What makes it a Quick Bread?

Quick breads are bread recipes made without yeast. These recipes are created from batters and use leaveners like baking soda and/or baking powder to rise.

Essentially, they are loaf-shaped cakes.

This no-yeast easy cinnamon bread is as quick to make as whipping up a vanilla cake batter and bowl of cinnamon-sugar.

Taste and Texture

Because quick breads are made without yeast, the texture is more cake-like. It has a soft, velvety crumb that is moist and fluffy, but slightly more dense than traditional vanilla cake.

This cinnamon swirl quick bread is so warm, cozy, and comforting. It’s the perfect recipe for those days that you just want to bake something and it makes the house smell amazing.

The cinnamon-sugar crust on top reminds me of Amish friendship bread, without the starter. Delicious!

Ingredients

To make this cinnamon quick bread you will need these pantry ingredients and other refrigerated items:

• Cinnamon & Sugar – Easy to mix together for the filling and topping. No need to buy pre-made cinnamon-sugar.
• All-Purpose Flour – Be sure to stir the flour first to incorporate air, then gently spoon it into the measuring cup, and finally level it off with the back of a knife. Flour settles as it is stored, and scooping flour straight into the cup will create a heavy, dense baked product.
• Baking Soda – To make the loaf rise.
• Salt – To intensify the flavors.
• Granulated Sugar – To sweeten the bread.
• Large Egg – For moisture, leavening, and structure.
• Oil (Canola/Vegetable) – Oil adds moisture while keeping the texture of the crumb light. Butter may add more flavor, but won’t create as moist of a bread.
• Sour Cream – Reacts with the baking soda to leaven the bread and adds moisture.
• Whole Milk – Helps create a light, yet strong crumb.
• Vanilla Extract – For that classic flavor.

Make the Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture

• First, whisk together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl for the filling and topping. Set aside.

Make the Vanilla Cake Batter

1. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg.
3. Add the oil, sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk until just incorporated. Do not over-mix.

Layer and Swirl Together

• Pour half of the batter into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan and spread it evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle all but 2 Tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar evenly over the batter.
• Pour the remaining batter over the cinnamon-sugar and spread it evenly with a spatula. (Cinnamon-sugar may stick and pull-up with the batter as you spread. Just be careful.) Top with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon-sugar. Use a knife to swirl the batter.

TIP FOR SWIRLING: Less is more. I swirled up-and-down a few times one way, then left-to-right a few times the other way, using the full length of the pan in both directions. Then stopped. I also didn’t dip my knife in very far, so the middle layer would remain as one thick stripe.

Bake and Slice

• Bake the cinnamon quick bread at 350˚F for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.
• Cool bread completely in the pan set on a wire rack.
• Once cool, remove bread from pan and slice into roughly 3/4-inch pieces. (One loaf should get 12 slices.)

NOTE: This bread tastes even better the next day.

Storage and Tips

• STORING: Store sliced bread in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
• FREEZING: To freeze the cinnamon quick bread, double-wrap the full loaf or individual slices with plastic wrap and then place inside of a freezer-safe zip-top bag. Freeze up to 3 months.
• USE ROOM TEMPERATURE INGREDIENTS: For the best results, make sure all of the refrigerated ingredients (the egg, sour cream, and milk) come to room temperature before baking. This makes a HUGE difference in the rise of the loaf, making it tall and peaked instead of short and flat, or even sunken. This may take 30-60 minutes.

More Cinnamon Desserts

If you liked this recipe, you might also like these cinnamon desserts:

• Cinnamon Twists
• Cinnamon Chip Bread
• Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake
• Churros Recipe
• Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
• Cinnamon Bars

5 from 4 ratings

Cinnamon Quick Bread

Created by Amber Brady

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 50 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

A vanilla flavored loaf cake with swirls of cinnamon-sugar inside and out.

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YieldsYields12 slices

Ingredients

Cinnamon Swirl:

• ▢ ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Bread:

• ▢ 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour, (stir, spoon & level)
• ▢ 1 tsp baking soda
• ▢ ½ tsp salt
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg, room temperature
• ▢ ⅓ cup (80 ml) oil, (canola/vegetable)
• ▢ ⅓ cup (80 g) sour cream, (or plain Greek yogurt) room temperature
• ▢ ⅔ cup (159 ml) whole milk, room temperature
• ▢ 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Equipment

• 1 Pound Loaf Pan
• Silicone Spatula Set
• Nylon Whisk
• 4-Quart Glass Mixing Bowl

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray (or Baker's Joy). Set aside.
• Cinnamon Swirl: Whisk together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl for the filling and topping. Set aside.
• Bread: In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate large bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg. Add the oil, sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk until just incorporated. Do not over-mix.
• Pour half of the batter into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan and spread it evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle all but 2 Tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar evenly over the batter.
• Pour the remaining batter over the cinnamon-sugar and spread it evenly with a spatula. (Cinnamon-sugar may stick and pull-up with the batter as you spread. Just be careful.) Top with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon-sugar. Use a knife to swirl the batter. [TIP FOR SWIRLING: Less is more. I swirled up-and-down a few times one way, then left-to-right a few times the other way, using the full length of the pan in both directions. Then stopped. I also didn’t dip my knife in very far, so the middle layer would remain as one thick stripe.]
• Bake the cinnamon quick bread at 350˚F for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf. Cool bread completely in the pan set on a wire rack. Once cool, remove bread from pan and slice into roughly 3/4-inch pieces. (One loaf should get 12 slices.)

Notes

• STORING: Store sliced bread in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
• FREEZING: To freeze the cinnamon quick bread, double-wrap the full loaf or individual slices with plastic wrap and then place inside of a freezer-safe zip-top bag. Freeze up to 3 months.
• USE ROOM TEMPERATURE INGREDIENTS: For the best results, make sure all of the refrigerated ingredients (the egg, sour cream, and milk) come to room temperature before baking. This makes a HUGE difference in the rise of the loaf, making it tall and peaked instead of short and flat, or even sunken.

Nutrition Info.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 slice | Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 216mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g

Disclaimer: Nutritional values were calculated using a third-party tool and are provided as an estimation only.

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