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This easy Swirled Cinnamon Sugar Croissant Loaf is kind of like a croissant, kind of like a cinnamon roll, but most importantly…it’s kind of INCREDIBLE! This light, buttery, super soft, and extra flaky croissant loaf is swirled with sweet cinnamon sugar. It makes for the most delicious, extra fancy, and super cozy addition to your autumn weekend. This loaf is great on its own, warm with butter, or equally delicious smeared with homemade apple butter. It’s best enjoyed with my favorite pumpkin latte for the coziest fall treat…any time of the day. Or use this bread to make your favorite french toast – the options are endless with this amazing texture. Bonus? Making this pretty loaf is easier than you might think.
It’s the first Friday of October and I am in full-on autumn baking GO mode. Anyone else?
I know it’s not just me because my Instagram feed is flooded with photos of pumpkin bread, jack-o-lantern cookies, and apple cake. I think it’s safe to say everyone is slowly settling into these cozy autumn days. Am I right?
I sure hope so, because I have the very best recipe to share with you all today. It’s one you’re going to find yourself making over and over again.
Watch Me Make This:
Say hello to the croissant loaf…with cinnamon sugar and more butter than you’d think a loaf of bread could ever need. It’s perfection and your weekend NEEDS this bread.
Here’s the story, this started out as a scone recipe, but the scones turned out a bit crumbly. Somehow my scones mixture then morphed into a croissant loaf. Cinnamon sugar was added, and the loaf turned out so good.
And that’s the story. It’s not that the scones weren’t good, because they were. But when my thoughts turned to a croissant loaf the scones just seemed to fade away.
Let’s be real, if you have the choice between a scone and a croissant, you’re going to choose the croissant. Always the croissant.
I debated adding things like chocolate and pumpkin butter, but in the end, I just wanted cinnamon sugar. Because sometimes you just want the classics. And even though there’s no pumpkin or apple in this recipe, this loaf still screams fall to me. It’s sweet, buttery, has warming cinnamon, and is all-around one of the best fall treats you can make.
Here are the details:
As the title suggests, this loaf is EASY.
BUT, looking at the recipe steps may just scare you off. There are a lot of them. But only because I wanted to provide you guys with good detailed directions on exactly how to make this loaf. There is a lot of butter, layering, and rolling. But unlike traditional croissants, this loaf takes 3-4 hours total, not 3 days. Most of the time is spent rising, and honestly, you can’t mess this loaf up. As long as you have the dough made, and some cinnamon sugar, all will be good.
A step-by-step breakdown for you…
1st, make the dough. It’s simple: milk, instant yeast, honey, flour, and salt. Nothing fancy.
2nd, roll the dough out.
3rd, add very thin slices of COLD butter to the center of the dough. This is your “butter packet” (see all my photos for visuals).
4th, roll it out. Again. Freeze 20 minutes.
5th, roll it out. Again. Add cinnamon sugar and roll the dough into a log.
6th, cut the log into rolls and arrange the rolls in a loaf pan.
7th, let the dough rise.
8th, bake until golden brown. Smell the wonderful, warming, cozy, and delicious smells coming from your oven.
9th, eat and enjoy.
The key steps?
Folding the dough and freezing the dough. The multiple folds evenly spread the butter throughout the dough. And the freezing quickly chills the butter and creates all the buttery air packets throughout each loaf.
Do not skip either step.
Fall additions you could make…
Along with the cinnamon sugar, you could also add pumpkin butter, apple butter, or even chopped chocolate.
If you do decide to add pumpkin or apple butter, spread it over the dough in place of the butter, then add the cinnamon sugar.
If using chocolate, use finely chopped chocolate and sprinkle over top the cinnamon sugar.
YUM.
I know, this kind of seems like a lot, but I promise you guys, this is easy. You can make this.
And like I side, you can’t mess it up. Because nothing could ever be bad about a buttery loaf of bread with cinnamon sugar. And yes, this recipe uses close to three sticks of butter. It’s a lot, but it sure is good.
And it’s fall, it’s the weekend, and you should enjoy it.
Best part? This recipe makes 2 loaves. One for this weekend and one for your sweet friends, neighbor, or to freeze and enjoy mid-week.
And with that, I’ll leave you with the recipe. Please make this soon, this weekend would be ideal. And do enjoy with my favorite pumpkin latte for a truly delectable autumn treat any time of the day. ENJOY and see you guys tomorrow for the first “spooky” cocktail Saturday…finally!
If you make this easy swirled cinnamon sugar croissant loaf be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Easy Swirled Cinnamon Sugar Croissant Loaf.
Servings: 18 makes 2 (9x5 inch) loaves
Calories Per Serving: 300 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups warm whole milk
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 sticks (1 cup) cold salted butter, sliced into thin pieces
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 egg, beaten, for brushing
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk, honey, 4 1/2 cups flour, yeast, and salt. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. Add 4 tablespoons room temp butter and mix until combined, about 2-3 minutes more, adding the additional 1/2 cup flour as needed, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size.3. Punch the dough down and roll out onto a lightly floured surface, creating a large rectangle that’s about 12x18 inches. Layer the thin slices of cold butter down the middle 1/3 the dough, pressing gently to adhere and layering the slices together to create a rectangle of butter. Gently push the butter together with your hands (see above photo). 4. First fold: Fold 1/3 of the dough over the butter, then fold the other 1/3 over top of the first layer so you have 3 dough layers (like an envelope, see above photo). Roll the dough out again into a large rectangle, fold into thirds. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and transfer to the freezer for 20 minutes..5. Second Fold: Remove the dough from the freezer. Roll the dough into a rectangle (about 12x18 inches) and fold into envelope. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and transfer to the freezer for 20 minutes.6. Meanwhile, butter two (9x5 inch) bread pans. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. 7. Remove the dough from the freezer. Roll the dough into a rectangle. Spread the dough with 2 tablespoons softened butter and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter. Starting with the edge of dough closest to you, roll the dough into a log, keeping it tight as you go. When you reach the edge, pinch along the edges to seal.8. Cut the dough log in half. Cut each half into 10-11 rolls. Arrange each roll into the prepared bread pans. You can place them seam side down, or alternate each roll to show more of the filling (see above photo). Cover and let rise 15 minutes. 9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the bread pans on a rimmed baking sheet and brush each loaf with the beaten egg. Transfer to the oven and bake 35-40 minutes or until dark brown on top. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a cooling rack. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
To Use Active Dry Yeast: Mix 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast with the warm milk and honey. Let sit 5-10 minutes, until bubbly and foamy on top. Add the flour and follow the directions as listed for the remainder of the recipe.
To Make Ahead: prepare the bread through step 8. Do not let the bread rise at room temp. Cover the loaves of bread and place in the fridge for up to overnight. When ready to bake, remove the bread from the fridge 30 minutes prior to baking, then bake as directed.
To Freeze The Dough Before Baking: prepare the bread through step 8. Do not let the bread rise at room temp. Cover the loaves of dough tightly and freeze in the bread pans for up to 3 month. When ready to bake, remove the bread from the freeze and thaw for 2-3 hours on the counter, then bake as directed.
To Freeze The Bread After Baking: bake the bread as directed and allow to cool completely. Once cool, wrap the bread tightly with plastic wrap, then transfer to a freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter and warm or toast before serving.
Leftovers: the bread is best served warm after baking, but the leftover bread is delicious when lightly toasted or served at room temperature.
There is NO way I would have attempted this recipe if it hadn’t said “Easy.” If you had not stated that it sounded too hard but you just wrote out all the directions very specifically for us, I would have pinned this recipe and daydreamed about it….and probably never have actually made it. Even though my rolls fell apart and one of my loaves fell apart when I tried to get it out of the pan (my fault….loosen it with a knife and don’t shake it like a normally loaf of bread)….even with all that, this looks beautiful and tastes AH-MAZING. This will become a regular on my baked-good gifts rotation.
Hey April,
Awesome! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your comment! Glad to hear it was enjoyed. Have a great week! x
Metric and us customery aren’t same weights just did it and it did not come out as expected to be.
I realized later that they are different so I’m afraid you have to fix that as it came out a disaster.
Hey David,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear the measurements were off. Was there a specific ingredient that had the wrong measurement? Unfortunately, I always recommend that you double check with your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! x
Delicious, fun to make, and not difficult.
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! I appreciate you leaving a comment! 🙂 xT
This is the most amazing recipe ever! Thank you so much. This was by far the most delicious sugary cinnamon bread I’ve ever made or eaten.
Hey! So happy to hear this recipe was enjoyed! Thanks for giving it a try! xT
Hi, please help to clarify –
4 1/2 – 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
= 1.19kg (according to ur metric conversion)
Or 625g (according to Google findings)
1 3/4 cups warm whole milk (according to ur metric conversion)
= 488 g warm whole milk
Or 423.50 g (according to Google findings)
Hi Violet,
Please follow the cups measurements or use I recommend that you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe! xT
Excellent… Many thanks for the prompt reply… my family loves the bread… thank you for sharing ..
Advance Greetings for Thanksgiving Day💕💕💕
Idk why but after I put the pan in the oven for about 10 minutes the butter was over flowing the pan and seeming. What should I do? Looks amazing.
Also, how should we store it and how long does last before spoiling?
You can store in an airtight container to up to 1 week:) I like to lightly toast the bread when serving leftovers!
Tried this, it was delicious but dough didn’t rise and it wasn’t croissant-like. Where can I find the nutritional info please?
Hi there,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear you had some issues. Was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe or anything that I can help with? Sorry, we only have the estimated calorie count available above the list of ingredients! xx
Lolllll this is not the recipe for counting calories.
I have made this recipe many times as loaves but do you think I could possibly make them into muffins? By slicing a little smaller and placing into muffin tins instead of loaf pans? What would you recommend for baking time? Thanks in advance!
Hey Amber,
Thanks so much for making this recipe!! I’ve never tried that but it could workout for you, let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Just curious…what do I need to change to use active yeast?
Hi Kyle,
You will just want to mix the yeast with the warm milk and honey, allow that to come to a bubble, and then follow the recipe as is. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it!! xx
Tieghan,
I just took these out of the oven. They are absolutely beautiful and my house smells delicious. Don’t know if I can wait for my husband to get home! Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Kyle,
Happy Friday!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was a winner:) ?xx
We made this yesterday to bake this morning (on an usually cold Texas day) and it is perfectly croissant/bread like and delicious
Hey Caroline,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!? xxT
Hi! This might be a dumb question…..but I’m gonna ask anyway! After you roll out, add butter, fold up. Do you roll into a ball, cover with plastic and freeze? Or leave it in a rectangle? Ball makes sense because how else do you roll it out again after the freezer if it’s already in rectangular “form”……anywho! Just let me know! Thanks!
Hey Annie,
If you roll into a ball it will completely mess up all of the folding you did in steps 4 and 5. You will just simply wrap the rectangle in plastic wrap after the folds in step 5. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I just checked your Instagram and didn’t see the video pinned at the top. Is there anywhere I can watch it? I made this today but didn’t get the beautiful layers (croissant look) that you did so was hoping to watch to see what I might’ve done wrong! Thanks!
Hey Kelsey,
Sorry I no longer have that video saved. Please let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Hi can I use unsalted butter instead? This looks awesome!