Making famous theme park cinnamon bread at home is a fun baking activity that brings warm sweet flavors to your dinner table. This recipe breaks down the process so you can use basic ingredients you already have at home. You do have to wait patiently for the dough to rise up before baking but that is the hardest part. The final pull-apart bread turns out rich buttery and totally delicious every single time. Just follow these easy instructions to bake a wonderful sweet loaf for everyone to enjoy.
Gathering dough ingredients and baking tools
You will need a stand mixer and a standard loaf pan to get started on this baking adventure. The dough needs one and two-thirds cups of all-purpose flour and one and one-fourth teaspoons of instant or rapid-rise yeast along with half cup plus 3 tablespoons of warm water at about 110 degrees. You also need to grab 2 tablespoons of melted butter and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of table salt to make the base perfectly rich.
Mixing the yeast and flour base
Start by whisking your flour and yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer. You then want to fit the mixer with a dough hook and turn it on low speed while you add the warm water to the flour mixture. Let it mix until a cohesive dough forms and there is no dry flour left which takes about two minutes.
Kneading butter and sugar into the dough
Let the dough rest for 15 minutes and wrap it with plastic. Pour the butter and sugar into the resting dough. With the mixer on medium-low, mix it for 30 seconds to allow the butter to mix into the dough, and then put it on medium. Mix the dough for 6-8 more minutes, or until the dough pulls away from the sides and appears smooth and elastic.
Letting the cinnamon bread dough rise
Take your smooth dough and transfer it to a large bowl that you have lightly greased. Cover this bowl very tightly with plastic wrap so no air gets in to dry it out. You need to let the dough sit in a warm spot and rise until it has completely doubled in size which usually takes about one hour. This waiting part is hard but it is very necessary for fluffy bread.
Preparing the sweet cinnamon sugar coating
To start off, add 4 tablespoons of butter in a shallow bowl. Next, add in 1 1/2 cups of light brown sugar that you’ve packed down. In the same bowl, add 1/4 cup of white sugar and 4 teaspoons of cinnamon. Finish with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Make sure to remove any lumps while you’re at it. Now remove 6 tablespoons of this sugar mixture and place it in a bowl. Save this for later.
Cutting and coating the dough pieces
Using a tablespoon of softened butter, coat an eight and one-half by four and half-inch loaf pan to prevent sticking. Form a rectangle out of your dough measuring about 8 by 4 inches and place on your counter. Separate the dough into five equal strips by cutting. Before dipping in your sugar mix, brush each dough strip in your bowl of melted butter.
Arranging the loaf and the second rise
Place your coated dough pieces in the prepared pan in a single layer to form a rectangle shape again. Cover the pan loosely with some greased plastic wrap so it does not stick to the top. Let the dough rise for about one hour until it looks very puffy and do not worry if the sugar coating cracks a bit because that is totally normal.
Baking at the correct temperature
Place your oven rack to the center area and make sure you preheat the oven about 350 degrees while your dough finishes rising. Now put the pan in the oven and bake the bread. You need bake the bread for half and hour at least. Also make sure that you don’t overcook the bread. Keep rotating the pan halfway through the baking time so that it gets brownish from the top.
Applying the extra butter and sugar glaze
You want the center to register 205 to 210 degrees on a thermometer to know it is fully cooked. While the bread is baking you should add your remaining 4 tablespoons of melted butter into the small bowl of reserved sugar mixture and whisk it together. Take the pan out of the oven and immediately brush the hot loaf with this thick butter and sugar mixture. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes so it does not fall apart.
Making the icing and serving the bread
You can easily make a quick glaze by whisking ½ cup of confectioners’ sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk until it is perfectly smooth. Remove the cooled loaf from the pan and transfer it to a serving platter and then let it cool for another 15 minutes. Drizzle your sweet glaze all over the top of the bread and serve it warm to your lucky guests.
