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This bread.
Hands down this is the best sweet bread I have ever made.
You guys, I really just do not even have words. This bread is incredible.
I know I plan on making it every Sunday from now until Christmas.
I have many reasons for this.
One is that it is addicting.
Seriously, you will want slice after slice.
Two is the smell.
Oh the smell. It is pure happiness in the air. I would make this bread just for the smell it throws off while baking. Think about how it would smell to be in Mrs. Clause’s kitchen and that is this smell. I would make it even if I could not eat it, just to smell the smell.
The more I think about it, this is a great bread to give to others during the holidays. You get to experience the joy of giving (and filling your house with that awesome aroma!), and your receiver will thank you to no end. Perfect for an elderly neighbor, your friend who just had a baby, the UPS man (or woman). Yeah, the UPS man… speaking of which, mine is seriously overworked! You see up here in the mountains, we don’t have a whole lot of buying choices, so Amazon and online shopping, they are my savior! No really, I can’t imagine what I would do if I wasn’t able to shop online. So Jose (my UPS guy), this bread’s for you!
The ropes of soft delicate brioche dough are taken through a bath of butter and vanilla and then generously sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Yes, yes, yes!
It’s like a cinnamon roll brioche bread!
I left this bread free of icing because it really does not need any.
There is a whole layer of crunchy streusel on top that really just needs to be left to shine. And it does. Trust me, it is so good. Just a little crunchy on the top, but super soft and doughy, cinnamony and buttery in the middle.
Oh my gooooshhh.
Just make it guys.
The dough is really easy to work with and the hands-on time is very minimal. Just mix and let the dough sit overnight, then roll some ropes, dip in butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, braid and let rise for another hour or so. Then bake and smell the amazingness.
And I am serious. It really is amazing.
Cinnamon Crunch Braided Brioche Bread
Servings: 12 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 396 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Streusel Topping
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter cold
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Combine warm water, yeast, salt and sugar in a large mixer bowl and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add eggs and melted butter and mix until combined. Gradually mix in the flour until the dough comes together. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Grease a large bowl and add the dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Once the dough has doubled in size place the bowl in the fridge overnight or up to 5 days. When ready to bake the bread remove the dough and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime gather the ingredients for the Cinnamon Sugar Coating. Add the 1/2 cup melted butter to a large shallow bowl, stir in the vanilla.
- In another medium size bowl combine the 1 cup brown sugar with 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix well.
- Grease a loaf pan and sprinkle the inside of the loaf pan with the Cinnamon Sugar Coating.
- Sprinkle the dough with flour and cut into three equal pieces. Carefully roll each piece into a 12-inch rope.
- Now take each rope and dip it through the butter, then generously sprinkle each rope with the Cinnamon Sugar Coating. Now gently roll each rope in the remaining coating that has gathered around the rope on your work surface. I used most of my cinnamon sugar for this.
- To make the braid, start at one end and pinch the ends of the rope together. Bring the right outside rope over the center rope; that rope now becomes the center. Bring the left outside rope over the new center rope; that rope now becomes the center. Continue braiding until you reach the end. Pinch the ropes together to seal.
- Carefully lift the braid and place it in the greased and sugared loaf pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm draft free area another 1-2 hours, or until double in size. About 20 minutes before you are ready to bake the bread preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Make the streusel. In a bowl add the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and pecans. Using your hands work the butter into the sugar until the mixture resembles small peas.
- Place the loaf on a baking sheet and and sprinkle the streusel overtop. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 to 55 minutes, tenting with foil after 15 to 20. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then carefully turn the bread out of pan to cool completely before slicing. If some of the streusel falls off, just place it back on the loaf.
Notes
*Brioche dough adapted from [here | http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/brioche-recipe].
Finally!
Hi Tieghan!! I made this bread last week and it was sooooo perfect. I’d even go as far as to say it’s better than anything you can get at a local bakery. It doesn’t seem fair to only give it 5 stars. I just love the texture; far superior to just regular old bread. I mixed up the dough in the morning, let it rise until doubled and then put it in the fridge and came back to it about 7 or 8 hours later. I didn’t braid my loaf: I just rolled it out, spread with butter, sprinkled the dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture, rolled it back up like a cinnamon roll, placed in buttered loaf pan, let it rise and then added the streusel topping. Mine was ready after exactly 50 minutes in the oven. While it was baking, my daughter came in the kitchen to inquire, “What IS that smell?? It smells soooo good!” It was very easy and practically foolproof. Unfortunately, I had to give most of it away because I couldn’t stop eating it and I knew I would eat the whole thing unless I did something drastic. I’ll be making another loaf this weekend because French toast. This recipe has earned a permanent place in my recipe box. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Hi Viola! I am so happy to hear this! Thank you so much & I hope you love other recipes on my blog just as much!
I’m making this right now!!! My kids are DYING over this and we can’t wait. Thank you sooooo much!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you Katie!
This turned out beautifully and is so much better than store bought.
Thank you Ginger!
This loaf is a labor or love and a show-stopper! Thank you for this recipe! Normally, I don’t need to make life decisions on how to store it b/c it’s gone so fast, BUT… I baked a few loaves to travel with. How should I wrap these for a day in the car???
Thanks
HI! I would wrap in plastic wrap. That will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. so glad you love the bread! Thank you! 🙂
Hello there! I know this recipe is quite old but I just made it and have a question. My bread did not stay together when I cut it. Is there a way that you keep your logs together so that it creates slices rather than breaking into pieces? Other than that, it’s wonderful! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Alison! Because of the moist nature of the bread it is hard to keep it into perfect slices. I’d recommend dividing the bread into 2 loafs and baking them in a 9×5 inch pan. The pan helps keep them together. Hope that helps! 🙂
I am so excited to start this today! Quick question as I looked at the King Arthur recipe as well and it calls for instant yeast. Is that the yeast you use as well? And there is no need to activate it before mixing everything else in? I’m so glad I found this recipe! Thank you!
What size loaf pan do you use?
Hi Tieghan~
I’ve been following your blog and website for a few years. I love your posts and recipes and made some over the years. Today, I made your cinnamon crunch braided brioche bread. What an amazing recipe! The dough came together beautifully! So rich and smooth! I decided to add raisins which I soaked overnight in rum and added them to the dough. The outcome….well, it was almost gone before the sun set on the west coast. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Ellie, so happy to hear form you! This is one of my all time favorites. So happy you liked it, thanks for making it!
The bread came out SOOO good the very first time I tried out this recipe. Definitely a keeper! The only thing I did differently is that I lined the loaf pan with parchment paper and all I had to do after taking the pan out of the oven is waiting 10 minutes, lifting the corners of the parchment paper and you’ll get the whole loaf right out! Voila!
SO happy it came out good!! The parchment paper is genius. Thank you so much Chian!
This is definitely one of the most wonderful brioche recipes I’ve ever found. Absolutely exquisite taste texture and beautiful presentation. Will become our traditional Christmas morning bread. Try this recipe. You will not be disappointed. Au contrare you will be delighted…And the sweet cinnamon smell does fill the air….LOVE LOVE LOVE
Wow thank you Lesli! I am so thrilled you love this recipe!
I have been trying variations of the cinnamon rolls that are a Christmas tradition in our family and if this bread comes out as great as it looks and sounds, this is going to replace it….I will post a picture when it’s done! …thanks in advance! …..
That is so awesome! I hope it works out perfect for you Darlene! Can’t wait to see the pictures when its done!
I made this yesterday and it was fantastic! I love the crunch of cinnamon sugar mixture on the outside and the slightly gooey richness in the middle!
For me, I had some leftover cinnamon crunch coating and some leftover of the vanilla butter mixture. So I just mixed the two together until I got the right texture I was looking for and spinkled that over the top of the bread, instead of making an additional streusel topping, leaving out the nuts. It worked great!
The vanilla butter is genius!!
(Tieghan, I am not sure where you live, but I know that we would be fast friends if I lived nearby! You are a girl after my own heart! Love your food!)
That sounds amazing!! I am so happy this was so perfect for you, and that you could use the topping twice! LOL! Oh, I am sure we would be. I am so happy you love my recipes! Thanks Lisa! ?
Hey!
Since I am looking for a real brioche recipe I finally found this and I really want to give it a try! But as Easter is coming I thought about making just the dough, so without all the cinnamon stuff, and bake it as little “crests”, for Easter brunch. What do you mean, will that work and how should I adjust the baking time/temperature ? 🙂
Kind regards and thank you very much!
Hanna
HI! I would just prepare the dough minus all the cinnamon + sugar. Then just shape into your desired shape. Let me know if you have questions, happy to help!
Thanks so much,
Tieghan!
Hi Tieghan,
thanks so much for your fast reply! I baked the brioche today in shape of 8 little bunnys; they turned out very nice and soft and my parents loved them! Unfortunately, they had for me a too strong taste of yeast… is that volitional or did I something wrong? I had to add a quite big amount of flour because the dough was so sticky, but I guess that shouldn’t be the problem.?
Anyway, I love your blog and recipes and maybe I am just cursed looking for THE brioche recipe for the rest of my life, haha.
Happy Easter and greetings from Germany,
Hanna
Hmm, a strong taste of yeast? I really don’t know. Did you bake them fully? Sorry I can’t help more. Thank you so much for you kind words and Happy (late!) Easter!
Yum! This will be in my oven in about an hour just letting it rise. My mouth is watering just anticipating this delicious bread! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you so much! Hope you love the bread!! 🙂
Which yeast do you use ?
I made this yesterday and it was amazing! I just wanted to leave a comment because I used my breadmaker to make the dough and it worked out great. I used bread/rapid-rise yeast otherwise I followed the recipes ingredient list as written. Once the dough was by setting the machine on the dough cycle, I followed the instructions as given save the part where you leave the dough in the fridge overnight. It was delicious and the breadmaker made it easy for me to tackle! I felt so confident, afterwards, I tackled your chocolate cinnamon swirl brioche recipe today in the same way ? Also delicious!!! I’m going to be digging through your recipes now to find others to try!