Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

You’ll love this recipe if you like this Pumpkin Cranberry Bread and Applesauce Coffee Cake.

Pull apart bread has been around for years and uses simple ingredients most people already have at home. If you’ve never made it before, think of it as a layered, sweet loaf where each piece is coated in cinnamon sugar and bakes into soft, tender strips.

This version keeps things simple: you mix and knead the dough, let it rise, dip the strips in butter and cinnamon sugar, stack them in a pan, and bake. The dough puffs up, the sugar melts into every layer, and the loaf comes out golden and ready to enjoy. It’s perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a snack, and leftovers reheat well throughout the week.

➡️ Ingredients you’ll need

⏲ How to make this cinnamon pull apart bread recipe

✨ Variations

• Nutty Layers: Sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts between the layers for crunch.
• Fruit Twist: Add thin slices of apple or pear to a few layers.
• Chocolate Cinnamon: Sprinkle mini chocolate chips along with the cinnamon sugar for a sweeter treat.
• Maple Glaze: Swap the vanilla glaze for a simple maple glaze using powdered sugar and maple syrup.

〰️ How to serve

• Drinks — Serve with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or a glass of cold milk.
• Breakfast — Add scrambled eggs, sausage, or bacon on the side.
• Dessert — Warm a slice and add a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top.

💬 FAQs

🍽 Recipe

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 32 minutes minutes

Rise Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 47 minutes minutes

Yield: 6 slices

Course: Bread, Dessert

Cuisine: American

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This Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread is soft, buttery, and works for anything from a weekend breakfast to a simple dessert. You start with an easy yeast dough that bakes up tender instead of dense, so it feels more like soft rolls than a heavy loaf cake. Each dough strip is dipped in butter and cinnamon sugar before going into the pan, so you get lots of layered edges to pull apart and eat with your fingers. You can put it together in the pan ahead of time, keep it in the fridge, and bake it when you’re ready, so it’s still easy even when you’re feeding a group.

Ingredients 

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• ▢ ½ cup warm water
• ▢ ¼ cup warm whole milk
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
• ▢ 4 Tablespoons melted salted butter, cooled
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Sugar

• ▢ ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons melted salted butter, for cinnamon-butter topping
• ▢ 5 Tablespoons salted butter, for dipping dough strips

Glaze

• ▢ ⅔ cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 ½ Tablespoons whole milk
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

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Instructions 

• Mix Dough: In a stand mixer bowl, combine ½ cup warm water, ¼ cup warm whole milk, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast, and 4 Tablespoons melted salted butter. Mix with a fork. Attach dough hook, add 2 cups flour and ½ teaspoon salt, and mix on low until combined. Increase speed slightly and knead 4-5 minutes until dough wraps around the hook. Add a few additional Tablespoons of flour if dough is too sticky — it should be soft and tacky, not wet.
• First Rise: Spray bowl with cooking spray, return dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Make Cinnamon Sugar: In a shallow dish or medium bowl combine ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar, 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, and 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon. Transfer 4 Tablespoons of this mixture to a separate bowl, then add 2 Tablespoons melted salted butter. Mix together and set aside (cinnamon-butter mixture is needed for after bread has baked).
• Prep Pan: Grease an 8×4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
• Prep Butter: In a shallow bowl, melt 5 Tablespoons salted butter. Set aside.
• Shape Dough: Pat dough into about a 9×5-inch rectangle (it will be thick, no need to use a rolling pin), and then use a pizza cutter to cut rectangle into 6 strips. Dip each strip in butter followed by dry cinnamon sugar mixture. Lay each strip in the loaf pan, side by side, so they fill the length of the pan.
• Second Rise: Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 20 minutes. The dough should look puffy and reach near the rim.
• Bake: Preheat oven to 350 °F. Bake 28-32 minutes until golden and center reaches at least 190°F. Avoid overbaking to keep the bread soft.
• Finish and Glaze: Brush top with reserved cinnamon-butter mixture. Let cool 15 minutes, then mix ⅔ cup powdered sugar, 1 ½ Tablespoons whole milk, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, and drizzle over the top of the bread. Serve warm.

Recipe Notes

Making in Advance: Prep the bread in the pan, cover, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, follow the recipe’s baking time and add a few extra minutes if needed.

Refrigerator Storage: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat pieces in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

Freezer Storage: Freeze the bread completely cooled, without the glaze, in a freezer bag. Thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat individual pieces briefly in the microwave, then add the glaze just before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 4ounces, Calories: 522kcal (26%), Carbohydrates: 73g (24%), Protein: 7g (14%), Fat: 22g (34%), Saturated Fat: 14g (88%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 57mg (19%), Sodium: 369mg (16%), Potassium: 127mg (4%), Fiber: 3g (13%), Sugar: 34g (38%), Vitamin A: 669IU (13%), Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 46mg (5%), Iron: 2mg (11%)