This quick and easy sourdough discard cinnamon swirl bread is soft, subtly sweet, and extremely delicious! You can have this bread ready in only 2-3 hours and you won't be able to get enough of it! Try it toasted with butter, plain, or even as French toast!
Try this loaf with my sourdough discard pumpkin french toast batter for an insanely delicious and festive breakfast idea!
This loaf was inspired by my sourdough discard sandwich bread! I lightly tweaked it to make it a little bit sweeter and lighter to compliment the cinnamon sugar swirl.
My family and I enjoy this bread any time of the year, however it is especially popular around easter as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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Ingredients
This recipe uses a handful of simple ingredients that you likely already have on hand! Be sure to check out my "variations" and "substitutions" sections for ideas on how you can make this recipe uniquely yours!
- Warm water
- Bakers yeast
- Sugar (for dough)
- Butter
- Sourdough discard
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Egg (for egg whites)
- Ground cinnamon
- Sugar (for cinnamon mixture)
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
A cinnamon swirl bread can sound intimidating, but this loaf is actually very simple to make. If you have a stand mixer, this process is as simple as adding all of the dough ingredients to the bowl and letting it knead, rolling it out, spreading butter and cinnamon sugar over it, then rolling it up before baking!
- Step 1: Proof the baker's yeast in warm water and sugar. Add wet ingredients.
- Step 2: Add in the dry ingredients and knead until smooth and elastic. Cover your bowl with cling wrap or a clean wet towel and let rise until doubled (roughly one hour). Picture above is after the dough has risen.
- Step 3: Roll the risen dough out on a flat surface. It should be roughly 12x18 inches.
- Step 4: Brush with egg white and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Step 5: Roll up tightly and pinch the seams and ends. Allow to rest for 30 minutes or so (or until puffy).
- Step 6: Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with butter and allow to cool completely before cutting for best results.
Hint: Roll this loaf up TIGHT to prevent large air bubbles!
Substitutions
- Butter - Use a non-dairy butter like Country Crock's plant butter. This is my tried and true non-dairy butter for baking!
- Note: this butter is salted, so you might want to use a little less salt in the rest of the batter. I normally don't find the need to adjust it when using salted butter, but if you are sensitive to salt, you might want to cut the additional salt in half to start.
Variations
- Cinnamon Rasin - Add ½ of a cup of raisins to either the dough itself or on top of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- More Spice - Add ½ teaspoon of nutmeg or cardamom (or both!) for a spicier and more festive loaf.
- Sweeter - Top with pearl sugar to make it sweeter and more dessert-like.
Equipment
- Stand mixer (optional but recommended)
- Butter knife
- One loaf pan
Storage
Store at room temperature in an airtight container or bread bag for 5-7 days. This cinnamon swirl bread can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Top tip
Don't forget the egg white! The egg white wash helps prevent large air bubbles from forming and allows for a more uniform swirl.
FAQ
Yes! Check out my "substitutions" section above for my recommended non-dairy ingredients.
Of course! Just be sure to weigh it out (100g) rather than using a measuring cup since active starter has lots of bubbles and takes up more space than discard. Weighing it helps keep the results consistent.
Related
Looking for other sourdough discard bread recipes like this? Try these:
Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Equipment
- Stand Mixer (optional)
- Hook attachment
- Loaf Pan
Ingredients
Bread
- 1 cup Water 250g
- 2.25 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast 1 packet
- 4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter Softened, 56g
- 4 teaspoons Sugar 20g
- ⅓ cup Unfed Sourdough Discard 100g
- 4 cup + 2 tablespoon All-Purpose Flour 500g
- 1 ½ teaspoon Salt 10g
Cinnamon Filling
- 1 beaten egg white for egg wash before adding the cinnamon-sugar mix.
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
Prep the yeast
- Add the yeast and warm water (110-120 degrees Fahrenheit) to the bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl. Add the sugar to increase the activity of the yeast and mix together with a fork.
- Once your yeast has been proofed, add the butter and starter. Mix until barely combined (the butter will be clumpy).
Make the dough
- Once your yeast has been proofed, add the rest of the sugar, butter, and starter. Mix until barely combined (the butter will be clumpy)
- Next, add roughly half of your dry ingredients and mix on low speed with your stand mixer (or by hand).
- Slowly add in the remainder of the flour. (sometimes I just dump all of the ingredients in at once after the yeast is ready and it always turns out fine)
Knead the dough
- Continue to let the stand mixer knead the dough for 10 minutes or so (or knead by hand on a floured surface). A good way to test if the gluten has developed enough is by doing the windowpane test (This is essentially just taking some of the dough and stretching it with your fingers until it is thin enough that you could see the shadows of your fingers through it when it is held up to a light. If it breaks, in the process, you should knead it more.) When in doubt, knead a little more. Don’t worry about over-kneading!
Rest
- Let the dough rest for an hour in the bowl you used to mix it. This will allow the gluten to develop so that we can easily shape it into a loaf. It will likely double in size in this amount of time depending on the temperature in your home.
Shape and let rise
- After the dough has rested, remove it from the bowl and onto a floured surface. Flatten the dough out into a rectangle (the shortest side should be roughly 9 inches or the length of your loaf pan). Brush the dough with the egg white wash and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Next, roll it into a log and pinch the seams and place the dough in a buttered loaf pan. Cover with cling wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size or when the top of the log is well above the edge of the loaf pan.
- Bake the bread at 375F for 25-30 minutes until the bread is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf is firm to the touch and slightly golden.
- Immediately brush the bread with butter and allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer it to a cooling rack. Allow it to cool fully before cutting for the best results!
Notes
This bread lasts at room temperature for 5-7 days.
Paige says
So I’ve been looking for a recipe like this, but I’m confused by the mention of milk in the instructions, as I don’t see milk in the ingredients list. Can you clarify, please?
Audrey says
Hi, Paige! So sorry, the mention of milk was accidental on my part! I updated the instructions. If you try it out, let me know what you think! This is one of my favorites that I make regularly, so if you have any other questions feel free to ask! 🙂
Dana says
Love how the bread came out. It was really tasty and easy to make. The only thing that confused me was the water amount. I weighed it out and at 125g it came out to just over half a cup.
Audrey says
Hi Dana! I am so glad you liked it! Sorry about the confusion on the weight of the water, it was supposed to say 250g. Thank you for trying my recipe, it means a lot to me!
Toni says
I’ve made this several times. My family loves it and it’s quite easy. I will add that if you roll up the loaf into a log and then roll it again starting with the short end, it creates a nice tight swirl of cinnamon in the loaf and it’s less likely to separate when you bake it.
Audrey says
This is an excellent tip! Thanks, Toni! I'll make note of that in the recipe.
Lisa says
This is my favorite recipe to use up my sourdough discard. So delicious. I was wondering if you can freeze the dough for later baking?
Lisa says
This is my favorite recipe to use up my sourdough discard. So delicious. I was wondering if you can freeze the dough for later baking?
Natalie says
This recipe is fantastic and easy to make. I made two loaves yesterday and gifted one, so I’m making another tonight. Makes incredible French toast!
Audrey says
This sounds amazing! I love turning everything I can think of into French toast, so I will absolutely be trying this!
Kayla Boyd says
I’m trying this recipe and after 10 minutes of kneading my dough is really crumbly and not a uniform ball of dough at all. It seems very dry, what am I missing!
Audrey says
I’m so sorry you’re having trouble with this! I make this dough weekly and haven’t ever found it to be dry or crumbly. Are you using a kitchen scale? I develop my recipes by weight because ingredients can vary a lot when scooped. If it’s too dry and you don’t have a scale, just add some water a bit and a time and knead it until smooth and it should work out just fine 🙂