Vegan Cinnamon Bread
Everyone loves this homemade vegan cinnamon bread recipe because of its soft texture and appealing cinnamon swirls. Serve slices toasted with a smear of agave butter and some chia jam.
Can there be a better way to start your week than a slice of gooey vegan healthy Cinnamon Bread served toasted with a smear of melted vegan butter? OK. Maybe winning the lottery. Or a hug from your kid. But besides that?
I haven’t had a store-bought cinnamon bread loaf in a while because it’s just one of those things I figured wasn’t vegan. This vegan cinnamon bread baking in the oven and filling the house with lovely aromas is the way to go.
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- It’s an easy recipe, because most of the time involved in this recipe is hands-off, allowing the dough to rise
- This indulgent loaf is made entirely without eggs or dairy
- The ingredients are basic, meaning you’ll probably have everything on hand
- The dough is rolled with a sweet cinnamon filling that creates a wonderfully moist loaf that can be enjoyed one slice at a time for days!
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Soy milk — You can use any type of plant-based milk, but I prefer soy milk
- Vegan butter — My go-to vegan butter is Earth Balance or homemade vegan butter.
- Flour — All-purpose flour works here
- Instant yeast — Use either instant or active dry yeast
- Granulated Sugar — A little bit of sugar interacts with and helps the yeast rise
- Brown sugar — We’ll use brown sugar for the cinnamon filling
- Ground cinnamon — This is the star of the show!
Sprinkle 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of raisins over the filling to create a delicious raisin cinnamon bread.
How to Make Cinnamon Bread
This is the best vegan cinnamon bread recipe because it’s relatively easy to make, with only a few simple steps. These include:
- Scald the Milk — This means bringing the milk nearly to a boil and then cooling it down.
- Combine Dry Ingredients — Stir together the flour, yeast, sugary, and salt.
- Dough Rising — Once you’ve kneaded the dough, set it aside to rise.
- Cinnamon Filling — Make the cinnamon filling.
- Roll the Dough — Then roll the dough with the filling and set it aside to rise some more.
- Bake Bread — The best part is baking the bread because the aromas that fill the house are the best!
Here we’ll go into a little more detail about the steps involved in this recipe.
Step One: Scald the Milk
Begin with plant-based milk (I used soy milk) and some apple cider vinegar in a saucepan. Bring that to a simmer and then remove from heat and add the vegan butter. Stir it all together and then set aside to let it cool.
Step Two: Combine the Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl stir together flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the water and lukewarm milk mixture. Stir this all together. It should be fairly sticky.
Add the remaining flour, and then knead the dough in the bowl for about 5 minutes, adding a sprinkling of flour on top as necessary. Once you can press your thumb into the top of the dough and it springs back, you’ve kneaded it enough.
Place the dough in a draft-free, warm place for the dough to rise. It needs about an hour or so.
Step Three: Cinnamon Filling
While the dough is rising, prepare your cinnamon filling by combining brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened vegan butter in a bowl.
Note: Add 1/2 cup of raisins distributed equally across the filling if you want a vegan cinnamon raisin bread.
Step Four: Roll the Dough
Once the dough is ready, use a rolling pin to roll it out into a rectangle about 8 inches wide (to fit your loaf pan) and about 20 inches long.
Spread the cinnamon filling across the dough. Starting at the 8-inch edge farthest from you, begin rolling the dough toward you. When you get to the end, pinch the dough to create a seal.
Place the loaf in a prepared loaf pan, then cover and set aside to rise for another 30 minutes.
Step Five: Bake the Bread
When the cinnamon bread has risen, place it in the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. The crust should be golden brown.
When it’s done, remove it from the oven and allow it sit for 10 to 15 minutes to cool because the cinnamon sugar filling will be hot.
Warm Places to Let Dough Rise
For a warm place to let your dough rise:
- Oven Method — Turn the oven on its lowest temperature for about 5 minutes, then turn the oven off. Place the covered bowl of dough in the oven along with a pan of warm water.
- Microwave Method — Place a pyrex glass measuring cup full of 1 to 2 cups of water. Heat it on high for 2 minutes. This will create a warm, moist environment. Add the covered bowl of dough to the microwave, close the door, and let it sit for the allotted time.
Marly’s Tips
- Keep a spritzer bottle nearby as you roll the dough. If the dough has dried out at all, spritzing it with a little water can help moisten it
- You can substitute powdered sugar for the brown sugar in the filling. This helps the bread to not separate from the filling.
- Be sure to roll the dough tightly as this will help the bread to not separate from the filling as well.
- Make vegan apple cinnamon bread by adding 1 cup of chopped apples to the filling.
- I love these tips from Red Star on tips on the best places to help bread dough rise.
- I knead the dough in the bowl to save cleanup and it works just fine.
This vegan cinnamon bread recipe slices up nicely and you’ll be enjoying it (and maybe even sharing it with others) all weekend long!
What Do You Eat with Cinnamon Bread?
Usually, you’ll want to serve individual cinnamon bread slices toasted, on a plate, along with your favorite toppings, such as butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter. It’s perfect served alongside a bowl of granola or some yogurt for breakfast. You can also use cinnamon bread to make French toast.
More Cinnamon Recipes
Want more vegan cinnamon recipes? Be sure and check these out:
I hope you love this vegan cinnamon bread as much as we do!
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Vegan Cinnamon Bread
Ingredients
- ¾ cups soy milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package instant yeast
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
Vegan Cinnamon Butter Filling:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup vegan butter softened
Instructions
- Heat the milk and vinegar in a small saucepan until it simmers. Remove from heat. Add vegan butter and stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
- In a large mixing bowl add 2 ¼ cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Add water to the cooled soy milk mixture. Stir to combine. Add this to the flour mixture. Stir to combine. It should be sticky at this point.
- Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Once the dough starts to form into a ball, knead the mixture in the bowl for about 5 minutes, sprinkling with flour to keep it from getting too sticky.
- Spray the top of the dough ball with vegetable spray and cover with a damp cloth. Place in a warm place to rise for an hour (or so).
- In the meantime, mix the filling ingredients by combining the brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened vegan butter in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
- Roll out the dough into an 8×20" rectangle. Spread it with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Note: you could add a sprinkling of raisins or finely chopped nuts here.
- Starting at the far end, roll the dough toward you and pinch the final seem. Place this in your lightly greased loaf pan and cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
- Place the loaf in the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Allow the bread to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Store bread in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days. To freeze, allow the bread to cool completely and then cut into slices. Place slices on a tray and place in the freezer. Once slices are frozen (about 30 minutes), transfer to a freezer bag. This bread will keep in the freezer for 1 month.
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Notes
- Sometimes if you roll the dough out on a floured surface, the bottom of the dough can get dried out from the additional flour. Try rolling the dough out on a sheet of waxed paper instead of a floured surface. Or keep a spritz bottle of water and spray the bottom of the dough (just a little) as you roll it up. That moistens the dough and helps it adhere to the filling.
- You could also try using powdered sugar instead of brown sugar in the filling. The finer sugar absorbs into the dough a bit more and will help it stay put.
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2010 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2020.
Damn tasty! Wife and kids made this while I was gone at work. Will be making it again!
Hi Adam. I’m so glad you liked this recipe! And how sweet of your family to surprise you with homemade cinnamon bread!
Have you tried instructions #1-5 in a bread machine?
Hi Joyce. I have never tried this recipe with a bread machine. I found this post that talks about converting recipes for using bread machines, based on the size of your machine. I hope this is helpful: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2018/04/30/how-to-convert-recipes-to-a-bread-machine
This turned out amazingly I was so impressed. The dough was initially a bit dense and I was nervous that it wouldn’t turn out so if you are having doubts partway through making it, just keep going and trust the process!
Hi Gabby! I’m so glad you liked this recipe! Yes, bead baking is all about trusting the process. Maybe that should be a t=shirt!!!