Fluffy cinnamon roll milk bread, aka cinnamon rolls in loaf form.
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cinnamon roll milk bread
Hello hello! ☺︎ If you’ve ever wanted cinnamon rolls, but in a different form, this is the recipe for you. This is my cinnamon roll milk bread, which is really just cinnamon rolls that are stacked on top of each other and baked in a loaf pan so you can enjoy slices of cinnamon rolls. We’re also making these rolls milk bread style which makes the loaf overall SO light and fluffy. It’s sweet, cinnamon-y yeast bread perfection.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Use room temperature ingredients:
It’s important that your ingredients are at room temperature so that they can easily incorporate with each other. Take out your cold ingredients about an hour before you’ll need them.
the dough will take a while to knead
Kneading this dough will take a longer time than you are probably used to. This dough is enriched with eggs and butter which makes it take longer for the proper amount of gluten to develop. Kneading in the mixer can take me anywhere from 10-20 minutes. The dough is ready to be used when it passes the windowpane test and has pulled away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. If you are weighing your ingredients, just trust the process! If you are using cup measurements and the dough just is not coming together after 15 minutes, try adding in 1 tbsp. of flour at a time.
how to tell your dough is done kneading: the windowpane test
The windowpane test is (in my opinion) the best way to tell that your dough has been properly kneaded. Once the dough starts to pull away from the sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl, it is most likely ready. However, just to be sure that it’s good to go I check if it passes the windowpane test. To do that, take some of the dough in your hands and start to slowly stretch it out. If it can get thin enough to where light passes through it before tearing, then it’s good to go! If not, keep kneading until it does!
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for cinnamon roll milk bread –
Milk bread brioche:
- Bread flour: I recommend bread flour for the best structure. or structure and chewiness. You could also use a high-quality flour that has a high protein %, such as King Arthur (11.7%) so that your gluten will develop. If you’re using a low protein flour, the gluten will not develop enough and you will have to add a lot more flour to the brioche, which will alter the dough!
- Active dry yeast: for making the dough rise. You can easily substitute in instant yeast if that is what you have on hand – more notes on that later in the blog post.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the brioche. Salt also “controls” the yeast to make sure that it does not overly expand.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetening the brioche and for helping the yeast with rising.
- Egg: for binding and adding moisture.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the brioche rolls and giving them a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth feel. I would not recommend substituting in salted butter since salt is important to controlling yeast growth and the amount of salt in salted butter is quite variable.
- Whole milk: for tenderizing and hydrating the dough. Whole milk will provide the softest rolls because the extra fat helps tenderize the dough. You can however swap in 1%, 2% or your favorite non dairy milk alternative! Just note that the dough may be a little less soft and fluffy due to the varying fat content.
Cinnamon filling:
Unsalted butter & light brown sugar & ground cinnamon: your classic cinnamon roll filling
For the simple glaze:
- Powdered sugar: the base of the glaze.
- Milk: for thinning out the glaze, use your favorite milk here.
- Vanilla: for flavor.
- Salt: a pinch of salt helps balance out the sweetness.
how to make a cinnamon roll milk bread loaf
Here’s a few images of the process of making this cinnamon roll milk bread. You can find the full recipe at the end of this blog post!
- Knead the dough together, then let it rest until it doubles in size.
- Roll out the dough, then spread the butter, cinnamon, and sugar over it.
- Roll up mini cinnamon rolls.
- Layer the mini cinnamon rolls in a loaf pan, then bake, glaze, and enjoy!
cinnamon roll loaf recipe q&a
what is tangzhong?
Tangzhong is a cooking method that involves cooking a portion of the flour in a recipe with 4-5x the amount of liquid. Cooking the flour pre-gelatinizes the starch in the flour, allowing it to hold on to more liquid. This leads to a bread that can hold way more liquid than it normally would be able to, which makes the bread softer, and fluffier, and keeps it from staling as fast. It’s basically a secret ingredient for better bread, using ingredients you already need for the bread! If you ever see the word “milk bread”, that means that that bread uses tangzhong!
how to store cinnamon roll milk bread.
Like any fresh bread recipe, this will definitely taste the best and the most fresh on the day that it’s baked. However, you can keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
can I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?
Definitely – just pop all of the dough ingredients into your mixing bowl to start kneading. I recommend refrigerating the dough overnight to make it easier to work with and more flavorful. However, if you are making the recipe all in one day, and using instant yeast, let the dough rest for just 10 minutes as the first rise (or whatever the instructions are on your yeast packet), then proceed with the rest of the recipe.
can I make the dough ahead of time?
Yes, and I highly recommend it! Brioche dough is a very enriched dough that can be hard to work with when warm. Knead the dough together, cover it, and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight. When you’re ready, take the dough out of the fridge and proceed with the recipe.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Cinnamon Roll Milk Bread
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 24 g bread flour (3 tbsp.)
- 100 g whole milk (3 ½ oz.)
Brioche
- 90 g whole milk (3 oz.)
- 1 ½ tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 240 g bread flour (2 c.)
- 1 ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 egg room temperature
- 56 g unsalted butter (4 tbsp.) room temperature
Cinnamon Filling
- 42 g unsalted butter (3 tbsp.)
- 110 g light brown sugar (½ c.)
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 120 g powdered sugar (1 c.)
- 2 tbsp. milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ⅛ tsp. salt
Instructions
Tangzhong
- Add the flour and milk to a microwave safe bowl and whisk them together. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir and microwave for another 30 seconds. The mixture should now be a thick slurry, but if it’s not, microwave it in 10 second intervals until it has thickened.
Brioche
- Add the milk, sugar, yeast, egg, flour, salt, butter, and tangzhong to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.
- Knead the mixture on medium speed for ~15-20 minutes. The dough is ready when it is no longer sticking to the sides or the bottom of the bowl, and passes the windowpane test.*
- Once the dough is done kneading, shape it into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm area to rise until doubled in size (~1 hr.)**
Cinnamon Filling
- Once you're ready to start shaping the rolls, make the cinnamon filling. In a small mixing bowl, melt the butter. In another small mixing bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Shaping the Loaf
- Butter a 1 lb. loaf pan and line it with parchment paper to form a hammock to lift the bread out of the pan later on.
- Once the dough has doubled in size (or after taking it out of the fridge after rising overnight), punch it down to remove excess air. Transfer the dough to a clean and lightly floured surface, then roll it out to a 12″ x 16″ (35 x 40 cm) rectangle. If the dough keeps springing back a lot while rolling it out, let it rest for 5 minutes before continuing.
- Spread the melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough in half once through the longer side, then slice each piece into 8 pieces. Roll up the mini cinnamon rolls.
- Layer the cinnamon rolls into the loaf pan. I started out with placing some rolls standing up facing the sides of the pan, then placed some face up in the middle of the pan. After that, randomly but evenly distribute the rest of the rolls in the pan.
- Lightly cover the pan with a towel, and let the loaf rise in a warm environment until doubled in size (~30 minutes).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Make an egg wash by whisking together an egg with 1 tbsp. milk, then brush it over the rolls (optional, but recommended for browning.)
- I recomend placing the loaf pan on a flat baking sheet to catch any potential sugar spills in the oven. Bake the loaf for 35-40 minutes. Use a thermometer to check when the rolls are done cooking (200°F / 93°C.)
- Allow the cinnamon roll loaf to sit in the hot loaf pan for at least 10-20 minutes before transferring it out.
Glaze
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt until smooth.
- Pour the glaze over the warm loaf, then slice, serve, and enjoy!
this was delicious! i was a little worried when i was making it as my dough didnt seem to be rising enough, despite my yeast being active and letting it rise in a warm environment. I didnt think it was going to turn out but i decided to bake it anyway just to see, and im so glad i did! its so soft and pillowy, my family devoured it!
Can I use bread flour instead of all purpose for the cinnamon roll milk bread?
Definitely! 🙂
I would love to make this but could you tell me how much sourdough discard starter and instant yeast I would incorporate into this recipe??
Hi! I don’t have experience with sourdough discard starter and haven’t tested this with it so I don’t have a recommendation for that unfortunately. For instant yeast, you would just want to use the same amount as active dry yeast (1 1/2 tsp) for a 1:1 replacement!
This is such a cool bread to make! My family loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you Ana! I’m so happy you and your family liked the recipe! 🙂
These are amazing!! I love them because they can feed so many more people than traditional cinnamon rolls. This is a keeper for sure!