Adapted from my orange cranberry bread, this vanilla-flavored cinnamon swirl quick bread is moist and soft with a thick ribbon of cinnamon-sugar swirled inside. You only need a handful of very basic ingredients and there’s no mixer required. This cake-like bread will remind you of cinnamon rolls, but takes a fraction of the time to prepare!
One reader, Nikki, commented: “I never leave reviews on anything, but this bread is phenomenal! It came together really quick and easy, but looks so impressive! And the flavor is a dream. I cannot recommend this enough! ★★★★★”
Do you ever get the baking itch? (Of course you do, why am I even asking?!) But what about the desire to make something truly warm, cozy, and comforting? Where not only that first bite soothes the soul, but the smell of it baking is satisfying too. My cinnamon swirl quick bread checks all those boxes.
This recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
This Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread Is:
- Melt-in-your-mouth soft & moist
- Vanilla & cinnamon flavored (even better with vanilla icing on top!)
- Very easy to make, no mixer needed
- Layered with an extra thick cinnamon swirl
- Covered with a crackly cinnamon sugar crust
In terms of texture, it’s not quite as dense as pound cake, but it’s definitely heavier than vanilla cake. I like to compare it to apple cinnamon bread and cinnamon swirl banana bread, only without the apples or bananas.
I used to make a version of this bread with buttermilk, but for today’s recipe, I swapped the 1 cup of buttermilk for sour cream and milk. I wanted a slightly denser crumb, while keeping each bite totally tender and soft. Sour cream is a magical ingredient in cakes, cupcakes, breads, muffins, and more. I found that 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup milk made the bread a little too dry and dense, but 1/3 cup sour cream and 2/3 cup milk was perfect. Brown sugar can weigh down the bread, so I used all regular white sugar. I also increased the vanilla extract and the amount of sugar in the cinnamon swirl. (Thicker swirl!) All of these small changes made a very big difference and you can see similar variations with my orange cranberry bread and peach bread recipes!
Best Ingredients to Use & Why
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of this quick bread recipe.
- Salt & Baking Soda: Flavor & rise.
- Vanilla Extract: You’ll appreciate the simple, yet unbeatable flavor of vanilla in the bread itself. If you have homemade vanilla extract on hand, use it here.
- Egg: One egg binds everything together.
- Sugar: You need sugar for both the bread batter and the cinnamon swirl.
- Sour Cream: We use sour cream for moisture and tenderness, but also because its lactic acid helps the baking soda do its job. This powerhouse ingredient plays the same important role in coffee cake, too (which you’ll love just as much as this bread!).
- Milk: Whole milk is best, but you can use a lower fat or nondairy milk in its place.
- Oil: While butter provides unbelievable flavor, nothing beats the moisture that oil provides. We use oil in this quick bread recipe (and others like strawberry bread, pumpkin bread, and lemon poppy seed bread) to produce a moist bread. Plus, the cinnamon sugar swirl and vanilla extract both provide a lot of flavor.
Extra Thick Cinnamon Swirl
To assemble the cinnamon swirl, layer half of the bread batter into your greased loaf pan. Top with almost all of the cinnamon sugar (as noted in the written recipe below, reserve 2 Tablespoons for the topping). Pour and gently spread the remaining batter on top. Sprinkle with remaining 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon sugar, then use a knife to swirl.
As you layer in all that cinnamon sugar filling, you’ll question the amount. Really? This much cinnamon sugar? Yes! For an extra thick cinnamon sugar swirl inside, we need an extra amount layered in. There’s A LOT. If you’re looking to spice up the flavor, try using a chai spice blend instead. Check out my white chocolate chai snickerdoodles and use the sugar/chai spice “topping” as the filling here. (Still reserving 2 Tablespoons of it for this bread’s topping.) There are more flavors and variations listed in the recipe notes below.
One of my favorite parts is the cinnamon sugar around the edges. Some of the cinnamon sugar from the center may seep out, creating an irresistible crisp/chewy crust.
Looking for a yeasted cinnamon swirl bread? See my homemade cinnamon swirl bread.
How to Freeze Quick Bread
Freezing quick breads is a lot like how to freeze cakes.
- Step 1: Bake and completely cool quick bread.
- Step 2: Once the bread cools completely, wrap it in Press & Seal or plastic wrap. From one baker to another—Press & Seal is the best product for wrapping baked goods. I find regular plastic wrap too thin, clingy, and frustrating. It definitely works, but Press & Seal is easier to use and I’ve honestly found that it keeps my food fresher. (Not working with this brand, just really love it.)
- Step 3: Write the type of bread and use-by date on a large piece of aluminum foil. For best taste and texture, don’t freeze quick bread for longer than 3 months. You could stretch it to 4 or 5 months, but the sooner you serve it, the fresher it tastes.
- Step 4: Wrap the bread in the aluminum foil and place in the freezer. You could place the wrapped bread in a freezer container or freezer-friendly zipped top bag, but I often just freeze it after wrapping in aluminum foil.
- Step 5: Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, transfer the frozen bread to the refrigerator one day before serving. Sometimes I forget and just let the bread thaw at room temperature for several hours, but it’s better to thaw at a slower rate in the refrigerator. Make sure you thaw bread while it’s still in the wrapping. Don’t unwrap before thawing.
Baker’s Tip: Two layers of wrap is key! The first layer keeps the bread fresh and the aluminum foil ensures no condensation will seep in. Double layer = maximum freshness and no freezer burn. Moisture is the enemy, so don’t be afraid to add another layer of Press & Seal or aluminum foil.
Print
Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This vanilla-flavored cinnamon swirl quick bread is moist and soft with a thick ribbon of cinnamon-sugar swirled inside. Feel free to turn this recipe into muffins or mini loaves. See recipe Notes below. This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Swirl
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Bread
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk, at room temperature*
- 1/3 cup (75g/80ml) vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup (80g) full-fat sour cream (or plain yogurt/Greek yogurt), at room temperature*
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- optional: vanilla icing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 9×5-inch or 8×4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- For the Cinnamon Swirl: In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Set aside.
- Make the Bread: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, milk, oil, sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then whisk just until combined. Avoid over-mixing. The batter should be thick and creamy.
- Pour/spread about half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle almost all of the cinnamon-sugar evenly on top (reserve about 2 Tablespoons for topping). It’s a very thick layer of cinnamon-sugar. Carefully pour/spread the remaining batter evenly on top. The top layer of batter will try to stick to the cinnamon-sugar filling, making spreading a little more difficult, but use a spoon to carefully spread it out as best you can. Sprinkle the remaining 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon-sugar on top. Using a knife, make a large swirl down the loaf pan, as shown in the video tutorial. Avoid over-swirling, which will mix the layers together too much.
- Bake the bread for 50–65 minutes, tenting loosely with foil about halfway through to prevent the top from over-browning. Bread baked in an 8×4-inch pan takes closer to 65 minutes. Poke the center of the bread with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan set on a cooling rack for 1 hour. After that, remove the bread from the pan and let it finish cooling directly on the rack.
- Drizzle with icing, if using. Slice and serve. Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, you can freeze the glazed or unglazed bread for up to 3 months. See details above the recipe. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before glazing (if needed) and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan or 8×4-inch Loaf Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream & Milk: I use a mix of sour cream and whole milk here. The crumb is tighter and more tender—you’ll love it. Using all milk creates a thinner batter that can overflow and take much longer to bake. That being said, feel free to use 1 cup of buttermilk instead of the sour cream and whole milk option here. You can make your own DIY version of buttermilk if needed. Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 cup. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the bread won’t taste as rich and moist.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Optional Additional Flavors: Feel free to use the chai spice swirl noted above. Or add 1 cup of peeled, chopped apples to the bread batter or even 1 cup of raisins, chopped walnuts or pecans, or dried/fresh/frozen (do not thaw) cranberries. You can also add 1 Tablespoon of fresh orange zest to the bread batter OR cinnamon sugar swirl. Also, the orange glaze from this cranberry bread would be delicious on this bread.
- Muffins: Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with liners. You will need a 2nd pan for 2 additional muffins as this recipe yields around 14. (Or bake in batches.) Prepare cinnamon swirl and batter in steps 2 + 3. Spoon batter evenly into liners, filling each halfway. Sprinkle each with a heaping spoonful of cinnamon sugar. Top with more batter, filling to the top. Sprinkle each with a dusting of cinnamon sugar. Use a knife to swirl the batter/cinnamon sugar in each. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20-22 minutes, give or take. Cool muffins for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 14 muffins.
- Mini Loaves: Grease a mini loaf pan. Prepare cinnamon swirl and batter in steps 2 + 3. Spoon batter evenly into greased cups, filling each halfway. Sprinkle each with a heaping spoonful of cinnamon sugar. Top with more batter, filling to the top. Sprinkle each with a dusting of cinnamon sugar. Use a knife to swirl the batter/cinnamon sugar in each. Bake at 350°F (177°C) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bake time and yield depends on the size of your mini loaf pan.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This was so delicious! I added a cup of chopped apples with the cinnamon swirl and it was the perfect fall bite. I will be making this again ASAP as we’ve eaten almost the whole loaf in a couple of days.
Super easy to make and it tastes wonderful! I took it to two businesses to get feedback. Everyone loved it! My brother said it would be better with butter…another person said it tastes like Fall. Thank you for sharing! Yum!
Delicious ♥️ And easy to bake ♥️
Sally has done it again! Another easy and delicious recipe. I LOVE how much cinnamon flavor is in this! I had to use wheat flour because I ran out of regular flour — still delicious!
Amazing recipe!! So yummy and I will definitely add the vanilla icing next time as I think it will take what is already a great recipe to another level! Thank you Sally!!
Moist and delicious with a gorgeous thick cinnamon swirl. It looks and taste like you really slaved over it, but in truth the recipe is simple enough that my toddler could it all with direction.
I followed the recipe to the T and it came out absolutely lovely. The bread was moist and sweet and just perfect.
Family loved it and I will be making it again for sure ! Thank you Sally 🙂
Ps – I submitted my photo for the baking challenge!! Best of luck 🙂
This bread is delicious and as a bonus, the smell while it baked as amazing! I love the crunch of the cinnamon sugar on top and the crumb is perfectly moist! I’ll be making this often!
We loved this recipe! I made a double batch – muffins and bread. The muffins wound up nice and crispy on top and pulled apart similar to a cinnamon roll. We froze the bread and thawed it to eat a week later and it turned out beautifully! Not soggy at all. To freeze it I sliced it and put it in a ziplock bag with all the air removed instead of following the instructions for freezing as I didn’t have any press and seal and my plastic wrap doesn’t cling very well. Worked well – at least for the week I had it in the freezer.
This is what I wrote on my social media:
❤️Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread
This is the September monthly challenge over at Sally’s Baking Addiction. It’s my second challenge. I may be addicted. No pun intended. I will try to do most of the challenges……unless it’s one that I already have in my repertoire.
I honestly was not looking forward to this challenge…..it seemed a little too basic for me. And I am not overly fond of quick breads, in general. Unless it’s my delicious pumpkin bread.
I am so glad that I did it anyway!
I decided to try two different loaves.
The first loaf is the recipe as written.
With the second loaf, I added chopped dried cranberries to the bread batter and to the vanilla frosting.
Oooooh, these are so good. And the cranberry loaf…….this will definitely be added to my repertoire. It will be good for a Christmas gift!!
When we cut into these the first time, all of my kids (young adults) gathered in anticipation at the table with coffee and tea; we had a lovely morning break together. Just like when they were little. It is unanimous that these both shall be baked again.
Oh, they were so good!!
I miss them!!
Trust me when I say: the photos do not show how delicious these are!!
Simple recipe that I was easily able to recreate. The bread turned out great and was a hit with my family.
So much fun!! It’s all gone!!
So easy, and so delicious! We had some leftover cream cheese icing to use up which made for the perfect pairing. My family loved this loaf too – it barely lasted 24 hours!
This bread was a huge hit with my family and friends! I added this to my recipe Arsenal (as I do with many of Sally’s recipes). Due to allergy/health purposes I used the following substitutions;
Duck egg, Avacado oil, white whole wheat flour, 1/2cup honey, unsweetened coconut yogurt, and oat milk. For the icing I used Silks non dairy whipping cream.
I did add 1 cup of pecans (leaving some to sprinkle on top). Sometimes I add raisins too!
Absolutely delicious quick bread! I added toasted pecans to the cinnamon swirl and on top. Will make this again and again! Thank you Sally! Love your recipes!
Super easy to make! AND delicious! Took the picture, 10 minutes later it was 2/3 gone!! ONLY 3 PEOPLE LIVE IN MY HOUSE!! lol!
Oh my goodness, I’ll be baking this one again! Truly, so simple but packs a lot of cinnamon punch. I did make the frosting for it, and I’ll admit that I can’t imagine it without it on there. It’d be a great crowd pleaser for a breakfast or brunch! I also would love to make my next one with some pumpkin in there–be a great combo!
This was fairly easy and didn’t take very long. I didn’t watch the video and when I got to the instructions to “make the swirl like the video” I just did what I thought it would be and it turned out great! I made this for a small get-together with my friends and when I asked for a rating I got all 9’s and 10’s(out of 10)!! Super yummy! I personally wouldn’t call this bread, to me it’s more a “loaf cake” but either way it’s delicious!
I adore a recipe where I don’t have to wait for butter to come to room temperature (and let’s be honest, butter isn’t cheap, so sometimes I like to skip it). This recipe came together very quickly, was super easy, didn’t have excessive cleanup, and most importantly, was delicious!! I’ll definitely be adding it to my list of recipes I make regularly.
Easy and delicious! Made for a perfect birthday treat 🙂
Such a quick, easy and delicious recipe! My family finished it in a day! Will definitely be making this recipe again and again!
First time making it and it was so simple to make and made the house smell incredible! Can’t wait to try your other breads! Is there a calorie per slice anywhere? (I’m trying to noom and I had no idea where to begin! )
Hi Katie, I’m so happy you gave this recipe a try! I’m unsure of the nutritional info of this recipe, but there are many great online calculators like this one: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
This is so good! I can’t wait to do it again with chai spices.
This bread was so delicious! Loved it! Really like how quick and easy it is to make!
First time to participate in your baking challenge and your recipes never disappoint. Bread was so easy to make and it’s so good. Like cinnamon rolls but definitely quicker and easier to make. Our kitchen smells divine. Thanks for this recipe!
This was super easy to make and tasted delicious. Can’t wait to try it again but might add apples next time!
This recipe was super easy to follow! I enjoyed the cinnamon sugar taste. Like Sally says, I would highly recommend using whole milk and vegetable oil! I used 2% milk and butter/avocado oil since I couldn’t find my vegetable oil which made it less moist than I would’ve liked. Overall, a great recipe for cinnamon bread that’s not overly sweet!
This recipe was super simple but super delicious! My family finished it within an hour after I baked it.
Wonderful bread! Will definitely be making this again soon.
Such an easy but very delicious recipe!!! I definitely will be making this again in larger quantities so I can share!!!