Make Ahead Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

In today’s post: This Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread has all the flavor of your favorite cinnamon rolls with less work – and the best part is that you can do all the prep the night before!

Easy Cinnamon Bread You can Make Ahead

Whoever came up with the idea for pull-apart bread is a genius! This cinnamon version has layer upon beautiful layer of bread with a yummy cinnamon sugar filling in between them. This is all the deliciousness of cinnamon rolls with less work! And because I’m always looking for ways to simplify projects, I figured out the best way to make the dough ahead of time.

Most yeast breads take about three hours start to finish, but not this loaf. You can mix it up, give the dough a short rest, and shape it all in about 45 minutes, then pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it. That means you can have fresh hot cinnamon pull-apart bread for breakfast without getting up hours in advance!

Rich and Delicious

For this recipe we are using my favorite make ahead bread dough (it’s the one I learned how to make in home ec in eighth grade!) It’s a lovely soft dough that’s extremely easy to work with, and it’s enriched with butter, egg and sugar so it tastes absolutely amazing. My kids can’t stop walking past the loaf to pull off another little slice.

Why You’ll Love This Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

• The enriched dough is a little bit sweet and super soft.
• The filling is made with brown sugar instead of granulated sugar for extra richness, plus plenty of cinnamon so it’s packed with flavor.
• The glaze on top takes it to cinnamon roll level delicious. And if you want to level it up even more, you can use maple extract instead of vanilla extract in the glaze – it’s seriously amazing.

How to Make Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Make the Dough

If you’re using a stand mixer: Add 2.5 C of flour and all other dough ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer, liquids first, and turn your mixer on low (using the bread hook). Once the flour is mostly incorporated, turn the mixer up and let it knead the dough for five to eight more minutes, adding about 1/4 C more flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (see photo below) and makes a nice ball.

You’ll know your dough is done kneading when it passes the “window pane” test. Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll it into a ball. Then stretch the dough slowly. If your dough has been kneaded long enough it will be smooth and elastic and you’ll be able to stretch it out thin enough to see light through it without it tearing. If it’s not elastic and it tears, knead it for a few minutes longer. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rest for 20 minutes (that’s right, only 20 minutes!).

Shape the Dough

While the dough is resting, prepare a loaf pan by spraying it with nonstick spray. You can also line it with parchment paper if desired. Also mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. After the 20 minute rest, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll and it into a 14×14 inch square. Melt 4 tablespoons butter and spread it over the dough. Shake the cinnamon sugar over the butter. Then use a pizza cutter the slice the dough into 24 rectangles: cut it in fourths one way and sixths the other way.

Stack the slices and place them on their sides in the loaf pan. It helps if you prop one end of the loaf pan up a few inches on a book or other item so the slices don’t fall over as you add them to the pan. Place all the slices in the pan, turning the last slice so the cinnamon side is inward (the last slice hasn’t been added yet in the photo below).

Refrigerate

Cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and place the loaf in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 48 hours. Don’t worry if it doesn’t rise a ton in the fridge – you can see in the photo below that my loaf rose a bit while in the fridge, but not a huge amount. (If you’d like to skip the refrigerating step, just let the loaf rise on the counter until it’s puffed a bit and then bake immediately.)

Bake + Glaze

When you are ready to bake, pull the loaf out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Immediately place the loaf in the oven (you do not need to let it come to room temperature first) and bake for about 40 minutes until the top is nicely browned. It’s easy to underbake this loaf, so make sure the top is browned before removing from the oven.

Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix up the glaze. When the loaf is cool enough to handle, carefully remove it to a cutting board or serving tray and drizzle it with the glaze. Serve warm. It’s also delicious after it has cooled completely. Like all home baked bread it tastes best the same day it’s made, but you can store it in an airtight container and warm it gently in the microwave the next day.