Cinnamon Braid (aka Coffee Cake Braid or Ring)
If you are a fan of cinnamon rolls, king cake, Swedish tea rings, babka or any other variant of soft yeasted bread wrapped around a sweet filling, this recipe is definitely for you. The soft, fluffy, tender bread starts with a super quick, no-knead dough and the recipe is a choose-your-own-adventure style with a selection of different filling and glaze options to mix and match. It is easy to see why this recipe was a go-to for my mom and a family favorite treat.
I’m not sure when mom started making this – I personally only have a single recollection of her making it during one of my visits home during college – but my father and my niece count the cinnamon-sugar variation among their favorite treats that mom made. When I asked my niece which treat that grandma made was her favorite, there wasn’t even a moment of hesitation before she announced “Cinnamon braid!” Of course, mom made it with her own spin. Mom often felt that recipes were a bit stingy with fillings and frostings. It wasn’t at all unusual for her to double the filling and/or frosting components of a recipe.
And that is exactly what she did here, loading the bread up with double the warm cinnamon-sugar filling and fully enrobing the loaf with a sweet vanilla glaze. The finishing touch is a pop of color provided by a generous sprinkling of “jimmies”. You can see the ratio of filling to bread, the complete glaze coverage and the festive touch of the sprinkles in the image above.
For the sake of comparison, the image above is the cinnamon version of the braid made following the original recipe. According to my kids, this one was rather pathetic (although to be fair, they thought the fully loaded version was a little over the top and preferred a version somewhere between the two with about 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 times the filling). Honestly, I do think a little extra filling is a good call here, but everyone’s tastes vary so play with it until you find your perfect ratio.
If cinnamon-sugar isn’t your thing, I can highly recommend both of the other variations included in this recipe as well. The chocolate pecan variation (above-left) is an indulgent option featuring a creamy chocolate filling with a hint of cinnamon, studded with chopped pecans. I paired it with the cream cheese glaze option and finished it off with a drizzle of melted semi-sweet chocolate. As pictured here, it is made with 1 1/2 times the filling recipe.
The cream cheese variation (above-right) is a sweet, tangy, fruity option reminiscent of a Danish or kolache. I decided to make this one in the ring shape instead of the braid – I love the bright color of the jam showing on all the exposed cuts made in the ring before baking. I chose a blueberry peach jam and paired it with the lemon glaze option. The jam I chose was thick enough to stay put, so I put a couple lines of it over the cream cheese before rolling up the dough, that is why you can see a couple hints of internal color as well.
This is a great recipe for either comfort and nostalgia or bold experimentation – play with the flavors and the ratios until you make it your own!
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- In mixing bowl, combine 2 cups (260g) of the flour with the sugar, yeast and salt.3 cups (390 g) flour, 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar, 1 package (7 g) quick rise yeast, 1/2 tsp (½ tsp) salt
- In saucepan heat milk, butter, and water To 120° – 130°F. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and beat just until moistened.1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, 1/2 cup (114 g) butter, 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
- Add the egg and remaining 1 cup (130g) flour, beat until a smooth dough forms. The dough will appear very wet, do not be tempted to add more flour or your bread will not be as soft and tender.1 egg, 3 cups (390 g) flour
- Shape the dough into a ball. Do NOT knead the dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 min while you make the filling.
- In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon until the ingredients are evenly distributed and no lumps of brown sugar remain.1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar, 1/2 cup (56 g) chopped pecans, 1 tsp cinnamon
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the chocolate chips, evaporated milk and sugar. Cook and stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted.3/4 cup (135 g) chocolate chips, 1/3 cup (80 ml) evaporated milk, 2 tbsp (24 g) sugar
- Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the nuts, vanilla and cinnamon.1/2 cup (56 g) chopped pecans, 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla, 1/4 tsp (¼ tsp) cinnamon
- In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, butter and lemon juice until smooth. Refer to the instructions for the braided or ring assembly for adding the jam.6 oz (170 g) cream cheese, 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar, 1 tbsp (14 g) butter, 1 tsp (5 ml) lemon juice
- Roll the dough into 15'X 10" rectangle on a large greased (or parchment lined) baking sheet.
- For the cinnamon version: spread the butter over the surface of the center third of the rectangle (from short end to short end), spread the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter.2 tbsp (28 g) butter
- For the chocolate pecan version: spread the filling down center third of the rectangle (from short end to short end).
- For the cream cheese version: first spread the cream cheese mixture down the center third of the rectangle, then top the cream cheese mixture with the jam.1/4 cup (86 g) jam
- With the filling in place, on each long side cut 1" wide strips perpendicular to the filling and extending about 3" in toward the filling. The strips should match on both sides of the filling.
- Starting at one end, fold the strips inward at an angle and across the filling, alternating strips from side to side until all the strips have been used. Pinch the ends of the loaf to seal them.
- Roll the dough into 15x 12" rectangle on a floured surface.
- Spread the filling to within 1/2 " of the edges (for the cream cheese filling spread with the cream cheese mixture only, set the jam aside for now).
- Roll up jelly roll style, starting with a long edge. Pinch the seam to seal it and place the roll seam side down on a greased (or parchment lined) pan. Form the roll into a circle and pinch edges together to complete the ring. (You can put an oven safe ramekin, generously buttered on the outside, in the center of the ring to help form a more even circle and to keep the dough from filling in the center as it rises)
- With scissors cut from the outside edge inward toward the center of the ring. Each cut should extend 2/3 of the way through the dough and filling and be spaced about 1 1/2" apart. Separate the pieces, twisting each one slightly in the same direction to show the filling.
- For the cream cheese filling place about 1 tsp of jam on the exposed area of each slice.1/4 cup (86 g) jam
- Cover the shaped loaf and let it rise in warm place for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. When the loaf is puffy, with a marshmallow like consistency and a small indentation pressed into the dough slowly fills back in, bake the loaf in the preheated oven for 20-25 min or until golden brown.
- When the bread is done baking, remove it to a wire rack to cool. If desired, drizzle with the glaze of your choice. Slice and serve immediately or store in an air tight container.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Whisk until smooth. The glaze should fall of your whisk in ribbons. If it is too thick, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.1 1/2 cups (180 g) powdered sugar, 2 tbsp (29.57 ml) milk, 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla, 1 pinch salt
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, milk, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Whisk until smooth. The glaze should fall of your whisk in ribbons. If it is too thick, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.1 1/4 cups (150 g) powdered sugar, 1 1/2 oz (40 g) cream cheese. softened, 4 tsp (20 ml) milk, 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla, 1 pinch salt
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Whisk until smooth.The glaze should fall of your whisk in ribbons. If it is too thick, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.1 1/2 cups (180 g) powdered sugar, 4 tsp (20 tsp) milk, 2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice, 1 pinch salt
Notes
- According to my sister, mom would always put extra filling in the cinnamon version of the braid, I expect she did the same with the chocolate version. If you’d like to do the same, increase the filling ingredients by 1 1/2 – 2 times. I don’t recommend doing the same with the cream cheese filling as it is much looser and more likely to run out of the bread (especially the jam).
- As with other recipes of mom’s that call for nuts, she omitted the nuts from this recipe. For the cinnamon version, replace the nuts with an equal amount of brown sugar instead (so 1 cup of brown sugar for the original filling amount, or 1 1/2 – 2 cups brown sugar for the increased filling amount).
- According to my dad and sister, mom pretty much enrobed the loaf in glaze when she made it and gave it a pop of color with sprinkles. If you’d like to take that approach, you’ll need to double the glaze recipe that I’ve included here (whichever one that you choose to use – mom likely used a variation of the vanilla glaze recipe, I’m partial to the cream cheese glaze – except for on the cream cheese filled loaf, for that I prefer the lemon glaze). As soon as the glaze is covering the bread, before it sets, distribute sprinkles of your choice over the top.
- The recipe says not to include any jam inside the roll when creating the cream cheese ring shaped loaf. I found that if I used a very thick jam, one that is more fruit pieces than jam, I could sneak a bit of it into the roll (basically a few lines of jam across the cream cheese filling before rolling it up). I still put the 1 tsp of jam on each exposed slice after shaping the loaf so, if you want to try this, you’ll need closer to 1/2 cup instead of 1/4 cup jam.
- I thought that the cinnamon in the chocolate filling was overwhelmed by the chocolate, especially if you choose to use a darker chocolate. I found increasing it to 1/2 tsp allowed the flavor to come through much better, feel free to play with this to your own taste.
- I tested the recipe with both the rapid (quick) rise yeast it calls for and active dry yeast. They do both work. However, if you are going to use active dry yeast you will need to make a few changes:
- Take the 1/4 cup water and 1 tbsp of the sugar from the dough ingredients, mix together and warm to about 115°F. Add the yeast and let it bloom.
- Add the bloomed yeast to the mixing bowl during the second step in making the dough.
- Continue with the rest of the mixing, resting and shaping processes as written.
- For rising, you’ll need to allow more time – how much more is going to depend on the conditions in your kitchen, but it is likely to be about double or more rising time. You’ll still be looking for the same signs that the dough has risen enough before baking the loaf.
- The recipe says to roll out the dough but I think it is easier to pat and stretch the dough into shape by hand. That allowed me to get a much cleaner rectangle than using a rolling pin.
Private Notes
Nutrition
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