quick and easy cinnamon roll bread

Sweet quick bread is topped with rich brown sugar cinnamon swirl & drizzled with sweet powdered sugar icing; classic cinnamon roll flavors without the work. It’s no secret that I love an easy take on a classic cinnamon roll. My cinnamon roll bars with cream cheese frosting are one of my favorite treats. They’re dense and chewy and smothered in a decadent amount of fluffy frosting. Sometimes, though, I want something a little lighter, both in calories and in texture. When I do, I make this cinnamon roll bread. It’s a light bread with a touch of cinnamon and a rich brown sugar cinnamon swirl. Instead of traditional cream cheese frosting, it’s topped with a powdered sugar glaze. While I wouldn’t try to classify this bread as healthy, it is much lighter than most alternatives. The bread itself contains no butter or oil; it uses plain Greek yogurt and just a half cup of sugar. The ribbon of rich cinnamon and brown sugar adds just the right level of sweetness without overpowering the subtle flavor of the bread. And then- because, let’s be real, we can’t call it cinnamon roll anything without frosting- the whole thing is drizzled with a powdered sugar glaze. 

Cinnamon Roll Bread

adapted from Center Cut Cook

Ingredients

for the bread

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder (nope, not a typo)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

for the swirl

3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon water

for the glaze

1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients for the bread and mix well. Add all of the wet ingredients, and then stir until everything is combined. Pour the bread mixture into a greased bread pan (8×4 or 9×5 work best). For the swirl, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Plop spoonfuls of the swirl on top of the bread and use a knife to work the swirl into the bread. You want the swirl to be sitting on top and mixed just below the surface; you don’t want it to be completely incorporated into the bread.

Bake the bread for 37 to to 42 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes of clean (the toothpick might have some of the swirl on it, but it shouldn’t have any bread). Allow the bread to cool slightly in the pan. When it’s cool enough to handle, remove the bread from the pan and allow it to finish cooling.

Meanwhile, make the glaze by beating the powdered sugar and milk together (a fork works fine for this). When the bread has cooled completely, drizzle the top with glaze. Or, if you’d rather, just poor the glaze on top of the bread and use the back of a spoon to smooth it around.

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