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I made these to bring to the office for a Christmas treat and they turned out picture perfect. They were also perfectly yummy!
*drools*
I am totally smitten with this. Consumed. Overwhelmed. Carried Away. Which is good, because I could use a little food distraction so I don’t dwell on the fact that I’m going back to work today after three and a half years of winter break. I love my job, you guys. But I at the moment I love my comfies and my bed just a leetle beet more.
This bread makes me think of happier times that did not involve me trying to start my sub zero temperature car in a very sub zero temperature garage. In heels. Cute.
It reminds me of the happy/warm time when Bjork and I went to a baking class led by the lovely Bea Ojakangas, expert in Scandinavian baking and author of several award-winning cookbooks. Can I just say? What a doll.
One of the things Bea taught us how to make was called Pulla. Or Pulla bread. Pulla loaves? I guess I’m not really sure how to say that, but I am sure that this bread was unique because it’s mildly sweet with crushed cardamom seeds and it’s 190% delicious. She had us make a whole big batch of Pulla dough and then divide it into three sections, to make three kinds of loaves with it. But I only remember one, and that was this cinnamon roll pull apart bread loaf. It actually had a really fancy, official Scandinavian name that I don’t remember. Carb brain freeze.
I’m just calling it Homemade Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread, half because it’s easier to remember and half because it has the word “Pulla” in it. And half because it doesn’t have cardamom in it so it’s not technically Pulla, which is why I didn’t want to actually name it Pulla.
It’s complicated.
In case you forgot: I am not a bread baker. Please see this if you need confirmation.
Here’s the thing about yeasted bread – it takes fooooooooooor evvvvvvvverrrrrrr. And then when it doesn’t turn out, I obviously handle it like a normal person and I never cry and pout and pull my hair out because I’ve been waiting all morning for a large slice of warm, soft, fluffy bread soaked in honey butter. What, me? No, never.
I definitely didn’t get this right on the first try and there may or may not have been hair pullage.
But then by some frosted cinnamon roll miracle, I got it right. Soft, cinnamony, and fresh out of the oven right.
At our class, Bea taught me that you really have to rely on your sense of feeling (like literally, your touch) and your good judgement to make bread just right. When we were baking with her, I would touch the dough and it would become a nightmare. Totally unworkable and sticking all over my hands. And then she’d take it from me and give it some gentle TLC and it would turn into silk in about 5 seconds. Some people just have the touch.
The takeaways were a) don’t overflour (apparently I am a complete flour hog) and b) be gentle with the dough and let it rest when it becomes crabby; it will respond well.
Oh, and c) a KitchenAid mixer reeeeally helps.
The bread is just meant for perfectly cozy mornings where school is canceled (but I won’t dwell in the past anymore, promise) and you’re inside with a blanket and a hot mug of coffee and a little ambition.
And a hungry tummy.
I’ll just say these last two words to you: HONEY BUTTER.
Homemade Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: makes 2 loaves 1x
Description
This homemade Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread is everything you love about cinnamon rolls in a pull apart bread form.
Ingredients
- 1 package (2 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 cups mik, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 8–9 cups sifted white flour (lean towards 8)
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 4 tablespoons solid butter
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cup sugar ** see notes
For the Glaze
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Make the Dough: Dissolve the yeast in the warm water; it should be frothy. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add mix the milk, sugar, salt, eggs, and 2 cups of flour and mix on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix at a slightly higher speed; the dough should be quite smooth and glossy in appearance. Add the melted butter and stir in well. Mix again until the dough looks glossy. Stir in the remaining flour until a stiff dough forms.
- Rest and Knead: Turn out the dough onto a surface dusted with flour. Gently toss it around a few times so it becomes lightly coated with flour. Place back in the mixing bowl, cover, and let the dough rest 15 minutes. Knead (with your mixer if possible) until smooth and satiny. KitchenAid says you should the dough hook on Speed 2 for four minutes for kneading bread, which is what I did. Place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled in bulk. It should be very soft and workable, like the picture in the post.
- Roll and Cut the Bread: On a floured surface, divide the dough into 2 parts to make 2 loaves. For each loaf, take one part at a time and roll it into a large rectangle. I didn’t ever measure mine but it was probably 9×13, about 1/2 inch thick. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together. Spread 2 tablespoons butter onto each dough rectangle, sprinkle with just enough cinnamon sugar to cover, and roll into a log starting on the long side (short works too – just depends on how you want the loaf to be shaped and how long your baking sheet is). Place seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut diagonal slices like pictured in the post, almost down the bottom of the log. Arrange the cut sections so that they lean to alternating sides. Let rise for about 20 minutes to puff up a little bit. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake: Brush the loaves with the beaten egg. Bake for 20-30 minutes on a baking stone or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Do not overbake or the loaves will be too dry. Remove from the oven when a light golden-brown. Let cool slightly. Whisk the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla together to make a glaze. Pour over the loaf and let set. Slice or pull apart and serve. Yummy!
Notes
Sugar Overflow: The first two times I made this, I had sugar overflow. Well, I did a little bit on the third time, too, but it was just a tiny bit and I was able to easily scrape it off. To avoid the sugar bubbling out and burning on your pan (bleh), make sure your butter is very solid, not melted, when you spread it on the dough. Also, just use enough sugar to cover the dough in a thin layer.
Amount: This recipe makes TWO loaves. I did freeze half of the kneaded and risen dough and then thawed it on the counter overnight and it worked beautifully.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: homemade cinnamon roll bread, pull apart cinnamon roll bread, cinnamon roll bread
Hey hey. Fun math equation on how many hours went into this post, just for my fellow nerds who like to know about these kinds of things.
3 hours learning about it and making it at the class + 3 hours for my first (failed) attempt at home + 3 hours for my second (successful) attempt at home + 1 hour to photograph + 1 hour to import, edit, upload, and tag photos + 2 hours to write recipe and text =
13 Hours Spent On This Post.
And I love you goodbye.
I get that this recipe is 6 years old but…
The ingredient list calls for 8 cups of flour, but the instructions only use 5.
4 beaten eggs, but the instructions tell you to add the eggs to the flour mix, and then later to brush the top of the loaves.
And the Solid Butter never gets mentioned in the instructions.
Hi there, Chris! We’re happy to help clarify a bit more here. š All 8 cups of the flour is added with step 1 – the remaining flour is added just mixed in until the dough is stiff. For the eggs, 4 beaten eggs are for the dough and there’s an additional egg listed in the glaze section of the ingredients – this is what you can use to brush on the top of the loaves. The solid butter is used in step 3 and is spread on the dough. Hope this helps!
I just made these for Christmas brunch, but substituted egg nog for the milk/cream in the glaze. So much holiday yum!
Oh em gee, Jennifer! That sounds amazing! š
I made these to bring to the office for a Christmas treat and they turned out picture perfect. They were also perfectly yummy!
Glad to hear you enjoyed this!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It is heavenly, and a gets quickly all eaten up the times I’ve made it for friends.
How do you make this if you don’t have a stand mixer?
I have a stand mixer but am usually too lazy to dig it out of the pantry. I kneaded mine by hand and it still turned out light and fluffy with a nice chew. Just the way a good cinnamon bun should.
Hmm yummy! These are absolutely looking beautiful and delicious. And 13 hours? Thank you for sharing with us that 13 hours and this amazing cinnamon rolls.
Thank’s for your time. Thankās for recipe. Angela from Brasil.
Just found your recipe on Pinterest the other day and made them today. Maybe it was the weather – warm and humid – but the loaves turned out HUGE! I let them sit for twenty minutes as in step #3 and then popped them in the oven. Much to my surprise, they continued to rise in the oven! Still taste delicious! Thanks for all of your hard work!
Glad you enjoyed it, Barbara!
Don’t know why your recipe is locked up on my Pinterest , after deciding to use your recipe now I can not get back into my recipes on Pinterest I’m just froze on your page…not to happy
Its look very nice and different. Thank you for sharing.
Set out to make this today but am a little nervous about how it will turn out. First my yeast didn’t really froth. a few bubbles appeared but disappeared just as quickly. I’m wondering if it was old. Then after adding the first two cups of flour my dough did not appear smooth and elastic, it was still very liquidy (maybe I’m taking you directions too literally?).
I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but not the larger Pro version and I think perhaps this was too much dough for it to handle – has anyone else had the dough go up over the attachment? Finally, when I used the dough hook to knead the bread on speed #2 as suggested, my mixer started giving off a burning smell and was even smoking – bad sign right? I stopped it before the 4 minutes were up as I was worried the engine would overheat or worse, catch fire? (maybe that’s not possible?!)
I am now waiting for the dough to rise. Fingers crossed it works out – but I won’t hold my breath. I may try a half batch for a single loaf next time. But welcome any suggestions if anyone has had similar experiences.
Thanks! Love the blog!!
Hi, Elisa! For your mixer, it sounds like a good idea to cut the recipe in half. Also – definitely make sure you have fresh yeast! š
Wow! I came across this through Pinterest, and knew that I had to make it for a group of friends we had visiting yesterday. I was a little wary, as I don’t have a stand mixer, so gave it a really good kneading. It came out *perfect* – your really clear directions and photos helped so much. One that I will definitely make over and over again. So – thank you from New Zealand š
So glad to hear that! Thanks, Jo. š
WOW! im so so amazed to see this recipe ,it’s really tempting to try but im not really sure about the dose cuz i allways use gr for the unit last time i try to use cup for a recipe ,it’s becomes a strange dough ,would you convert it to gr for me ? please?
if you would reply my message you can contact me thru mellindaindrasari@gmail.com
thank you
Hi, Linda! Here’s a helpful link to convert all the baking ingredients into grams: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/cup-to-gram-conversions/. Hope that helps!
ok,thank you so so much.
really love ur recipes
greets from indonesia..
FYI Pulla is from Finland. It is considered a Coffee Biscuit. And it is heaven. When Pulla is made it is braided in a long braid and then baked.
can you make this without a stand mixer?
Yes, you just have to knead it well.
Thank you for taking the time to put this together. I am new to bread and dough making. However I followed your recipe to the T. It was worth it.!!! The best Cinnamon rolls we have ever eaten. Possible because I made them myself and your directions were very clear.
Thank you!
Happy š
I made these today and even my grandma couldn’t stop saying how much she loves it!! š
thanks so much for sharing!!!!
greetings from germany š
so glad to hear it Franzi!
LOVE this post and cannot wait to make these!!! Thank you! Always interested in nordic recipes to remind us of our heritage.
Hi Lindsey! Great post. I love how you mentioned the time it took to develop the recipe, edit photos and write etc. I was recently stressing out that I fuss to much on recipes, editing and writing but now I know that there are other bloggers out there as well who do the same to produce high quality recipes and content. Anyhow, big kudos to you and your husband. I bought your book a few months ago and it has been my number 1 resource. Thank you for such great (and hard) work!
Thanks Cindy! So glad to hear that! š
This looks so yummy! Could the recipe be cut in half to make just one loaf?
Yes, I think so. š
Honey butter! Oh sweet goodness gracious. Last week my husband and I went through three. THREE. Baguettes that were slathered in honey butter while still piping hot and crispy. It was heaven! It’s now our go-to snack/dinner (yeah, I’ll admit it…) when I can’t be troubled to actually “make” anything. And I’m okay with that.
Looks amazing! My daughter is currently enrolled in a culinary high school and absolutely LOVES cinnamon rolls, looks like a Mother/Daughter project! Yeah! Just wish I saw it two days ago, when we had a snow day
Hope you get another snow day soon! š
Looks delicious. Thanx for encouraging me to try since I don’t bake bread either. Will toss in a bit of cardamom though ~ always looking for more opportunities to use it!
Ohhhh, I wish I still ate white flour and yeast! I’d totes support you and make this bread since you spent so much time perfecting it! And it sure is beautiful!! I appreciate all of the work you do here! I always look forward to your posts and hope you can rest easy at some point and are able to get some good, long breaks in! š
Ha just made your cinnamon loaf (also needed 2 attemps) and it’s brilliant!!! Thank you for sharing š
Hooray! Thanks Jennifer!
This looks delicious! I love the idea of making a pull apart bread with cinnamon rolls! Can’t wait to try this! And while I’m at it, I’ll just make a chelsea bun version too!
I love making bread. Can you tell? Just posted about an amazing Mediterranean Tomato Bread a few days ago š