Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough Bread [with step by step video] (2024)

​Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread is such a beautiful loaf - lacey swirls of cinnamon sugar nestled in a deliciously crusty loaf of sourdough bread. The great thing about this loaf of cinnamon swirl sourdough bread is that you don't have to add the cinnamon sugar until the shaping stage. If you'd like to make this into sourdough cinnamon raisin bread, you can also add some raisins to the cinnamon sugar.

This is such a delicious breakfast bread, perfect for slathering in homemade butter! And if you have any leftovers, it makes the most lovely French Toast.

You'll need an active sourdough starter to make this cinnamon swirl sourdough bread. You can find instructions for making sourdough starter here.

If you're new to making sourdough bread, I recommend you read this beginner's guide to sourdough bread to get a feel for the basic sourdough making process.

If you love all things cinnamon sourdough recipes, why not try these fluffy sourdough cinnamon rolls, cinnamon sourdough muffins, sourdough monkey bread or sourdough cinnamon coffee cake. And I just know you're going to love this sourdough discard banana bread!

Cinnamon & Sourdough - What You Need To Know

Cinnamon and sourdough are flavors that go so well together ... however, cinnamon will actually inhibit the fermentation of your sourdough bread if you add it into the actual dough. For this reason, I've found that adding the cinnamon at shaping is the best way to add it to your sourdough bread.

The main component in cinnamon is cinnamaldehyde. Cinnamaldehyde has antifungal properties which is bad news for wild yeast as they are actually a fungus (sounds weird, but it's true - you can read more about how sourdough starter works here).

It's for this reason that sourdough cinnamon rolls have the cinnamon added in the filling, rather than in the dough.

How To Make Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough Bread

This sourdough bread is just like making a plain loaf, until you get to the shaping, which is where you add the cinnamon swirl. You can read through the instructions here and I've put a step by step video to show you how to shape the dough and add the cinnamon swirl below.

Autolyse - Premixing The Dough

Weigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large ceramic or glass bowl.

Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add your flour and salt and mix whole lot together to form a shaggy dough.

I find a dough scraper the easiest way to mix it as you can keep the sides of bowl clean.

The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together.

Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp dish towel and let it sit for around 1 hour. It's ok if it's a little bit longer, it's not going to matter too much.

This process is called the "autolyse" and allows your flour to soak in all the water and become hydrated.

Forming Up The Dough

After the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself, into the centre, until a smooth ball is formed. You shouldn't need more than about 20-30 stretches to form the ball.

You'll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking all the water up. It will be fairly sticky but as you bring it into a ball, it will become smoother and shinier.

Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, pop the cling film back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Stretch & Fold - Creating Structure

Over the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by "stretching and folding".

Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds.

For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.

Bulk Ferment

Once you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp tea towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment (a plastic cover is a better option for this stage).

While the dough is resting and fermenting, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon powder together in a small bowl. Set aside ready for when you're ready to shape the dough.

Shaping The Dough

Once your dough has finished its first ferment, it's time to shape it into either a boule or a batard. This is also when we add the cinnamon swirl to the dough. In the video above, I've chosen to shape my dough into a batard.

Flip your dough out onto the counter, sticky side up. Gently pull the dough outwards to form a rough rectangle (with the short side in front of you). Sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough. Each time you fold the dough during shaping, sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the exposed dough.

When you roll the dough up into a batard or boule, the cinnamon sugar should be safely tucked inside the dough. You might find a little bit pops out when you flip it into the banneton - that's ok!

You will need a banneton to put your dough into. If you do not have a banneton, then a bowl or basket lined with a floured tea towel is perfectly fine. Make sure your bowl isn't too big though, you want your dough to retain some shape.

Whatever you're using needs to be liberally floured (I've used semolina and cinnamon powder in my banneton. If you're using a cloth or tea towel, rub the flour into it to ensure it becomes non stick.

Placing Into A Banneton

Once the dough is shaped,place it into your banneton smooth side down, so your seam is on the top- this way the top of your dough will get the pretty lines from the banneton ... and some of the cinnamon will stick to the top while it rests.

If you're using a cloth or tea towel in a bowl it's ok to put your dough with the smooth side up. Just make sure the dough is tight.

Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more rice flour if you feel it needs it. Just try to handle the dough as little as possible and be really gentle as you really want to preserve all the gases and air bubbles that have formed during your bulk ferment.

Cold Ferment

Now the dough is in its "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place into the fridge.

Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum 5 hours up to a maximum of around 36 hours. The longer you leave it the better your bread will be! A longer cold ferment creates beautiful blisters on your crust and a deeper sourdough flavour. It will also ensure your dough forms a skin which makes it easier to score.

Preparing To Bake

Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.

Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets HOT. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.

Leave your dough in the fridge until the very last minute - placing a cold dough into a hot oven will give you a great "spring".

Bake Time!

Now it's time to bake!

When your oven is at temperature, take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper.

Make sure that you make the baking paper big enough to use the edges as a handle to lower to dough into your Dutch Oven.

Gently score the top of the dough with a lame, clean razor blade or knife.At minimum a large cross is sufficient, but you can get as artistic as you like. You can find myfull guide on how to score sourdough bread here.

Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven.

If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.

BAKE TIME:

30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus
10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F

Finishing The Bake

When you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.

Baker's Timeline for Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe

This sourdough cinnamon swirl bread is not a quick bread, but it's so worth the time investment. You can find more information on creating a timeline for sourdough baking here.

DAY 1

1.00pm – Feed sourdough starter
5.00pm – Premix and Autolyse
6.30pm – Form into a smooth ball. Rest for 30 minutes.
7.00pm – Perform 4-6 sets of stretch & folds over next 2 hours.
9.00pm – Cover and leave on bench overnight for bulk ferment if temp right (adjust starter as necessary).

DAY 2

6.00am – Shape & lift into banneton/bowl & into the fridge.
(I could bake my bread from around 2pm today if I wanted to, I just prefer a longer cold ferment).

DAY 3

2.00pm – 32 hours later place into hot oven.
7.00pm – finally cut into delicious sourdough!

How To Use Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This delicious bread recipe is perfect for a simple breakfast, toasted and slathered in homemade butter or even cultured butter. You could even take it to the next level and serve it with this whipped honey cinnamon butter.

I also love to use this cinnamon sourdough bread in sourdough bread pudding - it gives the pudding the most loveliest warm flavor.

Frequently Asked Questions