It’s the first Friday of October and I am in full-on autumn baking GO mode. Anyone else? I know it’s not just me because my Instagram feed is flooded with photos of pumpkin bread, jack-o-lantern cookies, and apple cake. I think it’s safe to say everyone is slowly settling into these cozy autumn days. Am I right? I sure hope so, because I have the very best recipe to share with you all today. It’s one you’re going to find yourself making over and over again.
Watch Me Make This:
Say hello to the croissant loaf…with cinnamon sugar and more butter than you’d think a loaf of bread could ever need. It’s perfection and your weekend NEEDS this bread.
Here’s the story, this started out as a scone recipe, but the scones turned out a bit crumbly. Somehow my scones mixture then morphed into a croissant loaf. Cinnamon sugar was added, and the loaf turned out so good. And that’s the story. It’s not that the scones weren’t good, because they were. But when my thoughts turned to a croissant loaf the scones just seemed to fade away. Let’s be real, if you have the choice between a scone and a croissant, you’re going to choose the croissant. Always the croissant. I debated adding things like chocolate and pumpkin butter, but in the end, I just wanted cinnamon sugar. Because sometimes you just want the classics. And even though there’s no pumpkin or apple in this recipe, this loaf still screams fall to me. It’s sweet, buttery, has warming cinnamon, and is all-around one of the best fall treats you can make.
Here are the details:
As the title suggests, this loaf is EASY. BUT, looking at the recipe steps may just scare you off. There are a lot of them. But only because I wanted to provide you guys with good detailed directions on exactly how to make this loaf. There is a lot of butter, layering, and rolling. But unlike traditional croissants, this loaf takes 3-4 hours total, not 3 days. Most of the time is spent rising, and honestly, you can’t mess this loaf up. As long as you have the dough made, and some cinnamon sugar, all will be good.
A step-by-step breakdown for you…
1st, make the dough. It’s simple: milk, instant yeast, honey, flour, and salt. Nothing fancy. 2nd, roll the dough out. 3rd, add very thin slices of COLD butter to the center of the dough. This is your “butter packet” (see all my photos for visuals). 4th, roll it out. Again. Freeze 20 minutes. 5th, roll it out. Again. Add cinnamon sugar and roll the dough into a log. 6th, cut the log into rolls and arrange the rolls in a loaf pan. 7th, let the dough rise. 8th, bake until golden brown. Smell the wonderful, warming, cozy, and delicious smells coming from your oven. 9th, eat and enjoy.
The key steps?
Folding the dough and freezing the dough. The multiple folds evenly spread the butter throughout the dough. And the freezing quickly chills the butter and creates all the buttery air packets throughout each loaf. Do not skip either step.
Fall additions you could make…
Along with the cinnamon sugar, you could also add pumpkin butter, apple butter, or even chopped chocolate. If you do decide to add pumpkin or apple butter, spread it over the dough in place of the butter, then add the cinnamon sugar. If using chocolate, use finely chopped chocolate and sprinkle over top the cinnamon sugar. YUM.
I know, this kind of seems like a lot, but I promise you guys, this is easy. You can make this. And like I side, you can’t mess it up. Because nothing could ever be bad about a buttery loaf of bread with cinnamon sugar. And yes, this recipe uses close to three sticks of butter. It’s a lot, but it sure is good. And it’s fall, it’s the weekend, and you should enjoy it.
Best part? This recipe makes 2 loaves. One for this weekend and one for your sweet friends, neighbor, or to freeze and enjoy mid-week. And with that, I’ll leave you with the recipe. Please make this soon, this weekend would be ideal. And do enjoy with my favorite pumpkin latte for a truly delectable autumn treat any time of the day. ENJOY and see you guys tomorrow for the first “spooky” cocktail Saturday…finally!
If you make this easy swirled cinnamon sugar croissant loaf be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
