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Honestly, it’s all about the simple things in life. Like this Overnight Pull-Apart Brioche Cinnamon Roll Bread.
Full Video Below:
And today that means pull-apart brioche cinnamon roll bread.
It’s every kids dream breakfast and secretly every adult’s favorite too. Just admit it. You will never outgrow a good cinnamon roll. Or cinnamon roll bread in today’s case.
This happens to me every year at about this time, I crave cinnamon rolls. I think it comes with the cold weather, snow and talk of Christmas – I love it. I think I will always be able to find a semi-newish way to make cinnamon rolls, but still keep them simple because in my opinion, cinnamon rolls need to be kept simple (and extra soft and doughy). I’m not even big on adding things like caramel and chocolate because that’s just not a cinnamon roll in my mind. It’s not what I grew up loving.
Side note, how many times do you think I will say cinnamon rolls in this post? I’m thinking a lot. Way too many to count, that is for sure.
What I did grow up loving were the cinnamon rolls from my very favorite dough boy. Yup, the Pillsbury dough boy was always a family favorite come the holiday season. Those rolls were breakfast pretty much every morning at our cabin in Ripley, New York in the week following Christmas. Nothing like starting the day off with a sugar buzz. My cousins, my brothers and I loved those cinnamon rolls (although, they where never as good if they got overcooked). Those were some awesome times. That area of New York gets a ton of snow and it was great to all be together creating memories that will last our lifetime.
Sooo, I have had this idea to make a brioche style cinnamon roll bread for forever now. I knew the bread would be amazing because well, brioche itself is simply perfect. It’s the softest, doughiest and fluffiest bread around and it’s freaking easy to make. I am now thinking that from here on out, all my cinnamon rolls will be made using brioche dough. It’s the perfect combo.
The bread is a cinch to make, and if you don’t have a mixer, it can easily be mixed by hand. It does need to rise for about an hour before your roll it out, but other than that it’s super quick to throw together the night before a big breakfast (like Thanksgiving or Christmas!). Once the bread is all assembled you just cover it and leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake. It couldn’t be easier or more perfect for holiday entertaining.
I kind of have little secret though. The dough is spiked with eggnog. I know some people either love or hate eggnog, but I am somewhere in the middle. I would never drink it straight up, but I have found that adding it to baked goods does magical things. No joke. You’d never know there was any eggnog in this bread, but you’d know there was something special about it. The nog just keeps the bread crazy moist while also adding a subtle holiday flavor. Trust me on this one, buy some eggnog and start swapping out the milk in your baked good recipes with nog. The results are so awesome.
And that’s my little, not so secret, secret about this bread.
I made this bread two ways, one in a loaf pan and one as more of a log on a baking sheet. Both turned out awesome, both are easy and both are pretty. It’s really just about what you personally prefer. The bread baked in the pan is a tad gooeyer because none of the filling leaks out while baking, but the bread baked on a baking sheet is probably a little more show stopping. Like I said, either one is so good.
AND you get to prep everything the night before and then just bake in the morning. Couldn’t be more perfect.
You don’t technically have to make this as a bread, I mean you could totally make regular cinnamon rolls, BUT the bread is so fun and the whole pull-apart thing means finger food, which means easy eatin’, easy serving.
And you can’t deny that the loaf is kind of pretty.
OH! And I made some sugared cranberries to serve alongside for a festive holiday look and some added sweetness. Loving the sugared cranberries.
Double OH! The frosting it’s just a simple cream cheese vanilla bean frosting, but I will not lie, it’s so good. And when generously drizzled all over the bread? ADDICTING.
Ok and lastly, I just have to say that this is one of those recipes that everyone loves. I had all the boys (including a few extras from the US Snowboard Team) in the kitchen for this recipe. Taking photos was kind of hard. They never get this excited about anything I make. My food is normally too colorful for the brothers, but not this – this they loved!
That says something.
Overnight Pull-Apart Brioche Cinnamon Roll Bread.
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 1036 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup warm eggnog or warm whole milk
- 3 eggs
- 3 1/2 - 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 12 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
Filling
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
Frosting
- 2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream, using as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine warm water, yeast, and sugar the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed until incorporated. Allow the mixture to sit about 5-10 minutes or until bubbly on top.
- Add the eggnog, eggs, flour, salt, and butter. Using the dough hook, knead until the dough comes together, about 3-5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Kneed into a smooth ball. Grease a large bowl and add the dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
- To make the filling. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a bowl and mix well.
- Lightly dust a surface with flour. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough dough and roll the dough into a rectangle (about 9x24 inches). Spread 6 tablespoons of the butter (softened almost to a melted stage) evenly over the dough. Spread the brown sugar + cinnamon evenly over the butter and lightly push the brown sugar into the butter. Starting with the long edge closest to you, pull the edge up and over the filling and carefully roll the dough into a log, keeping it fairly tight as you go. When you reach the edge, pinch along the edge to seal.
- Place the log seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With a pair of sharp kitchen scissors cut diagonal slices almost to the bottom of the log. Arrange the cut sections so that they lean to alternating sides. Use your hand to gently push the dough together to help compress the log better. Alternately, you can bake the bread in two 9x5x3 bread pans to make two bread loafs. Cut and shape the dough as directed and then use your hands to push the dough together to almost the size of you bread pan. The dough will zigzag slightly. Using the parchment paper, lift the dough up and into the bread pan. Immediately cover the dough and place in the fridge overnight. Do not let the dough sit at room temperature long or it will start to get very big.
- The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the dough from the fridge while the oven preheats and brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake the bread log for 20-25 minutes (the bread in the loaf pan needs about 45-50 minutes) or until lightly browned on top, do not over bake.
- While the bread is baking, whisk the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Add milk until your desired consistency is reached.
- Serve the bread hot with a drizzle of frosting.
So soft. So doughy, SO GOOEY. Gimme.
Below is how you want to cut the dough:
This post was originally published on November 25, 2014
Oh man, this bread would be SO perfect for Christmas morning! Definitely drooling over these gorgeous photos!
TIEGHAN, THIS IS GLORIOUS. I’m so with you on the love of cinnamon rolls, too — soft and doughy always. And this pull-apart bread looks like HEAVEN. Those process shots are beautiful, and that one shot of the loaf pulled apart kind of makes me feel faint. So. Amazing. (And I love that you made it in the teeny oven, ha!) Happy happy Thanksgiving, lady!!
THANK YOU! Your comments literally make my day!! 🙂 Have the happiest Thanksgiving!
Loving this idea! So pretty and delicious!
Thanks Anna!
Since it’s an overnight bread, that means I get to eat it for breakfast, right? 🙂
Of course! 🙂
I’m going to make this for my parents, brother and sister in law. They will love this for sure! (And so do I! )
Thank you! I hope you all love it!!
Silly question…does the bread get baked on the parchment paper or is that used only to move it?
The bread gets backed on the parchment. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love this recipe! thank you! 🙂
Oh my word – this looks incredible. I’ll be making this very soon Tieghan!
Thank you, Kathy!! Did you get the book in the mail yet?
Hi Tieghan – no I haven’t received it! Looking forward to it tho!
This looks sooooo delicious!
Thank you!!
This brioche brings alllllll the boys to the yard. Damn, girl!
Haha! It totally does!! Thanks Katrina!
Ugh, I am craving this so badly right now!!! It is gorgeous! And I agree, brioche is the best!
Thank you!! And I knew you’d like the brioche! 🙂
No wonder your brothers and their friends were eager to eat this. YUM!!! I have made cinnamon rolls and cinnamon swirl bread a good many times. This looks soon tasty.
Thanks Charlotte! 🙂
Tieghan these looks delicious! I just made your cinnamon crunch brioche bread this weekend. My husband loves it & asks for it constantly. I’ve been looking for a cinnamon roll recipe. How would I change this recipe to just make regular cinnamon rolls instead of the pull apart bread? Let it rise the second time & then I can put it in the fridge? Thanks Tieghan.
I love that bread!! So happy you do too! 🙂
Yes, let it rise and then throw the rolls in the fridge. That will be great! 🙂
Thanks Jen!!
To make this recipe into regular cinnamon rolls, cut all the way thru the dough log, set them into a 9×13 greased pan, cover and refridgerate. They will rise overnite in the refrig and be ready to baked from frig to oven. If you let them rise and then refridgerate they will collapse overnite al they won’t rise again
Thanks Michael!
Totally with you on the eggnog. I never used to like it until I got into adding it to stuff. This is such a great use for it and I love LOVE those sugared cranberries!
Thanks Tori! 🙂
Please tell me you have a cookbook coming out….you are amazing!,
Haha! No book, sorry! Maybe someday though! THANKS!! 🙂
Hi, how did you manage to make this without an oven? I want to know…over here it’s starting to get really really hot (Southern hemisphere) so if there are any non-oven recipes that would be great….
Oh my gosh, I would actually eat that whole roll if I could. It looks amazing… 😀
Hey!! I have this tiny little oven that is attached to my big broken oven. The little oven works, but it fits close to nothing in it. I literally had to squeeze in this loaf of bread…I had a mess to clean after, but it was worth it!!
Thanks so much for the kind words!
They look amazing! Just absolutely delightful… Oh my, sorry for drooling on you, keyboard… 🙂
Daughter of the King
Those boys are right to be excited about this!!
This just looks wonderful and you can say cinnamon all you want when making a great recipe like this–lol. That photo above the recipe–you just want to grab a bite–It’s OH so good.
THANK YOU! 🙂