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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
Do you think this dough would work with being refrigerated longer than one night? I am planning on making this Christmas morning, but can’t prep on Christmas Eve.
Hey Sara,
That will work fine, hope you love this!
Tieghan!
Wow! Just made this last night after only chilling the dough for a few hours. AMAZING! Can’t wait to make it again for our Christmas gatherings after letting it rest even longer. The bread is so tender and the eggnog flavor is a nice warm touch. I love it when internet recipes turn out as good as promised!
Have a question about the rising time! This looks so delicious and yummy, but my parents are divorced so Christmas Eve and Christmas Day get split up (in case you were wondering my LIFE STORY). I want to make this for Christmas morning at my mum’s, but I’ll be at my dad’s for the two days prior. Do you think the risen dough could hang out in the fridge for three days before I bake it on Christmas?
Thank you! Your website is so wonderfully shot and curated.
Amy
Hey, Amy!
That will be fine! In fact it will develop more flavor this way. YUM!
Have a Merry Christmas!
To piggyback off of Amy’s question, can I leave the dough in the fridge to proof for a week? How many days is too many when it comes to that second proofing? Also, could I put the log in a circle shape on the sheet pan? My log was very long and barely fit, so I coiled it like a snake in a circle. Thanks in advance!
HI! I think a week is a little too long. I would say anywhere up to 5 days is great. And yes, you can put the log into a circle shape. That will be really cute. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Hi! Couple of questions…can I leave the dough in the fridge to proof for a week? How many days is too many when it comes to that second proofing? Also, could I put the log in a circle shape on the sheet pan? My log was very long and barely fit, so I coiled it like a snake in a circle. Thanks in advance!
Hi! I was just wondering if coconut milk eggnog would work for this recipe.
Yes, I think that would be awesome!
Just finished making this, now it’s sitting in my fridge. Out of curiosity, does it absolutely HAVE to sit over night? It looks soooo inviting already. haha
HI! It is best if it sits in the fridge because the dough develops it’s flavor during thins time. Hope you love this! 🙂
Is the egg nog a ready made type you buy, or just a general recipe? The UK isn’t a particularly noggy place, we don’t know these things 😛
I made this for brunch the day after Thanksgiving. It was A-MAZING. It’s so good, I’m about to go mix up another batch… and I’ve already been asked to make it for Christmas breakfast. Thank you for a MARVELOUS recipe!
This looks super delicious, but I’m a little concerned with how much butter is in it! I love butter but twenty tablespoons seems like a lot. Is there any way to cut some out?
Hey Megan, You could use 6 tablespoons in the dough and 2 tablespoons in the filling. Hope you love the bread!
WOW. Drooling. Reading this while starving was a bad idea!
Haha! Thank you so much, Katie! Happiest Friday to ya! 🙂
I cant get egg-nog easily in the UK, would it be possible to sub Advocat and some milk?
any suggestions for other substitutions?
A
Hey Andy! Milk will work great. Just use whatever your drink and or use most of the time. Hope you love this!
Anyone considering making this, I’d *strongly* encourage you NOT to make it in a loaf pan but to do it on a baking sheet instead. I baked it in a loaf pan for 55 minutes (too long for the outside, it was starting to burn) and the middle was still completely raw and oozy. We got 2 usable servings out of it from the end pieces, not what we were expecting. I’m sticking it back in the oven on a cookie sheet now trying to salvage it… The bits we were actually able to eat were delicious, though!
Hey Carly,
UGH. I am so sorry your bread did not cook through.This is my fault and I am beyond sorry. I forgot that I had cooked my bread in a large loaf pan (larger than the standard size). You should have divided your dough between two normal size pans. INCREDIBLY sorry for my mistake. Glad you are still enjoying the bread and Happy Thanksgiving!
That makes so much more sense!! Thank you for your sweet reply. We stuck it back in the oven for 25 minutes (out of the loaf pan) and it totally saved it. It was uglier but cooked through and super tasty!
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for a fun recipe. I just finished baking it. Few things I did different but it STILL turned out great!
1. The yeast may have been older as it didn’t proof the way I hoped in the beginning
2. For the filling I combined the butter cinnamon sugar and spread that in. I think I will not combine them all next time.
I utilized egg nog in the icing as the thinner. Turned out great
3. I made two loaves on the same baking sheet with a silpat underneath as I did not have parchment paper
All in all, I will try it again. Great with the brioche bread! I also may try in popover pan to do a morning bun version.
Thanks again!!
This looks and sounds incredible! Definitely making ASAP! Does the bread log have to sit in the fridge overnight? Or can it be baked that day? Thank you!
Hey Kristen! If you can let it sit overnight, if not let is rise for about 30 -45 minutes prior to baking.
Happy Thanksgiving!
In the fridge? Will it still turn out as good?
Let it rise at room temp if you are noting letting it sit overnight. I will still be great, BUT letting the dough sit overnight helps to develop flavor.
do you think this would freeze well? Id love to make if for Xmas morning but the days leading up are pretty busy…maybe make a week or two ahead and freeze? but glaze afterwards?
This is so, so gorgeous, I’d absolutely inhale this bread!! Pull-apart perfection!
Thanks Laura!! Hopping you are enjoying the week! 🙂