This Amish Cinnamon Bread is an easy no knead quick bread version of Amish friendship bread with no yeast or sourdough starter required. It’s like a big hug baked up in a loaf pan.
Amish cinnamon bread makes two loaves; one to keep, and one to give.
The soul of Amish friendship bread is sharing, and this simplified no yeast version makes sharing so much easier. Gift a loaf to a friend, a neighbor, a first responder…whoever’s making a positive impact on your life these days. I believe that more is not always better when it comes to baking, and this no-frills Amish cinnamon bread is as delicious as anything that will ever come out of your oven. The pure flavor of zesty cinnamon is rich, warm, and so inviting. It’s definitely the star of this recipe.
the story of Amish cinnamon bread (friendship bread)
Amish Friendship bread, which became popular in the late 20th century, is a sweet, yeasted sourdough-based bread that is typically made with a starter that is shared and passed along from person to person. The bread recipe is handed down through generations of Amish families, with each developing their own particular variation. Today’s recipe is a quick bread version of this fun tradition!
what you’ll need for easy Amish cinnamon bread
- cake flour
- I use cake flour for an extra tender crumb, but you can also use all purpose flour. I give make your own cake flour instruction in the recipe card below.
- granulated sugar
- ground cinnamon
- cinnamon is such an interesting spice. On the one hand it’s the most ho-hum of baking ingredients, but on the other it can be powerful and exotic when you actually let it shine (it even has a hint of heat.) A tablespoon of cinnamon gives just the right punch of flavor to this bread.
- eggs
- milk
- I use whole milk, but you can use an alternative milk, or, even better, buttermilk.
- vegetable oil
- using oil instead of butter in baking results in a moister bread. You can use melted butter if you prefer.
- baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- vanilla extract
- the combination of vanilla and cinnamon is heavenly!
Why I use Saigon cinnamon in this recipe
- Saigon cinnamon is one of several common types of cinnamon used in cooking. It’s got a stronger, spicier flavor than the common ground cinnamon you’ll find in the spice aisle of the grocery store. It has a little bit of a peppery edge, which I love.
- You can now find different types of cinnamon in bigger grocery stores, so check them out and see which ones you love. Mine is from Penzy’s spice shop.
don’t you love that crackly crust?
It shatters when you slice into it, and that’s part of the charm ~ those little crispy bits are magical! Theoretically you should let your Amish cinnamon bread cool before digging in, but I can never manage that. There’s something irresistible about slicing into warm bread; I think it has everything to do with the aroma and big moist crumbs falling every which way. The messier it gets, the better 🙂
Ok, ‘nuf said about this bread, it’s good, make it. You’ll be happy.
What does sugar do in a quick bread recipe?
Sugar does much more than just sweeten baked goods. It affects texture, making it moister and more tender. It helps muffins, quick breads, and cakes etc. to rise higher. It promotes an appealing browning. And most of all it enhances the flavor.
Note: this is a sweet bread, and yes, there is a lot of sugar in the recipe but remember, you’re making two loaves, and this is meant to be a special gift-worthy treat.
How can you reduce the amount of sugar in this Amish cinnamon bread?
You can experiment with reducing the amount of sugar by about 1/3 without too much trouble, King Arthur Flour recommends reducing sugar to no more than 50% (by weight) of the flour in a quick bread recipe.
Taste of Home recommends switching out one egg white for an extra yolk when trying to reduce sugar in a recipe ~ the extra yolk replaces the lost moisture.
Coconut sugar has a similar texture to granulated sugar, making it a great 1:1 substitute in recipes. It has a mild caramel flavor and a lower glycemic index than regular sugar.
You can try subbing in maple syrup or honey (about 3/4 cup for each cup of sugar) but you may need to reduce the liquid a bit to make this work.
Use monk fruit or stevia, plant based sugar alternatives that are great for baking: follow the package instructions for baking substitutions.
When reducing sugar this bread, don’t skip the top sprinkle ~ it adds nice crunch and will help boost the sweet experience even if you’ve used less sugar in the body of the bread.
to freeze Amish cinnamon bread
Like most quick breads, this will freeze beautifully. You can freeze the whole loaf or individual slices. Be sure to let it cool completely, and double wrap to prevent freezer burn from drying it out. I like to do plastic followed by foil. Plan to use within 3 months for best quality.
more quick breads to try
Amish Cinnamon Bread
Equipment
- standard 9×5 loaf pan
Ingredients
Cinnamon sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Bread
- 3 3/4 cups cake flour*, you can also use all purpose flour
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups whole milk
- 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325F Grease two 9×5 loaf pans and line with a 'sling' of parchment paper. I like to spray or butter the parchment paper itself as well, see note below. Iif you only have one pan that's fine, just bake the second bread later.
Cinnamon sugar
- Whisk the sugar and cinamon together in a small bowl and set aside.
Amish bread
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- In a second bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Make sure everything is well combined, then add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until there is no dry flour left, don't over mix. Lumps are fine.
- Pour the batter evenly into your two prepared pans. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the top of both loaves.
- Bake for about 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter on it. Moist crumbs are fine.
- Cool the bread on a cooling rack, and if you have used the parchment paper, lift them out after 15 minutes or so. If you didn't use parchment, go around each loaf with a blunt knife to loosen all the edges, this bread has a tendency to stick.
Notes
- Measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour.
- Remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and replace it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- Sift the mixture together 2-3 times to ensure it’s well-combined and aerated.
Nutrition
Made this and it was a huge hit! Used safflower oil, only 1/2 cup of sugar, and 2 cups of powdered Stevia. I substituted Splenda brown sugar blend for the cinnamon sugar, and it was perfect! And really easy to put together, and it seems like hours of work. I’d give this 6 stars if I could!
I made it today, it’s sooo delicious!! I reduced the amount of sugar like you suggested and add some other spices (Clove and nutmeg). It’s moist and the sugar crust is amazing! Thanks for the recipe!!
I don’t usually come back to a recipe to comment, but this bread! It’s divine! It’s become our family favorite breakfast bread! We LOVE it!! The texture is moist and has a beautiful crumb, a perfect cinnamon flavor! The sugar topping through me off at first when I took it out of the oven, but after we had our first bites, it became everyone’s favorite. Most excellent!
I love that you singled out the crumb, Andria, that’s what I love about it, too. Glad it was a hit!
LOVE this bread and recipe. I made two changes:
1-I used vegetable oil to generously grease bottom, sides and tube (no parchment) and took about 3 Tbsp of the cinnamon/sugar mixture and covered the bottom and sides of the pan before adding mixture then used the rest of cinnamon/sugar on top.
2-The Pan: I used an angel food tube pan (not Bundt) and made one bread only (not in the giving spirit of Amish bread but didn’t have two loaf pans and didn’t want to wait to make second). Timing to bake was one hour and forty-five minutes.
It is an awesome, moist, sweet, crunchy bread ??
I’m so excited to try this recipe! It looks so easy and delicious! I post my new creations on my Instagram page mylifeasamama18 . I’m not the best cook, but I’m giving my go at it. After I make this, I will be posting my results and pictures! I hope you come and visit my page to see how it turned out! Thanks for sharing the recipe! I will be coming back for more!
Hi there. This looks delicious! Any chance there is a gluten-free option?
I’d suggest trying a good gf baking mix like Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour.
Hi! I took took them out of the oven and I used almond flour (and Splendato make it low carb). They look and smell great! I’ll let you know how they taste!!
So it’s the moistest loaf I’ve ever had. I will use monkfruit sweetener next time for the topping instead of splenda because it doesn’t “melt” the same
Beautiful loaf of bread! Would this work with a neutral oil such as coconut or grapeseed oil instead of vegetable oil? Thank you.
Yes, that will work.
Thank you.
Hi Sue,
I made this today and my Husband and I just enjoyed a slice with our evening tea. It is delicious, albeit a bit messy from the sugar topping. So easy to make and one loaf will be sent home with our Daughter after her visit tomorrow. So happy to have a recipe that helps to use up my cake and pastry flour. Will definitely make again. Thank you!
Thanks so much Glenn!
Sue, my family said give that recipe six stars. It came in my morning email and I tried to ignore but eventually caved and baked up two loaves. They are perfect. Light, extremely flavorful in all the good ways, and very easy to make. You do a very good job of writing recipes with both your ingredient lists and assembly of batter. I read all the comments about the sugar, but if you slice one loaf into sixteen pieces (yes the piece will be large enough to enjoy), you are only getting two tablespoons of sugar (minus the topping). That is less than a can of regular soda.
Yay, I’m so happy you made this so quickly Pat, thanks!! And I agree with you about the sugar 😉
This recipe sounds and looks delicious!
If I were to portion this to cook as muffins instead how long should I bake them?
Check after 12-15 minutes.
Recipe looks great but I’m having a difficult time pinning it. Pinterest tab is not connecting. Would love to save this for later.
I checked and it’s working for me, maybe try again Anne, and if you still have trouble, let me know and I’ll see if we can troubleshoot it.