Cinnamon swirl bread recipes are a dime a dozen, especially on the internet. I’ve made it before and blogged it many years ago in this post – and it was certainly delicious. But this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction is better, in both taste and texture. I think the sour cream – which makes the bread really tender and almost fluffy – is the key ingredient.

This bread made its way to my dear friend Carrie in State College for her birthday a few weeks ago; I made two batches at once so I was able to try it and took the rest of the second loaf to the office, where it was a very big hit.

Ingredients

For the cinnamon swirl

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

For the bread

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 5 loaf tin with baking spray.

To make the swirl, combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, vegetable oil, sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine – don’t over-mix. You just want all the dry ingredients to be absorbed into the wet ingredients.

Pour about half the batter into the loaf tin; reserve two tablespoons from the swirl mixture and sprinkle the rest over the batter. Carefully top with the remaining batter, and sprinkle the remaining swirl mixture on the top. Using a knife, make a large swirl down the loaf – you don’t need to swirl too much.

Bake for 50 – 65 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Check your bread around 40 minutes and cover with foil to prevent over-browning. Remove from oven and cool in the tin for about one hour, then remove from the tin and let cool completely on a wire rack. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature for 3-4 days.