Cinnamon Roll Focaccia Bread
A sweet focaccia bread that starts with a classic recipe and adds a cinnamon roll twist. Perfect for Sunday brunch or a wedding or baby shower, cinnamon roll focaccia bread is a super simple, no-knead bread recipe coverd with a brown sugar cinnamon topping and a vanilla icing. Serve warm for winter cozy vibes!
Servings 10
Ingredients
For the dough
- 400 g bread flour about 3 ⅓ cups
- 7 g instant yeast or 2 ¼ teaspoon, or 1 packet
- 350 g warm water approx 105°
- 50 g olive oil about 1/4 cup
- 19 g sugar or 1 Tablespoon
- 15 g kosher salt or 1 Tablespoon
For the cinnamon topping
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon can use 2 if you like extra
- 2 pinches kosher salt
For the icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar confectioner sugar; up to 1 ½ cups
- 2 Tablespoons half and half
- splash vanilla extract small
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
Mix + first proof.
- Set a large bowl on a baking scale and reset scale to zero. Add flour and then sprinkle in yeast and stir to combine.400 g bread flour, 7 g instant yeast
- Pour in water followed by oil, sugar and finally salt. Use a spatula to mix the dough together. It will be shaggy and somewhat lumpy.350 g warm water, 50 g olive oil, 19 g sugar, 15 g kosher salt
- Set the dough in a warm place to rise for about 3-6 hours. The longer the rise, the fluffier the dough [See below for notes on an overnight rise if that works better for you].
Make the cinnamon topping.
- To a medium/small bowl, add the melted butter, cinnamon, both sugars, and pinches of salt. Mix with a fork until completely combined.3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, 2 pinches kosher salt
Second proof.
- Butter a 9 x 13" baking pan with straight sides. After the dough is bubbly, transfer the dough to the pan and gently push out to the edges. It's ok if the dough doesn't reach the edges completely because it will as it rises again.Holding your fingers like you're going to type, use your fingerprints to make focaccia dimples into the dough. Top the dough with spoonfuls of cinnamon mixture. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and then a dish towel and place in a warm area to rise for another 2 hours.
Bake.
- Preheat an oven to 425°. Reduce the oven temperature to 400° before placing the focaccia in the oven. Bake until golden on top, about 25 minutes. The bread will pull away from the pan.
For the icing.
- Start by adding 1 cup of powdered sugar to a medium bowl. Pour in the half and half followed by a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt. Mix until the consistency of an opaque but pourable thick icing. Add more sugar as desired.1 cup powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons half and half, splash vanilla extract, pinch kosher salt
- Cool the focaccia in the pan for 10 minutes. Use a long spatula to carefully lift the focaccia out of the pan and place on a cooling rack. Cool for another 10 minutes or so before drizzling the icing over the cinnamon roll focaccia. Cut into squares and serve warm.
Notes
Prefer to use a stand mixer? Feel free! Just mix the dough until it comes together.
If you plan to knead the dough for the first proof, use a sourdough stretch and fold method where you stretch the dough up towards the ceiling and fold it over towards you, Rotate a 1/4 turn and repeat until you complete a full circle.
When you sprinkle the topping on the focaccia, be sure to leave some "clumps" in the divots you created to create some cinnamon roll tunnels.
