Cinnamon Rolls and 2 More Ways to Bake With Cinnamon This Fall

Butter melting into brown sugar, cinnamon rising off a warm oven, a kitchen that smells like the first cool morning of the year. That’s what these three bakes are for. Cinnamon is warm, sweet, and a little woody, and it turns up in a spiral roll, a sourdough roll, and a loaf you tear apart by hand. The classic rolls can rise overnight in the fridge, and the sourdough version rises there for 10 to 12 hours, so the dough is ready when morning comes.

Cinnamon Rolls start with an enriched dough of milk, egg, and butter. It’s rolled out, brushed with melted butter, covered in cinnamon sugar, and cut into 12 spirals that rise a second time. They bake at 355°F for about 30 minutes and finish with a simple powdered sugar glaze. The rolls trace back to Sweden, where they’re called kanelbulle, and the recipe suggests cream cheese frosting as the richer, tangier American upgrade.

Pro tip: don’t glaze the rolls before storing them. The icing turns to syrup and softens the dough, so add it just before serving.

Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls use a touch of liquid sourdough starter and a pinch of fresh yeast in a dough with brown sugar and cinnamon, which ferments in the fridge for 10 to 12 hours. The roll is filled with a brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon paste, and the leftover filling is boiled with heavy cream to make the glaze. It takes patience, about 16 to 17 hours in all, but the recipe promises a more fragrant and more digestible roll.

Pro tip: wrap the filled roll in parchment paper and chill it for an hour before cutting. It firms up and slices into clean, even pieces.

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread is the easiest of the three. A soft, brioche-like dough with cinnamon and vanilla is rolled out and spread with brown sugar, melted butter, and more cinnamon. It’s cut into four strips, stacked, and cut into squares, which stand upright in a loaf pan and bake at 340°F for 30 minutes. You pull the slices apart by hand, no knife needed.

Pro tip: use the recipe’s own idea and add chopped nuts between the squares, with vanilla seeds in the dough.

However the cinnamon gets there, the ending is the same: a pan cooling on the counter, the sugar gone sticky at the edges, a few quiet minutes before the first piece comes away. Pour the coffee and let the house smell like fall a little longer.