Let's Will Fall Into Coming Early With This Toasty Snickerdoodle Bread

I don’t know about you, but given that vacations, cookouts, traditional farmers' markets, and all kinds of other summer fun has been canceled left and right, I’m ready for fall to roll in. Bring on the snuggly read-a-book weather, please.

I know I should live in the moment, but…I'd rather fill my home with the warm scent of sweet spices and pretend it isn’t close to 90 degrees outside. And having done just that this week (and having found it quite enjoyable), I encourage you to join me. Join me in baking Snickerdoodle Bread.

Darcy Lenz

GET THE RECIPE: Snickerdoodle Bread

This moist, cinnamon-streaked loaf lands somewhere between a quick bread and a cake, and it really is all kinds of comforting. But then, how could it be anything else? Inspired by one of the greatest cookie jar classics, Snickerdoodle Bread delivers the iconic cinnamon-sugar notes, all backed with a subtle tang, that the tender, buttery cookie is known for.

Ready to cozy up? Here are few tips for making the best Snickerdoodle Bread possible.

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Be Prepared

One of the greatest downfalls of a good quick bread (literally, this can cause the center of the loaf to collapse while baking) is letting the prepared batter sit too long before it goes into the oven. That being the case, you really want to have all your ducks in a row so that when you bring your batter together, you can pour it into the pan and be on your way. So for this recipe, go ahead and mix up the cinnamon-sugar filling and the topping before you start assembling the batter; don’t wait until you need them to start gathering ingredients.

Over-mixing is the enemy of a tender quick bread of any kind, be it Snickerdoodle, banana, zucchini, you name it. There are a few ways to make sure you’re minimizing how much you mix this batter. First, work with room temperature ingredients—particularly eggs. They are much easier to incorporate at room temp than cold from the fridge. Next, stir your “wet” mixture of ingredients (i.e. the sugar, butter, etc.) into the “dry” (flour, salt, baking powder, etc.) mixture of ingredients, rather than the other way around. You’ll generally need fewer stirs to incorporate the two mixtures this way. Finally, make sure to stop folding the batter just as soon as you no longer see white streaks. It’s fine if the batter looks a little lumpy, it’s not on you to smooth it out.

You’re going to be tempted to slice into this loaf the minute you pull it from the oven—but try to resist. You’ll need to cool it in the pan for at least 10 minutes, and allowing the loaf a bit of additional cooling time once you remove it from the pan wouldn’t hurt. (You can easily remove the loaf from the pan by placing a sheet of parchment paper over the top of the loaf and gently cradling it with your hand while you invert the pan, turning the loaf out; then, place the loaf flat-side-down on a cooling rack.) Sufficiently cooling this bad boy will make cutting clean slices all the easier.

Of course, if you don’t mind a little crumble, make your own rules. If I can decide I want all the fall feels in August, you can decide when to cut into your Snickerdoodle Bread.