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This chocolate cinnamon bread is a Starbucks copycat recipe worth making at home! A crunchy sugary topping gives way to moist chocolate bread scented with cinnamon. Just add your favorite cup of coffee!
Starbucks has this way of sucking you into their store. They have yummy drinks and they also have really good pastries. I mean, the lemon pound cake has got to be one of my favorites, and this chocolate cinnamon bread was another before they took it off the menu. (Sigh.)
Chocolate cinnamon bread was one of Starbucks’ holiday treats, and I was eager to see it back on the menu this year…until I realized all of the other holiday items were available again, but the chocolate cinnamon bread still wasn’t. Luckily, the original recipe was posted in 2013, so whether it’s your fave or you never got a chance to try it, you can make it yourself at home.
What I love most about this bread is the crunchy sugary topping and the cinnamon that is just enough to add warmth without being cloying about it. This bread reminds me of the holidays and hot chocolate and all of the other flavors we associated with this time of year.
What You’ll Need
No unexpected ingredients here! In fact, you probably have a lot of these in your pantry already.
For the bread:
- Unsalted butter – At room temperature to help it cream and blend easier.
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs – Your eggs should also be room-temperature.
- All-purpose flour
- Dutch-processed cocoa – Dutch-processed cocoa is less acidic than natural cocoa powder.
- Ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Buttermilk – You can make your own with whole milk and lemon juice or white vinegar if you don’t want to buy it. Just place a tablespoon of the acid in a measuring cup, then fill it with milk up to the 1 cup mark. Stir and let it sit until the mixture curdles.
- Water
- Vanilla extract
For the crunchy sugar topping:
- Granulated sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Ground cloves
- Sugar sparkles – Or another type of coarse sugar.
How to Make Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
Note that this makes two loaves, so if you want only one, press the 1/2 button on the recipe card!
Prepare. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line two 9×5 loaf pans with parchment paper. Use enough that the paper hangs from both sides for easy bread removal.
Make the topping. In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar and spices. Don’t add the sparkle sugar yet.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; whisk to combine.
Combine the butter, sugar, and eggs. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for 2 minutes, or until it’s light and fluffy in texture. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a third bowl, whisk the buttermilk, water, and vanilla extract.
Finish the batter. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer, alternating between the two and mixing at a low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix until just combined.
Assemble. Divide the batter into two prepared loaf pans, followed by the topping mixture. Sprinkle the sparkle sugar on top.
Bake. Place the pans in the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Cool. Let the bread cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then pull up on the parchment paper to remove the loaves from the pans. Let them finish cooling on a wire rack before cutting.
Tips for Success
Here are some tips to help you make perfect chocolate cinnamon bread!
- Don’t over-mix. As with all quick bread recipes, it’s important to mix juuuust until the dry ingredients are incorporated. This will yield a lighter, fluffier, softer bread.
- Make it your own. This recipe is great as-is, but you could add chocolate chips or chopped nuts to the bread batter if you like!
- Use good cinnamon. If you open your jar of cinnamon and you have to try really hard to smell anything, odds are, it’s past its prime. You should be hit with the aroma of cinnamon as soon as you open it up! Since cinnamon is one of the key flavors here, you want to use a good one.
How to Store
You can store this bread in an airtight container (or tightly wrapped) for up to 5 days.
Can This Be Frozen?
Yes, this bread freezes well! Wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic wrap, followed by a layer of foil, then freeze it for up to 3 months. Let it thaw at room temperature before serving.
Starbucks’ Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (341 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
- 5 eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cup (108 g) dutch-processed cocoa
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (237 ml) buttermilk
- ¼ cup (59 ml) water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the topping:
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground ginger
- Pinch of ground cloves
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar sparkles, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (177 °C). Line two 9×5 loaf pans with parchment paper with enough that they are hanging off both sides for easy bread removal.
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the topping EXCEPT the sparkle sugar. Set the topping mixture aside.1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, Pinch of ground ginger, Pinch of ground cloves
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Then add in the eggs, one at a time, incorporating them well after each addition.1 1/2 cups (341 g) unsalted butter, 3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar, 5 eggs
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk to combine.2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 1 1/4 cup (108 g) dutch-processed cocoa, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, water, and vanilla extract.1 cup (237 ml) buttermilk, 1/4 cup (59 ml) water, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Alternating between the dry mixture and the buttermilk mixture, add the contents to the bowl of the stand mixer, mixing at a low speed. Mix until ingredients are well incorporated. You may need to scrape down the sides of your bowl once or twice.
- Divide the batter evenly among the two prepare loaf pans. Divide the topping mixture between the two loaves then sprinkle the sparkle sugar on top.1/4 cup (50 g) sugar sparkles
- Bake for 45-50 minutes (or longer). Use a toothpick and insert it into the middle of the bread to check for doneness. The toothpick should come out clean when bread is done.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before pulling up on the parchment paper to remove the bread from the pan and letting it cool completely on a wire cooling rack. Let cool before slicing.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Starbucks chocolate cinnamon bread is always a hit! It is so moist and it has flavor. I can freeze slices or a loaf and take out is needed. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
What? No addition of coffee to a chocolate bread that mimics Starbucks LOL? Coffee is almost a staple in any baked chocolates so I’m surprised that a Starbucks bread would exclude it. It looks delicious though so I’m happy to try it sans the coffee.
Haha yeah, you’d think they’d have coffee in it!
Hi Brenda,
I was wondering how crucial it is to use Dutch processed cocoa, because all I have is Hershey’s cocoa?
Hi Christine, my name is Julie, not Brenda :) also, it’s not that crucial, you can use Hershey’s cocoa.
This sounds delicious & I haven’t even had it at Starbucks!
Thank you Julie, never mind, my bad, the bread was eaten anyway :) my eaters around here do not make any “cake racism”… if something is good, they do not care about consistency and stuff… That’ll push me to try the recipe again… next time i’ll print your page, just to make sure that no mistake occurrs :D
have a nice day!
Serena
Hi Julie, is the consistency of this bread supposed to be fudgy? I tried this yesterday. I have to say that I used the wrong amount of an ingredient (water – i had written 1/4 cup on my notepad in a really messy way, and i read “1 cup” instead). i tried to fix it by leaving the cake in the oven for a while longer (in order to allow excess water to dry). I just wanted to understand whether i got the right consistency or it is different because of my mistake.
thank you!
Hi Serena! No, the cake is not supposed to be fudgy. It’s supposed to be cake-like. Fudgy makes it seem too dense. Definitely think the extra water made the chocolate a fudgy consistency. Sorry that happened! I hope you try again!!
The bread turned our really yummy, very moist and like a cross between brownies and cake. I am not sure why, but it collapsed badly in the middle. It looked like a train wreck, but since it tasted so good I will try making the recipe again.
I made this bread because I had buttermilk that need to be used up. OH MY WORD!!!!! It is so wonderful. I brought one of the loaves to work and it barely lasted 30 minutes. I then had to pass the recipe out to everyone because they wanted it. I gave most of the other loaf away because I was blowing my diet mutching on it because I couldn’t say no. I will definitely be making it again and just plan to run several more miles to compensate.
The only problem I had with it was that the middle seemed to sink in as it cooled but I didn’t care since the flavor and moistness was wonderful!
Made this tonight…halved the recipe and it made 12 regular muffins and 12 mini muffins. They are AWESOME! Thank you so much for sharing. My husband has already asked me to make them again.
Nevermind. I see it now. ^_^