Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Cinnamon Pull Aparts Papa John's over wooden board.

5 from 2 votes

Papa John's Cinnamon Pull Aparts are an easy copycat. Featuring fresh baked bite-sized dough balls coated in cinnamon sugar, covered with crumbles, and topped with frosting.

Prep Time15

Cook Time23

Total Time38

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 406kcal

Author: Jennifer Fishkind

Ingredients

Crumble topping

2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

Cinnamon pull-aparts

1 pound ball of fresh pizza dough cut into 1-inch pieces and rolled into balls
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter melted

Cream cheese frosting

4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temperature
2 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line an 8x8-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper. Be sure to leave enough parchment paper to overhang the sides to make lifting the cinnamon pull-aparts out of the pan easily.
In a small bowl, make the crumble topping by stirring together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter until your mixture comes together as a crumble. Set aside.
2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon light brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
To make the cinnamon pull-aparts, you will need to cut your fresh pizza dough ball into roughly 25 small pieces, then roll them in the palm of your hand into balls.
1 pound ball of fresh pizza dough
In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Place the melted butter in a second small bowl.
2 teaspoons cinnamon, ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup unsalted butter
Drop 3-4 dough balls into the melted butter and roll around to evenly coat them.
Transfer the butter-coated dough balls to the bowl of cinnamon sugar and roll to evenly coat them in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place the coated dough balls into the prepared baking pan in a single layer.
Repeat steps 5-6 until all the dough balls have been coated and placed into the baking pan.
Evenly sprinkle the reserved crumble topping over the prepared dough balls.
Bake for 23-26 minutes or until the cinnamon pull-aparts are golden and bubbly. Allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before lifting them out of the pan (using the parchment paper overhang) and transfer them to a serving plate or cutting board.
While the cinnamon pull-aparts are baking and cooling, you can make the cream cheese frosting by beating together the softened butter and softened cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth and fluffy.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 ounces cream cheese
Add the vanilla extract and powdered sugar and beat again until fully combined and smooth. Add the heavy cream and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until the frosting is smooth and has a pipeable consistency. You do not want it too thick, but thick enough to be piped. Transfer to a piping bag with the tip cut off.
½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup powdered sugar, 2-3 teaspoons heavy whipping cream
Once the cinnamon pull-aparts have been transferred to a serving plate, you can pipe a criss-cross pattern of the cream cheese frosting onto the top of the pull-aparts.

Notes

Storage:

To Store: These cinnamon pull-aparts are best served while still warm. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
To Reheat: You can reheat the cinnamon pull-aparts in the microwave for 15-30 seconds or until warmed through.

Tips:

Papa John’s cinnamon pull-aparts are served with a cream cheese frosting; however, you can use a standard powdered sugar glazed if desired for yours.
I like to get my fresh pizza dough balls from the bakery section of my local grocery store. You can also get them from your favorite local pizzeria. Do not allow the dough to proof and rise before cutting it into small pieces.
If you can not find the fresh pizza dough, you can use a 1-pound loaf of frozen yeast bread dough (thawed according to package directions) as a great substitute. You can find them in either single packs or 3-packs in the frozen bread section of your grocery store (it is near the garlic bread in my store). If using this substitute, you will only thaw the bread and not allow it to proof and rise as if you were baking as a loaf.
You can bake these cinnamon pull-aparts in a glass 8x8 baking dish without the parchment paper if you just plan on serving straight from the pan. You will want to lightly spray the glass baking dish with baker’s spray if using the glass pan. You will need to check for doneness about 5 minutes earlier if using the glass pan.
The frosting was piped using a piping bag in the recipe, but a zip-top bag with the corner snipped off will work just as well. You can also use a spoon to drizzle the frosting or even just spread it over the entire top like you would for traditional cinnamon rolls.

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