A super soft, fluffy and perfectly swirly cinnamon raisin bread from scratch! The recipe makes two loaves, so you can share one or freeze it for another day!
Cinnamon raisin is one of my favorite breakfast flavor combos. I was the self-proclaimed cinnamon raisin bagel queen in high school and college and would never try any other flavors. Every loaf of bread I bought had to be cinnamon raisin . As time went on, I cut back on my bagel and bread consumption so cinnamon raisin has not been on my mind lately. Until now.
I’m not sure what got into me, but I had a weird urge to bake cinnamon raisin bread. I’ve never made it until now, and I am happy to tell you that this recipe was a huge success.
The bread has a few steps to it. You have to make the dough, let it rest, roll it out and sprinkle with filling (like classic cinnamon rolls), shape them, let them rise again, and then bake. Don’t worry, most of the time spent on this recipe is waiting for the dough to rise so it’s not too much hands-on time.
I was afraid that the bread would be too done for my tastes (the tops were very golden brown as you can see in the photos), but the bread actually turned out perfectly. The crust was nice and crusty and the inside was super light and fluffy.
I gifted a loaf to some neighbors, and we demolished the other loaf on our own. We ate it for breakfast and as a snack. You could toast it or turn it into french toast. Whatever you do with it, you can’t go wrong.
Cinnamon raisin bread
Ingredients
- 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast (4.5 teaspoons)
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 cup granulated sugar divided
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 eggs
- 6 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup raisins
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the yeast and warm water. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes until frothy.
- Then add 1/2 cup of the sugar, oil, salt, eggs and 4 cups of the flour. Mix on medium speed until everything comes together. Add just enough flour until the dough is soft and pliable. It should not stick to your hands.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double, about 1 hour.
- Generously grease two standard 9"x5" loaf pans and set aside.
- Punch the dough down and divide into two equal portions. Add half of the raisins into each half of the dough and knead until well incorporated. Roll one piece of dough out to a rough 15"x9" rectangle.
- Brush the dough lightly with oil. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Sprinkle half of it over the dough, allowing for at least a 1/2 inch border all around.
- Roll the dough up, jelly roll style, starting on the shorter end. Place the dough, seam side down, into the prepared loaf pan. Repeat with the other ball of dough. Brush the tops lightly with oil. Cover and allow the dough to rise for at least 30 minutes or until doubled.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the bread in your preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until the tops are golden. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool before serving.
I followed from Food Gawker. That bread looks so delicious! I love homemade bread and I looove cinnamon so this is going straight to my to-bake list.Precious Core Blog
Thank you for stopping by!
Those swirls are so perfect! How come mine never look like that? LOL
I love cinnamon raisin bread, but I haven't made it in ages! Have to rectify that ASAP 🙂 PS: Love your site update!
Thanks, Megan! Happy Friday!
I have to make this soon. It looks just perfect! I'm just imaging how good this would be with a little almond butter on top. And it would be soooo good as French toast!
We didn't save enough for French toast, but I bet it would taste incredible!