This Cinnamon Raisin Bread recipe makes the perfect soft, sweet bread with a sweet cinnamon swirl and juicy raisins! Makes a delicious snack or breakfast toast!
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Friends, I don’t know about you but I’ve sure been baking a LOT of bread in the last few weeks! I hope you’re staying safe and healthy and doing lots of cooking and baking at home like I am. This Best Ever Cinnamon Raisin Bread recipe has been on repeat in my kitchen for the last few weeks. My kids LOVE it, it’s one of my husband’s favourite snacks, and it’s one of those recipes that’s just a joy to make. You’re going to LOVE it!
There’s something just so special about making bread from scratch, don’t you agree? I love making bread by hand, kneading it on my counter top until my arms hurt, brushing it with egg wash for that gorgeous golden brown crust. But making in my stand mixer is also a great way to save time and still get the same result. You can easily make this cinnamon raisin bread from scratch, no matter what kitchen equipment you have!
Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe Tips
Making homemade bread is actually pretty easy if you follow a few simple tips:
- Activate your yeast. Want bread that rises beautifully? Add your yeast to the lukewarm liquid in your bread recipe along with some sugar (honey also works) and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. They yeast should start to grow (if it doesn’t, that likely means your yeast is old).
- Use warm (NOT hot) liquid. Yeast grows best in a warm, moist environment which means that using warm liquid in your recipe is the best way to encourage the bread to rise. Cold liquid slows the rise (a lot) and hot water will kill the yeast. Warm is best!
- Don’t add too much flour. When making bread, add all the flour the recipe calls for minus about 1/2 cup. Add the last bit of flour a little at a time just until your dough becomes soft and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, and is no longer sticky. Resist the urge to add extra flour to the recipe! If your dough is a little sticky after adding all the flour, simply add a tablespoon or two more flour just so you can shape the dough into a ball to rise.
- Punch down the dough. After the dough has risen (follow the recipe for the exact time) flour your hand and punch down the dough to remove the big air bubbles.
- Flour your work surface. When shaping the dough into a loaf (or loaves) make sure your work surface has a good sprinkling of flour over it so your dough won’t stick. This will make it much easier to shape your loaf!
- Don’t forget the egg wash! Mix an egg with a little bit of water and brush some on top of your loaves after the second rise. This creates the most beautiful golden brown crust!
- Let the bread cool before slicing! As hard as it is to resist cutting into a fresh loaf of homemade bread while it’s hot from the oven, don’t do it! Bread continues to bake for about 10-15 minutes on the inside after it’s removed from the oven. Take hot bread out of the loaf pans and let it sit on a cooling rack until it’s cool before slicing.
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What type of pan is best for baking bread? After making homemade bread myself for so many years I’ve learned that using the right loaf pan makes a big difference. This large loaf pan (affiliate link) from Jamie Oliver is my favourite loaf pan of all time. It’s non-stick (although I still grease it lightly), it’s easy to clean, and it has high sides which creates the perfect loaf shape!. It’s the best loaf pan I’ve ever used and I can’t recommend it highly enough. And it’s pretty too!
No Knead Bread Variations
Want to make bread baking EASIER? Try these no knead bread recipes! Try my Easy No Knead Artisan Bread or this Easy No Knead Jalapeno Cheese Artisan Bread!
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I hope you love this cinnamon raisin bread recipe as much as we do! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite way to enjoy bread? As toast for breakfast? As a snack? I’d love to know!
KITCHEN TOOLS I RECOMMEND:
Other delicious bread recipes:
- Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls
- Healthier Cornbread
- Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins
- Easy No Knead Artisan Bread
- Easy No Knead Cinnamon Raisin Artisan Bread
- Best Ever Easy White Sandwich Bread
Recipe Video
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this recipe. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel
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Best Ever Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Recipe: Equipment
Recipe: Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 1/4 cup warm water just above room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or use instant yeast
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 6 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup raisins
For baking:
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons water
Recipe: Instructions
Making the dough:
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, OR in a large mixing bowl, add the warm water, yeast and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir gently with a fork and let sit for about 5-10 minutes.
- If the yeast looks bubbly and has grown, this means it's activated and your bread will rise. Whisk together the room temperature eggs in a small bowl with a fork and add them to the yeast mixture, along with the flour.
Stand Mixer:
- If you're using a stand mixer add 5 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt and mix on low speed until a dough forms. Add the last 1/2 cup of flour and mix on low until the dough just comes together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rise in a warm, draft-free place for 60 minutes or until at least doubled in size.
Mixing by hand:
- If you're mixing by hand, add the flour 1-2 cups at a time (add the salt too) and stir well with a wooden spoon, continuing to add flour until the whole amount is added and a soft dough forms. Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for about 20-25 turns until the dough is soft and elastic and it bounces back when you press a finger into it.
- Place the ball of dough back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap and rise in a warm, draft-free place for 60 minutes or at least doubled in size.
Instructions for baking:
- After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a well floured surface and let it rest for 10 minutes, covered with a clean kitchen cloth.
- Divide the dough in half (this recipe makes 2 loaves).
- Roll each piece of dough into a rectangle approximately 8 inches by 12 inches. The short side should be the length of your loaf pan, so make sure your loaf pan is at least 8 inches long (or make a rectangle with a shorter side).
- Brush each of the dough rectangles with the melted butter and sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon in an even layer.
- Add the raisins, scattering them as evenly as possible over the rough.
- Roll the dough (start with the short side) into a spiral and tuck the ends under slightly.
- Place each loaf into a greased standard loaf pan and cover with a towel to rise for about 20-25 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit while the loaves rise.
- Whisk together the egg and water and brush the mixture lightly over the top of the loaves. You will have leftover egg wash, so simply discard the rest or save it for up to 3 days for other baking projects.
- Bake the loaves at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (if not using convection, bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 23-25 minutes, or until the tops of the loaves are golden brown.
- Remove the loaves from their pans immediately to a wire rack and let the loaves cool for at least 10-15 minutes before slicing into them.
Recipe: Notes
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I have a Dutch oven and like to make my breads there. Do you think it will work for this recipe and the same times? Should I just leave the lid off?
You can just follow the normal steps of the recipe and use your dutch oven.
I tried this recipe and it tasted great but it did leave a giant hole in the middle of the loaf. Do you know what I can do to help this?
As you shape the loaf, make sure you roll it tightly (without squeezing it) as to not trap big air bubbles between the layers.
I know I can replace the filling sugar with coconut sugar- can I replace the dough sugar with honey?
I have never tried this substitution myself so I couldn’t tell you, if you do try, please let us know! Happy baking ☺️
The recipe says 1/3 cup sugar for the dough but the instructions say 1/4 cup. Which is correct?
Also, your instructions don’t include the 10 min rest for the dough.
Thank you for pointing that out. We have corrected and updated the recipe!
we’ve got an egg allergy in the house, do you think a flax egg would work in this bread?
Unfortunately no, but you could just leave the egg out and add a couple extra tablespoons of milk. Happy baking! ☺️