The Best Cinnamon Raisin Bread

An overhead shot of 5 slices of cinnamon raisin swirl bread on a cooling rack with a teaspoon of cinnamon off to the left side.

This cinnamon raisin bread recipe is a yeast-raised sweet loaf bread featuring lots of soft, juicy raisins and a flavorful cinnamon swirl that will not separate, even when you slice the bread thinly. A no-egg yeast bread, cinnamon raisin bread is the perfect loaf to make for cinnamon toast, French toast, or just for munching.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Rise Time 4

Servings slices

Calories 218kcal

Author Jennifer Field

Equipment

1 9" x 5" Loaf Pan

Ingredients

For the Raisins

7 oz raisins 198 grams or about 1 1/2 cups
water to cover by 1/2"

For the Dough

10.5 oz whole milk 298 grams or 1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon
2.5 oz melted butter 70 grams or 5 Tablespoons
2 teaspoons salt 9 grams
1 ½ oz sugar 43 grams or 3 Tablespoons
1 teaspoon cinnamon
16 oz bread flour 454 grams or about 3 1/2 cups
1 ½ teaspoons yeast 7 grams

For the Swirl

2 Tablespoons bread flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
pinch salt

To Shape and Bake

3 Tablespoons whole milk
2 Tablespoons butter melted

Instructions

For the Raisins

Add the raisins to a heat-proof bowl, and pour boiling water over them to cover by about 1/2".
Allow the raisins to hang out in the hot water for 10-15 minutes. You'll know they're ready when the color lightens slightly and the water level has dropped.
Drain them, then spread them onto a couple of layers of paper toweling or a lint-free tea towel. Blot dry. Set aside.

For the Dough

In a microwave-safe bowl or in a pan on the stove-top, heat the milk until it is steaming but not boiling.
Pour the milk into the bowl of your stand mixer, and add the butter. Whisk together to melt the butter and cool the milk.
Add sugar, salt, and cinnamon and whisk well.
Dump in all the flour on top of the liquid, and add the yeast on top. This keeps the yeast from coming into contact too early with concentrated salt (and the cinnamon, for that matter).
Attach your dough hook and mix on low speed until all the flour is incorporated, about 1 minute.
Increase mixer speed to medium-low and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, springy, and very stretchy.
Dump in the raisins and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Not all the raisins will be incorporated yet, but that's okay.
Dump the dough and any loose raisins onto your clean counter and knead the rest of the raisins in, folding the dough over and then pressing it out to distribute the raisins as evenly as you can.
Form the dough into a smooth ball, rounding it on the counter and using friction to pull the outer membrane fairly taut.
Place the dough back into the mixer bowl, spray with pan spray or brush lightly with oil, cover, and let rise in a cozy place until doubled in size, about 2 1/2 hours.

To Shape and Bake

Whisk together the swirl ingredients in a small bowl.
Press the gases out of your dough, and then roll into a long, skinny rectangle, approximately 8" x 24-26" long.
Brush the surface liberally with milk, and then sprinkle on the swirl mixture evenly. Use your clean hands to spread it evenly, top to bottom and end to end. Press the swirl mixture into the milk to encourage it to stick.
Starting at one short end, roll up tightly, pulling back every couple of turns to keep the dough under tension. When you reach the end of the roll--maybe the last 2"--brush some additional milk on the outside of the roll to give those last 2" something to stick to. Pinch the seam together as well as you can, and roll the dough log seam side down.
The dough roll will most likely now be much longer than the pan you're putting it in (9" x 5" loaf pan), so bend the dough like a slinky, with the two ends pointing down and then fit the dough into the pan. Press down firmly to even the dough out.
Spray lightly with pan spray, cover, and let rise again until the dough rises over the edge of the pan by about 1", about 1-1 1/2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 350F/180C. When your loaf is nicely risen, bake on the middle rack for about 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the bread reads 195-200F. Tent with foil if the bread is browning too quickly. This is likely, as cinnamon raisin bread takes longer to bake because of the moist raisins and swirl, so just go with it.
Once your bread is done, remove the loaf to a rack and immediately brush the top liberally with the melted butter. Turn the loaf out of the pan and allow it to cool for at least an hour before slicing it. Ideally, you will wait until it's completely cool, but I won't blame you if you want to cut it early. I do. Every time.
Enjoy straight-up, as toast, as a base for French toast or bread pudding, etc. Store cooled leftovers, well covered, at room temperature for up to 5 days. Slice and freeze for longer storage.

Video

Notes

If, after shaping, your dough log is very long, bring both ends under the center like a donut standing on its edge, and then fit your dough into your pan. You'll get some double swirls in a few slices this way.

Alternate Fruits

Any dried fruits will work beautifully in this recipe. You can even use a mix of different dried fruits. Here are some possibilities:

apricots
currants
dried cherries
dried cranberries
dates
figs

Chocolate Swirl Variation

Leave out the cinnamon in the dough and replace the cinnamon in the swirl with cocoa powder.

Use chocolate chips instead of raisins.

Something to Try

For the swirl, try mixing the milk together with the swirl ingredients to make a thin, spreadable batter. Then spread that very thinly all over your rolled-out dough.

I haven't tried that yet, but I can almost guarantee it will result in a raisin bread with literally zero delamination. I'll try it next time and update to let you know.

Nutrition