Cinnamon raisin bread (Ψωμί με κανέλα και σταφίδες)
Cinnamon raisin bread is a slightly sweet and fragrant bread full of raisins
There is a huge debate in our family that revolves around what to call the packaged sliced stuff that you put in a toaster. We won’t get into it here, because we’ve already gotten into it over here – but we were reminded of that post because this cinnamon raisin bread, popped into a toaster, is a thing of beauty.
In testing and re-testing this recipe before publishing it, we’ve learned a few things – we’ve listed those in the Helpful Hints section just below and we hope that they will help you make a perfect loaf of bread. And although bread making tips are important, let’s assume that your bread is baked and ready to eat – here are a few other important things to know.
The first is that toasted cinnamon raisin bread is delicious warm and spread with a nice bit of butter or ghee (we’re new fans of ghee!). It’s equally good untoasted, sliced thinly, and used to hold a turkey sandwich filling. Craving cinnamon buns? No problem. Combine some icing sugar with milk until you get a thick but spreadable consistency and slather that on a generous slice of cinnamon raisin bread. You’ll thank us. We promise.
Worried because you’ve never baked bread before?
If you worry because you don’t think that you have the capacity to bake bread, let us reassure you – you do. Our bread making methods, whether they be no-knead breads like our olive and feta bread or a quick bread like our Irish soda bread are virtually fail-proof. This cinnamon raisin bread uses the same technique as some of our other breads, one we like to call the dump and rise method. As you’ll see in the recipe, you essentially dump all the ingredients (except for the raisins) into a bowl, wait a bit, add the raisins, wait some more, shape your loaf, wait again, bake, eat, repeat! Trust us, the hardest part of this recipe is keeping yourself from eating the entire loaf in one sitting. Also, if you eat the entire loaf in one sitting, don’t worry about it, you’re not alone.
Helpful hints
What kind of raisins work best in this recipe?
The raisins that work best in this cinnamon raisin bread are the raisins you love best. We prefer the dark sultana raisins, but you can choose whatever you like.
The important thing about the raisins is to ensure that you are adding them a bit at a time because if you drop them all into your dough at the same time it may become difficult to have them evenly dispersed throughout the bread. So, add some raisins, mix, add some more, mix, and on and on until all of your raisins are incorporated.
What if I don’t have a hand held or a stand mixer?
You can certainly do the mixing and the kneading by hand so actually the mixer is not essential, it just makes the job easier. If you don’t have a mixer, don’t despair and make the bread anyways – it’s still easy, and it will still be delicious. Actually, maybe it will be even more delicious because you will have worked harder for it!
I love the cinnamon sugar topping! What else can I use it for?
The perfect ratio for cinnamon sugar is 1:4. These are the quantities we would recommend, depending how much you want to make:
- 1/4 cup cinnamon : 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon : 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon : 1 tablespoon sugar
To make cinnamon sugar simply combine the sugar and cinnamon, and store in a cool, dry place. It will keep for a very long time. Use cinnamon sugar in a variety of ways. Sprinkle it on cereal or oatmeal or add it to the tops of muffins before baking them. You can also sprinkle it on top of toast or even on top of your cappuccino or latte.
Looking for more easy bread goodness? Check out these recipes:
Part whole wheat bread with honey
We love hearing from you! If you have made our recipes, or if you have a question or comment, or simply want to say Hi!, please leave a comment below!
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Things you might need to make our Cinnamon raisin bread:
Cinnamon raisin bread
Equipment
- Stand mixer (or a hand held mixer)
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons dry instant yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing bowl
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 cup packed golden or brown sugar
- 3/4 cups raisins
Cinnamon sugar topping
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer combine the flour, yeast, water, salt, olive oil, the cinnamon and brown sugar. With a rubber spatula mix the ingredients until well combined and let sit for 15 minutes.2 ¾ cups all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons dry instant yeast, 1 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing bowl, 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 cup packed golden or brown sugar
- Next, gently fold the raisins into your dough. Using the bread hook attachment of your stand mixer, mix on low-medium speed for 5 minutes. If you find the dough sticking to the side of your bowl, sprinkle in some additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. If you find the dough is a little too dense and that some dough or flour remains on the bottom of your bowl, add 1 tablespoon of water. This might make the dough a little more sticky, but that's fine.3/4 cups raisins
- Transfer your dough to a well greased bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and place your bowl in a warm place for 60-70 minutes.
- After this first rising, punch the dough down and shape your bread loaf. Place the dough in a parchment lined loaf pan, cover it loosely with the same kitchen towel and let it rise for an additional hour. To watch how to shape the dough into a loaf, watch video here.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Lightly brush the top of the loaf with some water. Combine the cinnamon and sugar for the topping together in a small bowl and then sprinkle some of it over the top of your loaf.1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup sugar
- Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing the bread from the loaf pan. Allow to cool fully on a wire rack, before slicing.
- Enjoy!
Yum! Save me a slice?
Most definitely! 🙂
I made this bread night before last and ate the last slice with my coffee this morning. So I’m making another and it’s rising now. I added some finely chopped pecans to this batch. Looking forward to seeing how it tastes with the nuts.
Wonderful!! So happy to know that you are enjoying our cinnamon raisin bread recipe! We are sure that the addition of pecans will be lovely! xoxo Helen & Billie
What size of the loaf pan do you use? I don’t have a bread tin. I have a 20×11 loaf pan that I use for banana bread. Is it big enough? I recently made a raisin loaf, but in that recipe only 250 g of flour is required. This recipe requires a lot more flour. So I’m not sure if my loaf tin is big enough.
Hi there! We use a standard (in North America) size loaf pan which is : 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches. If you don’t have a loaf pan large enough you can always try baking the bread in a larger baking pan or even a cookie tray. It will not hold it’s shape as well perhaps, but should cook up just fine. Hope that helps! xoxo Helen & Billie