I absolutely love cinnamon-raisin bread, it’s so yummy…especially if it has gooey swirly bits in the middle! Eating it warm right out of the oven or toasted for breakfast just can’t be beat. My favorite recipe for making this stuff is of course by Martha Stewart. It’s the Cinnamon-Raisin Bread found in her Baking Handbook. I made it the other day, and well, it just hung on for another day…barely.
Here’s the recipe in case you want to make some too. It is a super easy bread recipe, in case you are like me and super nervous about bread/yeast/rising situations in the kitchen. This one is no fail, really, and I’ve made it a bunch and each time it was perfect. And I’m not exactly the measure to a tee kinda person. Really. Enjoy. You and your family will love it!
Cinnamon Bread
Recipe Type: Breads
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: two 9×5 inch loaves
from The Baking Handbook by Martha Stewart
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- 1 envelope (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
- 2 cups warm milk
- 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg that’s lighty beaten
- 2 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- vegetable oil for bowl (or cooking spray!) and plastic wrap
- For filling:
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- To make the dough: In bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle yeast over the warm milk and whisk to combine.
- Add flour, butter, sugar, 2 eggs, and salt.
- Attach the dough hook to your mixer.
- Mix on low speed until all ingredients are well combined (about 3 minutes).
- Increase speed to medium-low and mix until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (about 3 more minutes).
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Pat dough into a 9-inch round (about 1 1/4 inches thick) and sprinkle with raisins and cinnamon.
- Knead dough until incorporated.
- Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with oiled plastic wrap.
- Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
- Return dough to lightly floured work surface, and pat into a round again.
- Fold the bottom third up, and then top third down, and the right and left sides over, tapping dough to release excess flour and pressing down to seal.
- Return dough to the bowl, seam side down and cover with plastic wrap, and let rise again until doubled, about 40 minutes.
- To make filling: Mix sugar and cinnamon with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl.
- Place dough on lightly floured surface an divide in half.
- Roll out one half to a 12 x 10 inch rectangle.
- Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with half the filling. Repeat with the other half of dough.
- Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, set aside.
- Fold in both long sides of dough, about an inch.
- Then roll dough toward you with short side facing you, making a nice and tight log.
- Place in prepared pans with seam side down.
- Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until dough is just above the rim of the pan, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees at this time.
- Brush tops of loaves with beaten egg and place loaf pans on a baking sheet to catch drips.
- Line with parchment for easy clean-up!
- Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until loaves are golden brown, about 45 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out to a wire rack.
Cinnamon-Raisin Bread (makes two 9 x5 inch loaves)
For the dough:
1 envelope (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
2 cups warm milk
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into pieces
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg that’s lighty beaten
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1 tbsp cinnamon
vegetable oil for bowl (or cooking spray!) and plastic wrap
For filling:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp water
To make the dough: In bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle yeast over the warm milk and whisk to combine. Add flour, butter, sugar, 2 eggs, and salt. Attach the dough hook to your mixer. Mix on low speed until all ingredients are well combined (about 3 minutes). Increase speed to medium-low and mix until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (about 3 more minutes).
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat dough into a 9-inch round (about 1 1/4 inches thick) and sprinkle with raisins and cinnamon. Knead dough until incorporated. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with oiled plastic wrap. (I just sprayed cooking spray in the bowl and on the plastic wrap.) Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
Return dough to lightly floured work surface, and pat into a round again. Fold the bottom third up, and then top third down, and the right and left sides over, tapping dough to release excess flour and pressing down to seal. Return dough to the bowl, seam side down and cover with plastic wrap, and let rise again until doubled, about 40 minutes.
To make filling: Mix sugar and cinnamon with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Place dough on lightly floured surface an divide in half. Roll out one half to a 12 x 10 inch rectangle. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with half the filling. Repeat with the other half of dough.
Filling all mixed up…YUM!
Beaten egg plus 2 Tbsp water added to the filling mixture…check!
A 10 x 12 inch rectangle of dough-y goodness…
Brushed with beaten egg…
and sprinkled with the cinnamon-sugar filling.
Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, set aside. Fold in both long sides of dough, about an inch. Then roll dough toward you with short side facing you, making a nice and tight log. Place in prepared pans with seam side down. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until dough is just above the rim of the pan, about 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees at this time.
Time to roll up the goods…
Brush tops of loaves with beaten egg and place loaf pans on a baking sheet to catch drips. Line with parchment for easy clean-up! Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until loaves are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out to a wire rack.
My last rise was lame but the end results still looked good!
See what I mean:
Nice and brown and yummy smelling…
And they tasted Oh-So-Good!
Do you see all the Ooey Gooey swirly bits just oozing out?
Yeah, it’s good…
So good!
This sounds sooo good but doesn’t fit with my diet š Maybe I will make 1/2 of it for our Cheat Day Saturday! Thanks for sharing.
Hi there!
That sounds just good! One question: How much is a “stick” of butter? We have like 250 g in one peace. Is that what you mean? Greetings from Germany, ines
thank you so much! can’t wait to try it!
What goes on if you don’t have a fancy shmancy mixer with a hook? Maybe some day I’ll have one, but don’t at the moment and I’d love to try this….
Ohhh funny!! 1 stick of butter is 1/2 cup or 8 Tablespoons or 1/4 of a pound. Sorry about that Ines!!!
And if you don’t have a mixer just use a wooden spoon and your muscles!! It’s totally do-able š …I made bread this way quite a bit before I was given my mixer. Once the dough is incorporated you can just get your hands in there and knead it too!
Happy Baking!!
-Mags
Thanks for sharing this recipe!! We love raisin bread at our house! I usually make ours in the bread machine, but I’ll definitely have to give this one a go…love the look of the cinnamon swirl in it! I’m a huge fan of cinnamon!! š
Ok, I’ll take 5 loaves of this right now…hahaha…you’re killing me with these recipes. Are you sharing this with a cup of coffee with Lindsay right now? I’m coming over š
It looks outstanding, hope your sis makes this for me!!!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It looks simple and delicious! Will definitely try it out sometime. š