Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Author: Heather Scholten | Published: Dec 18, 2024 | Updated:Jan 08, 2025
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Why You’ll Love this Recipe
A good no knead bread recipe is really a game changer, in my opinion. I am not a baker, but I am a real lover of all things gluten especially bread. Give me room temperature butter and any type of bread and look out! I cannot help myself and will eat the entire loaf. I love it that much.
I’ve been craving a sweet bread lately and have always been a fan of anything cinnamon and raisin, so I made this simple no knead Cinnamon Raisin Bread recipe. I used golden raisins because that’s my personal preference, but feel free to change to dark raisins if that’s what floats your boat.
Have you checked out my other bread recipes on the site? My favorite is the No Knead Rustic Loaf for its simplicity and also versatility. Add some shredded cheese or nuts to kick it up. Experimenting in the kitchen is one of my favorite things to do and sometimes following recipes completely is hard for me to do.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are the simple ingredient list to make a bakery style loaf of raisin bread.
- Bread Flour – for best results you should use bread flour, but you could experiment with all purpose flour, the results may not be the same.
- Cinnamon – use good quality ground cinnamon for the best results.
- Brown Sugar – dark brown sugar or light brown sugar will work.
- Yeast – active dry yeast. Make sure you check the expiration date on your yeast and always keep bulk or packets in the fridge for maximum freshness.
- Salt – most recipes on Farmgirl Gourmet require Kosher salt. I find it works best and the measurements for Kosher vs table salt and different, so don’t substitute.
- Raisins – golden raisins, dark raisins, or a raisin medley will work.
Find the printable recipe card with exact measurements and step-by-step instructions below.
How to Make this No Knead Raisin Bread Recipe
Step 1: Stir Together the Dry Ingredients
Stirring together all of the dry ingredients (minus the yeast) is essential to keep the raisins from sinking to the bottom of the loaf while it’s baking. Coating the raisins in flour helps them stay suspended in the dough.
Add the flour, raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a large bowl and mix to combine.
Step 2: Add the Wet Ingredients
Add the yeast and water to the dry ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon until you get a craggy dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel.
Step 3: Let the Dough Rise
If you don’t have an oven with a “bread proof” setting, then make sure wherever you place the dough to raise that it is a warm place that’s draft free with an ambient temperature of 70ยบF-75ยบF. You can also heat your oven to 100ยบF for about 5 minutes, then turn it off and add the bowl of dough and allow the dough to rise with the oven light on.
Step 4: Heat the Oven, Shape the Loaf, and Bake
Place the dutch oven in the oven and preheat it to 450ยบF. While the oven is heating up, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Place the ball on a piece of parchment paper and place the bowl over the top and allow to sit for 20 minutes. Remove the hot dutch oven from the oven and place the parchment and dough into the dutch oven and slash the top of the bread with a sharp knife or bread slashing tool. Place the lid back on and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. The bread is ready when the top is a deep golden brown.
Remove and place the parchment and bread on a wire cooling rack and let the bread cool before you get the butter out and start devouring this loaf.
Looking for More Bread Recipes?
I love bread and here are a few of my faves from my blog:
- No Knead Bread
- Cheese-Studded Rolls
- Walnut Levain
- Pretzel Slider Buns
- Banana Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
- Honey Challah
- Blueberry Lemon Loaf
- Cinnamon Raisin Scones
- Sticky Cinnamon Scrolls
Tips for Storing
- For storing – keep in an airtight container or sealable bag
- For reheating – wrap in aluminum foil tightly and reheat in a moderate heat for 10 minutes.
- How to freeze – slice the loaf and put into a zip top bag, remove all of the air and zip it up. Store in the freezer up to 3 months.
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ยฝ cups water, warm
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3 cups bread flour, plus more
- ยพ cup golden raisins
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ยฝ teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
- Add the yeast to the warm water and allow to sit for 10 minutes to bloom the yeast. It should be foamy.
- In a large bowl, add the remaining dry ingredients and stir to combine, making sure to break up the raisins and coating them well with the flour mixture.
- Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and allow to rise until double in size, about 2-3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 450ยบF with the dutch oven inside.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form a smooth ball by gently folding the dough into itself a few times. Place on a piece of parchment paper and place the bowl over the top and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the dutch oven from the oven and place the bread and parchment in the hot dutch oven. Slash the top with a sharp knife or bread lame tool, place the lid back on, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake an additional 20 minutes.
- Lift the bread out of the dutch oven and allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Leave a comment below letting me know what you thought of this recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Bread or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing what you make!
Recipe By:
Co-Founder at Spiceology | More About Heather…

Heather is a recipe developer and content creator living in Vancouver, Washington. She started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006, almost 20 years ago, as a way to share recipes with friends and family. Heather is also the co-founder of Spiceology , a unique spice company, which she started in 2013. She shares family friendly recipes for easy everyday meals with a gourmet twist.
The dough doesn’t taste sweet
the bread portion of the recipe is not sweetened because it’s a rustic bread, not an enriched dough like cinnamon rolls. The sweetness comes from the brown sugar butter mixture.
An you use all purpose flour
Yes
Thanks for this recipe. It has a great texture. I upped the cinnamon and the yeast. I do find it goes a bit dark top and bottom but perhaps it’s the sugar.
Will it work with wholemeal bread flour?
Hello – sorry for the delay in reply! We have not tried it with that type of flour, so I am not sure if it will work as I’m not sure the hydration ratio of water to wholemeal bread flour. If you try it, let me know how it turned out. I’d love to update the post with the most helpful info possible. ~heather
What if Iโm using instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?
it will be fine. Instant yeast does not require being activated in water first and can be added directly to dry ingredients – but it still works just fine to bloom in water as the recipe is written. Excited to hear how it turned out!
The bread turned out fantastic. I did brown the bottom a little bit too much, but that is an easy fix. I live at 5000 ft, so I added a little bit more bread flour. I also added sunflower seeds which made it better for me. Thanks for the recipe.
Recipe was easy to follow and the bread tastes yummy however, I have a porcelain enamel Dutch oven. I followed the baking time for the recipe and it was a little over baked. The bread was slightly burned on the top and bottom, even though I used two pieces of parchment paper on the bottom of the Dutch oven. I would probably cut back baking time with the lid off by 5-10 minutes if you’re using an enamel Dutch oven.
This bread recipe is no knead and so simple to make
This is a simple bread recipe that doesn’t require much technique. I hope you love it as much as we do.
This looks delicious and want to try it as it is so simple for a beginner bread maker like myself. However are we sure it’s just 1 tsp of active dry yeast? My yeast is not foaming and it’s brand new .. water temp is correct. Please help! Thank you so much.
1 tsp is correct. If it’s not foaming at all, add 1 tsp sugar. This is not a super yeasty bread. Hope that helps. โกฬ