Easy Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe

After you try a slice of this cinnamon raisin bread , you’ll never want to buy store bought again! What about the fact that you bake once and get 3 loaves? This recipe is easy, convenient and a money saver!

 My family loves cinnamon everything. From cinnamon fruit roll-ups to Cinnabon pancakes and everything else in between.

When I met my husband, back in 2000, he would make cinnamon raisin toast for himself upon returning home from our night class in graduate school. Crispy, cinnamon-y and buttery bread dipped in cold white milk is still one of his favorite things to eat late at night.

Naturally, our kids love cinnamon raisin bread. Our favorite store bought brand is $4.30 and the loaf at a local bread store (Harvest Bread Company) is $6.50! Yikes! Luckily, I figured out a simple recipe that could handle whole wheat flour and make my own much much cheaper.

Of course, when so many of us love cinnamon raisin bread a single loaf can be eaten in a day! Especially, when it’s fresh out the oven and the whole house smells like a bakery! Yummmmm!

Did I mention this bread also makes the best French toast ever? Well, I’m telling you now. You will have out-of-this-world French toast with this bread. Just make sure you cut the slices a little thicker so the egg absorbs well and they don’t come out soggy.

Oh, and let’s not forget that this bread also makes my favorite lunch ever: a grilled almond butter and banana sandwich! So yes, a single loaf can be eaten rather quickly.

Let’s be honest, I don’t have time to make a fresh loaf every other day, and neither do you! But, what I can do is bake three loaves, keep one out to eat, and freeze the other two! Same amount of work triple the rewards. I love this deal. Don’t you?

You can omit the raisins in this bread recipe or keep them. Trust me, after baking this recipe, you’ll never want to buy a loaf again.

Of course, should you decide to make these loaves after dinner… give yourself permission to have a hot slice out of the oven right before bed. With butter. Yes. Butter makes it better. That is what maw maw Schneller would say. I’m sure she’d love this recipe too. 

Oh, and if you make this recipe and loved it, make sure to come back and let others know by leaving a comment below. Enjoy!

Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe – Easy!

★★★★★

4.4 from 14 reviews

• Author: Laura Fuentes - SuperGlueMom
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hours 40 mins
• Total Time: 4 hours
• Yield: 3 loaves
• Category: Breads

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup warm water (between 110-115 degrees)
• 5 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup raisins
• 9 cups all-purpose flour + more for kneading
• 2 tablespoons milk

Filling:

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (approx.)
• 3 9×5 inch loaf pans

Instructions

1. Warm milk (in the microwave or stovetop) to a luke-warm temperature (120-125 degrees F).
2. Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside until yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes or so.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl) add in eggs, sugar, butter salt and raisins. Next, add room temperature/warm milk. Mix slowly to combine. Add water/yeast mixture. Mix slowly to combine.
4. Add the flour gradually to make a dough.
5. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth. I usually finish my dough on the counter since my stand mixer is not a huge one and it tends to overfill. Depending on the time of the year, my dough might need closer to 9 cups. For this reason, I add 8 cups to the bowl and slowly add as I need it while kneading the dough.
6. Place dough in a large, buttered, mixing bowl and turn to grease the surface of the dough.
7. Cover with a warm, damp cloth and let rise. I usually turn my oven on for a couple of minutes while I am mixing the ingredients, turn oven off and let my dough rise in there. It’s warm enough but not hot that it will cook it.
8. Allow to rise until doubled, usually about 1 1/2 hours.
9. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick.
10. Moisten the dough with 2 tablespoons milk and rub all over the dough with your hands.
11. Mix together 1 cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the moistened dough.
12. Roll up tightly (the long way). The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter.
13. Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends and pinch bottom together.
14. Place loaves into 3 well greased 9 x 5 inch pans and lightly grease tops of loaves with the melted butter.
15. Let rise in warm place, uncovered, again for about an hour.
16. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped.
17. Remove from oven and let cool on rack. Take melted butter and spread over tops of loaves (totally optional).
18. After about 20 minutes, lay loaves on their sides and remove from pans. Allow loaves to cool before slicing.
19. I bake all 3 loaves at once, cool and slice. I freeze 2 of them for later use.

Notes

Whole wheat option: no more than 3 cups of all purpose flour can be swapped for whole wheat without getting a more dense loaf.

Don’t have 3 9×5 pans? you can use a 9-inch round pan and make a rounded bread too. Make sure it rises in that pan.
Both active dry yeast and rapid rise yeast will work for this recipe.
Like with any bread loaf, they should not be sliced until you are ready to eat them. UNLESS, you are slicing to freeze. They should be stored whole in an airtight bag.