Golden Cinnamon Raisin Bread

This recipe for Golden Cinnamon Raisin Bread is perfect for a sweet breakfast and makes delicious toast. Add frosting for the best breakfast dessert that tastes like a cinnamon roll.

My mom is an expert at baking bread. I have a very large extended family and the request for holiday potluck meals is often “please bring your dinner rolls!” Baby C and I were in Iowa recently for a visit and I asked her to teach me how to make raisin bread from scratch.

Who doesn’t love raisin bread? Especially when it includes a heavy cinnamon swirl. In college, back when my meals were super simple and often included a Lean Cuisine, I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on store-bought raisin bread to take to class with me. I think this homemade version of raisin bread is so much better!

We modified the original recipe by substituting white whole wheat flour, using golden raisins, and adding chopped walnuts. After the dough rises, split it in half and flatten the dough into two rectangular shapes. This step is similar to making a huge cinnamon roll loaf. We added melted butter, ground cinnamon, chopped walnuts, and brown sugar.

Each loaf is rolled up and baked in a generously oiled bread pan. Before baking, make sure to tuck in the end of each loaf so there is no cinnamon sugar mixture exposed to the bread pan.

My Golden Cinnamon Raisin Bread could easily become dessert with a drizzle {or pour} of frosting. This recipe makes plenty of bread for leftovers – we sliced the extra loaf and froze it for future breakfast meals.

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Golden Cinnamon Raisin Bread

A delicious breakfast bread recipe that tastes like a cinnamon roll.

Servings 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tbsp soy flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp canola oil
• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 cup golden raisins

Cinnamon Swirl

• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup raw chopped walnuts
• 2/3 cup brown sugar

Instructions

1. Add 2 cups of bread flour, 2 cups of white whole wheat flour, yeast, soy flour, wheat bran and salt to a stand mixer with the bread hook attachment. Mix until combined.

2. Add canola oil and warm water to the flour mixture. Add golden raisins. Mix until combined.

3. Slowly add one additional cup of bread flour, as the dough is mixing. If the dough feels stiff, add more water a Tablespoon at a time. If the dough is too soft, add additional flour.

4. Mix the dough for approximately 10 minutes. The dough is ready to rise when it feels spongy to the touch.

5. Let the bread rise for 2-3 hours, in a covered bowl. If you don't have a slightly warm place for the dough to rise, fill a container with lukewarm water and place your covered mixing bowl inside. I let my dough rise for 2 1/2 hours, until the dough reached the top of the bowl.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

7. Remove the dough from the bowl and cut it in half. Roll out each half on a floured surface until the dough is an inch thick and in a rectangular shape.

8. Spread melted butter, cinnamon, chopped walnuts, and brown sugar to each rectangular piece of dough. If you want a sweeter bread, add extra sugar.

9. Roll up each loaf and bake in a heavily buttered or oiled bread pan. Make sure to tuck the ends of each loaf under so that there is no cinnamon-sugar exposed to the pan.

10. Bake for 30 minutes.

{Adapted from the Raisin Bread recipe in the Baba a Louis Bakery Bread Book: The Secret Book of the Bread by John McClure}