Dutch Oven Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Updated: Dec 4th, 2023 · By Bethany Kramer
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The most delicious homemade cinnamon raisin bread baked to perfection in a hot dutch oven! It has a doughy inside with sweet raisins and cinnamon, and a crunchy outer crust.

Cinnamon raisin artisan bread in a pot with brown parchment paper.

There is nothing quite like homemade bread. Especially this perfectly sweet cinnamon raisin bread. It has a light and crunchy crust, with a doughy inside, and it’s of course studded with perfectly sweet raisins. We love toasting this bread with butter or our recommended cinnamon honey butter for complete perfection!

For this recipe, all you’ll need is 1-bowl for mixing, a dutch oven pot, and a little over 30 minutes for the bread to bake. It’s EASY, so so tasty, and freezer-friendly.

Let’s get baking!

How to Make Cinnamon Raisin Bread

  1. 1

    Activate the yeast with warm water.

  2. 2

    Add rest of ingredients and stir until dough is sticky.

  3. 3

    Place the dough on a floured surface then shape with hands into a ball. Place in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel in a warm place and let rise for 3+ hours or until doubled in size.

  1. 4

    Remove risen dough and use just enough flour on your hands and on the surface to form it into a ball.

  2. 5

    Place on parchment paper then use edges of the paper to lift into the dutch oven. Cover and bake at 450F for 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake until golden brown on top (another 5-10 minutes).

Hands holding a grey napkin with cinnamon raisin bread in it.

Tools You’ll Need

  • Kitchen Aid electric mixer with a dough hook (optional, but recommended)
  • Cast iron pot
Lodge Cast Iron Pot

Our favorite dutch oven pot

We recommend a 6 Qt dutch oven pot for this recipe because it creates high & stable temperatures that are ideal for bread making. We love Lodge cast iron because they are quality cast iron and affordable! We use it with bread making, soups, popcorn, and so much more.

If you click this link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Tips for Success

  • Use your oven to proof the dough: whenever dough needs to rise, it’s best to let it sit in a consistent and controlled climate. I prefer using my oven with the light on (oven settings are off). This creates a consistent temperature while the oven light develops a small amount of warmth to encourage the dough to rise.
  • Freeze it: Let the bread cool and store in a freezer-friendly bag (press all the air out) and freeze for 1-2 months. Let thaw at room temperature and reheat in the oven at 350F until warm.
  • Tips if preheating dutch oven: this recipe doesn’t call for preheating your dutch oven, but if choose to do this I recommend doing a double layer of parchment paper to ensure the bottom of the bread doesn’t get too brown.
  • Easy cinnamon honey butter recipe: Make delicious and slightly sweet honey butter to spread on your homemade bread. You’ll need 1 tsp honey, a pinch of cinnamon, 3 tbsp room temperature butter – mix together in a small bowl and spread on your bread when done. SO good. 

Baking with Yeast

Active dry yeast: You’ll need to take different steps when baking bread with different yeasts. If you have active dry yeast on hand, you will need to activate it in water before adding flour (this step is included in the instructions).

Instant yeast: If you have instant yeast, you can skip dissolving it in water and stir it into your dry ingredients before adding water. Instant yeast has super small granules compared to active dry yeast so it does not need to be activated in water first.

A cinnamon raisin bread cut into two halves.

If you love this cinnamon bread, you might also be a fan of our cranberry walnut bread! Equally as delicious and just as easy to make.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe

4.87 from 89 votes
The most delicious homemade cinnamon raisin bread! It has a doughy inside with sweet raisins and cinnamon, and a crunchy outer crust. Serve toasted with butter for absolute perfection!
Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 40 minutes
Serves 10

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Make the dough: In an electric mixer add warm water, sugar, and yeast. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes for yeast to activate tip: sugar feeds yeast so I include it in this process. Add raisins, cinnamon, flour, and salt. Use bread mixing attachment and mix together until dough forms. If dough is too wet or dry, add water/flour 1 Tbsp at a time until right consistency.  
  • Let it rise: Toss dough on lightly floured surface, place in lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit in a warm area for 3+ hours. Dough should be doubled in size. Tip: I like placing my dough in the oven with the light on (oven is off). This helps create a consistent climate for the dough while the light creates a small amount of warmth to help it rise.
  • Preheat oven to 450F.
  • Transfer dough: Place dough on lightly floured surface and form into ball again (keep lightly flouring your hands to prevent sticking). Lay dough on parchment paper, lightly dust paper to prevent sticking, and lift edges of paper to transfer dough into dutch oven.
  • Bake: Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for 5-10 more minutes until golden brown.
  • Let it cool: Remove and let bread cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

Notes

Freeze it: Let the bread cool and store in a freezer-friendly bag (press all the air out) and freeze for 1-2 months. Let thaw at room temperature and reheat in the oven at 350F until warm.
Tips if preheating dutch oven: this recipe doesn’t call for preheating your dutch oven, but if choose to do this I recommend doing a double layer of parchment paper to ensure the bottom of the bread doesn’t get too brown.
Easy cinnamon honey butter recipe: Make a delicious and slightly sweet honey butter to spread on your homemade bread. You’ll need 1 tsp honey, pinch of cinnamon, 3 tbsp room temperature butter – mix together in a small bowl and spread on your bread when done. SO good. 
 
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword cinnamon raisin bread, dutch oven recipe, homemade bread, raisin bread recipe
Freezer Friendly Yes
Author A Simple Palate

Nutrition

Serving: 0g | Calories: 149kcal | Carbohydrates: 31.5g | Protein: 4.1g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 3.2mg | Potassium: 0mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 2.7g | Vitamin A: 0IU | Vitamin C: 0mg | Calcium: 0mg | Iron: 0mg

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283 Comments

  • Anita says:

    I have tried numerous cinnamon raisin no knead recipes and this one beats them hands down! It is also the one with the least proofing time, yet comes out divine. I added extra raisins and cinnamon and omg. ;0 thanks very much for this go to.

  • Elisa says:

    whoopsie i meant how long.would the rise time be for instant yeast?

    • Bethany Kramer says:

      instant yeast would be the same! You just don’t need to activate it like active yeast. If you see it’s double in size earlier than the rise time, you can of course move on to the next step 🙂

  • Elisa says:

    Can i use rapid rise yeast?

  • Dianne says:

    5 stars
    Hubby loved this, I did adjust a little, I left it to rise again for 30mins before putting it in my hot Dutch oven. It smelled like Christmas during baking today. Will be making this all the time

  • Lucia says:

    OMG ….yum !!!! I’m so sick of buying Raisen bread that’s full of rubbish , this is amazing so easy to make , I added a combination of sultanas , dates and figs , and extra cinnamon. Next time I will add walnuts and apricots .

  • Joann6 says:

    4 stars
    Very good. Next time I will add more raisins. Thanks for the recipe.

  • sue says:

    4 stars
    Please….what size Dutch Oven? thank you

  • Lucie says:

    5 stars
    Just made this bread and it came out perfect and very delicious!

  • Kelly says:

    5 stars
    This is the first recipe I made in my new cast iron Dutch oven. It is so delicious! I followed your recipe exactly (well, except for extra cinnamon). It is so moist inside, and I like the denseness.

    • Bethany Kramer says:

      So happy to hear it, Kelly!! Dutch ovens are amazing tools for making good bread, so enjoy using it in baking 🙂

  • Melissa says:

    First time making it. My dough has doubled in 2 hrs so I have to wait the extra hr or once it doubles it’s good to go? I’m new to bread making this is the first time using this recipe but only my 3rd time making bread ever.

    • Bethany Kramer says:

      Hi Melissa, you could wait another half hour, then maybe bake it if it looks well risen 🙂 Glad to hear you just started baking!

  • Karen says:

    4 stars
    I followed the recipe exactly and added more flour before rising but when I turned it out onto parchment it was so wet and sticky. No way I could form the bread, it just went flat. I am baking it now so we’ll see how it comes out. I’m sure it’ll taste great.

    • Bethany Kramer says:

      Hi Karen, this recipe calls to first turn the dough out on a floured surface to shape it, then the parchment otherwise it’ll be pretty sticky! I hope you enjoy the bread!

  • Heather says:

    5 stars
    I have made this recipe at least a dozen times and always double it because it’s so good. Definitely my go to recipe, I don’t even bother looking for anything else

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