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.
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
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1
Activate the yeast with warm water.
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2
Add rest of ingredients and stir until dough is sticky.
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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.
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4
Remove risen dough and use just enough flour on your hands and on the surface to form it into a ball.
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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).
Tools You’ll Need
- Kitchen Aid electric mixer with a dough hook (optional, but recommended)
- 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.
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
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup raisins
- 2 tsp cinnamon
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.
Wow. I made this somewhat haphazardly the other day. It was SO good, but I’m bought a lodge cast iron Dutch oven and making it for breakfast Tomorrow morning. I added a cup of raisins I plumped in warm water and three tablespoons of cinnamon. I love cinnamon. Used Splenda instead of sugar and it was delicious! Thank you so much!
Thanks, Tim! I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
It worked great with regular flour, but not gluten free. Any tips?
I’ve unfortunately not made this bread with gluten free flour. :/
I have never used parchment paper when using a Dutch oven to bake bread; I regret doing it as it left indentations in my bread with weak spots.
Sorry to hear that Vanessa! With bread you have to make sure it isn’t sticky when you lay it out on parchment. The steps for forming it into a ball should help evenly dust it with flour to not stick. Otherwise parchment paper is great for baking – but it will stick to “sticky” dough.
Would it be okay to let it rest overnight? I’m thinking I’d like to bake it and serve it warm on Christmas morning. I am looking forward to trying this recipe.
I made this today. It was the BEST raisin bread I’ve ever tasted! I love making no-knead bread. This recipe was quick, easy, and the result was delicious. This is the first time I’ve felt the need to leave a comment……it was that good!! Thanks so much. You’ve gained a fan!
Thank you, Ellen! Super happy to hear it was such a success 🙂
I want to make this bread for breakfast later on this week so I was going to prepare the dough and freeze it (less work to do in the morning). Can you please suggest how to deal with the frozen dough (let it thaw? will it need to rise again? cook from frozen? temp & time? )
I’ve not frozen this dough. But it should respond similar to pizza dough which freezes well. Allow it to rise as instructed, then store in a ziplock bag and freeze. Remove and let thaw and rise 1 to 2 hours before baking. That should work!
made your cinnamon raisin bread tonight turned out great. it is a keeper recipe 😊 ❤
Simple recipe with rich flavor not found in packaged bread
Do you need to knead it?
Nope! There is a little bit more yeast in this recipe to help it rise without kneading.
Can I let the dough rise overnight and bake it in the morning m?
Hi Geri! You could let it rise overnight in the fridge. It will slow down the yeast from rising too fast. 🙂
Would love to try this bread. I have a Pampered Chef dutch oven that only goes as high as 400 degrees, will that work?
Made this bread with 1 cup whole wheat flour, the rest white. Let it rise an hour a second time. Came out addictive and amazing! Will make again and again! My kids loved it! So easy. I only have dry active yeast, so I proofed it first. Next time I’ll add a little more cinnamon and soak the raisins beforehand if I have time.
Thank you, Laura! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it so much. 🙂 Soaking the raisins is a great idea!
How long did you give for the second rise?
Came out awesome!!!
Yay! <3
Is the bread supposed to rise for 1 hour or 3+? It says both in the recipe/description.
Sorry for the confusion. That is a change I made recently! I find the bread comes out better when rested for 3+ hours!
How do you use active dry yeast instead in this recipe? It’s all I could find at the store 😔. Would I use the recommended recipe water to dissolve the yeast and add sugar? Or would I dissolve it first with part of the water in the recipe and then start the steps after that and use the remaining amount of water in the recipe?
You will need to let the yeast activate with the water. Instant yeast can always skip that step. 🙂
I was confused with this too as the recipe didn’t call for instant or rapid rise yeast.
Also, had to go digging through the content to find recipe recommendations for Dutch oven sizes and the yeast question was actually addressed there. Way too many ads and pop ups to make this info easy to find.
It tastes great! But the bottom was burnt … I wonder if I need to turn down the oven temp just a bit !?
Interesting, haven’t had anyone have the same issue. Can always cook it for less time! Loaf should be golden brown then pull it 🙂
Mine also came out very brown on the bottom, almost burnt. This is my first time making this cinnamon raisin bread
Mine was burnt on the bottom, too.
Sprinkle flour or corneal on the bottom of the pot before cooking tills stop the bottom from getting so hot it burns and from sticking.
I just made it too and the bottom was burnt but not too bad.
I’ve made several dutch oven loaves and so far this the best. I think the extra rise time really improves the texture of the bread (softer inside).
I’m so happy to hear it! Thank you, Larry 🙂
I use a silpat liner (silicone) on the bottom of my dutch oven. It is round and comes in a variety of sizes available on Amazon. This helps with keeping the bread from burning on the bottom.