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

4.88 from 75 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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249 Comments

  • Sarah says:

    5 stars
    Made this today and it’s absolutely delicious. Have only ever made no knead white loaf in the Dutch oven but this is spectacular and so delicious!

  • Linda Lamp says:

    Is it not necessary to let it rise a second time?

  • Linda Lamp says:

    Is it not necessary to let it rise a second time after you’ve put it into your baking pot?

  • Amy Thomas says:

    For the flour you say 3 cups or 375 grams. However 3 cups of AP flour is 360 grams. Am I missing something?

  • Stu says:

    I let the dough proof in a bowl on top of the cable box. It was just warm enough and came out beautiful! Plus, it didn’t use any extra electricity.

  • Jessica says:

    5 stars
    This recipe was simple, easy & didn’t take all day! The bread came out doughy, almost bagel consistency, and incredibly delicious. I’m a beginner in bread making and will be using this recipe again. Thank you!

    • Bethany says:

      Thanks so much for sharing, Jessica! So glad you found this recipe to be easy. It’s definitely a good beginner’s bread! 🙂

  • Kaps says:

    4 stars
    Thank you for a great recipe! I’ve made some changes that my family loves (new to bread making, but addicted to it). I added 4 tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup crushed walnuts, 3 tbsp brown sugar to flour mixture. This creates a slightly sweeter bread, but incredible right out of the Dutch oven!

  • Lynn says:

    Are we not kneading the dough?

  • samuel marks says:

    5 stars
    great recipe proofed in my instant pot on yogurt setting 4 hours. Then off to oven as as per directions.

  • Laura Favorule says:

    4 stars
    Loved the ease of the recipe and the taste more. Please help me the bread cooked for 30 minutes @450 and I have a burnt bottom, what can I change so it doesn’t happen again?

    • Bethany says:

      Hi Laura, I’m so sorry to hear it was slightly burnt on the bottom. It shouldn’t be! I would make sure a couple layers of parchment paper are until the bottom to keep it from burning next time!

  • Lynne says:

    5 stars
    Came out perfect. I soaked the raisins in advance. I used KitchenAid mixer and added close to 1 cup more flour than recipe called for as dough was too wet to form a ball. I let it rise 2 hours, punched down and let rise another hour. Baked 30 minutes and browned without lid for 5 minutes. Bottom of bread was crispy but not too brown. Bread is light and fluffy with nice crust.

  • Lisa says:

    5 stars
    My family loves this bread. I soak the raisins in rum for 24 hours before I bake it. Delicious!

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