A lovely cinnamon raisin twist bread, with veins of cinnamon and sugar running through it and dotted with raisins. Looks pretty and it’s delicious, too. Makes great toast!

twisted cinnamon raisin bread on cooling rack

This is my favourite raisin bread recipe, that gets a swirl of cinnamon for extra goodness. If you’ve ever made a cinnamon swirl bread by just rolling it up jelly-roll style, you may have experienced the bread having gaps inside after it’s cooked. Using the simple twist technique, this bread doesn’t have any of those problems. You’ll just get veins or cinnamon throughout and a dusting on top that gives the bread great crust!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Yeast – you can use either Active Dry Yeast or Instant yeast for this bread.

Recipe Tips

  • You can halve all the ingredients if you want to make just one loaf. Just use the “1/2X” button in the Recipe Card to halve the ingredients automatically.
  • This bread makes great toast, as well as eating out of hand. I also discovered the beauty that is using toasted raisin bread for a ham, Swiss and mayo sandwich (try it! :)
  • The recipe makes two large (9×5) loaves. If you don’t have 9×5 loaf pans, you can divide the dough in 3 and bake in three 8×4 loaf pans instead.

Top Tip

If you have a bit of bread left that is starting to stale, use it for French toast or cube it up and freeze to use for bread pudding at some point.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Making ahead, storing and freezing

Store cooled bread in an airtight container or bag. It will keep well for several days. This bread freezes beautifully!

twisted cinnamon raisin bread on cooling rack

Get the Recipe: Twisted Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Raisin bread with a swirl of cinnamon. A simple twist technique makes for a pretty loaf with non of the gaps that often plague cinnamon raisin bread!
5 stars from 2 ratings
Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup milk, warmed to lukewarm
  • 1/4 cup water, warmed to lukewarm
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry or Instant yeast
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, reduce to 1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup raisins, plumped (*see instructions)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, approximately

Filling:

  • 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1 Tablespoons cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • Warm the milk in a small sauce pan on the stove until it just starts to bubble, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool until lukewarm, about 105F. Add raisins to a small bowl and cover with hot water. Let stand 10-15 minutes, then drain well. Set aside.
  • Dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk and set aside until yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a kneading hook, add proofed yeast mixture, then mix in the lukewarm water, eggs, sugar, butter and salt. Add about 2 1/2 cups of the flour and mix in well. Continue to add flour gradually to make a smooth dough. As you near the point the dough is coming together, add raisins gradually, alternating with a bit of flour.
  • Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth, then place in a large, greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled, about 90 minutes.
  • Grease a 9x5 loaf pans and set aside. Mix together the white sugar and cinnamon for the filling and set aside.
  • Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle about 10 inches wide and 16 inches long.
  • Sprinkle a generous, even layer of the cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly on top of the dough and press down with the palm of your hand.
  • Roll up jelly-roll style, starting to roll from the longer side. The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll in half length-wise and set the two pieces side-by-side, perpendicular to you, with the cut side facing up. Pinch the two pieces together on the far end. Take the piece on the right side and lift it up and over the left side piece. Straighten up the two pieces and repeat, again taking the right side piece and placing it over the left side. Pinch together the ends closest to yourself. Push the ends toward the centre to shorten the loaf to the approximate length of your loaf pans (9-inches or so). Using a spatula or bench scraper, carefully lift the loaf into the prepared pan. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon sugar in to the cuts if you like. Repeat with other piece of dough, for two loaves.
  • Cover loaves with greased plastic wrap and let rise in warm place, until loaves double and rise above the edge of the pan.
  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Remove plastic wrap and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rotate pans front to back and covr loosely with aluminum foil if necessary, to avoid over-browning. Continue to bake for an additional 15-20 minutes (45-50 minutes total) or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped.
  • Remove from oven and let cool on rack in pan for 5 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the sides of the loaves and then remove from pan to cool completely on a cooling rack.
  • This bread freezes well.
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 216kcal, Carbohydrates: 38g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 34mg, Sodium: 98mg, Potassium: 122mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 185IU, Vitamin C: 0.3mg, Calcium: 39mg, Iron: 1.8mg
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