My daughters favorite things of the moment seem to be raisins and cinnamon, so the road to cinnamon-raisin bread wasn’t much of a stretch. On the other hand, breaking back into bread baking was more of a stretch! It has been a while. However there is nothing like looking outside and seeing snow in the middle of March to make you crave a little comfort for your family. Homemade bread is a nice solution.
This recipe is actually really easy as far as bread baking goes, and it is lightly sweet and packed with cinnamon-raisin flavor. Lightly toasted and spread with butter or peanut butter it is incredible!

This recipe makes three loaves. I like to bake one loaf at a time on a regular morning, and freeze the other two for later, but it is really up to you and how much bread you need! I will say that this is best fresh, and good for toasting a few days after that.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

1 ½ cups whole milk
1 cup water (100-110 degrees)
½ oz. of dry yeast (2 packages)
1tsp white sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
½ cup white sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon
1 ½ tsp salt
½ cup soft unsalted butter
2 cups raisins
8 cups AP flour

Filling
1 ½ cups white sugar
3 Tbs cinnamon

2 Tbs Whole Milk
Soft Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Warm the milk in a small sauce pan until the milk begins to bubble. Immediatley remove the milk from the heat and allow to cool to warm.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, pour the yeast in. Gently add the tsp of sugar and then pour the water, (temperature taken with a thermometer) over the yeast. Let the yeast rise without touching it for about 10 minutes.

Fit the mixer with a paddle attachment and add the sugar, eggs, cinnamon, salt, butter and raisins. When things are nicely combined, remove the paddle attachment and add the dough hook to your mixer.

Slowly, about 1-2 cups at a time, add the flour to the mixer (turned to low). When all of the flour has been added, turn the mixer to medium and leave it to mix for about 5-6 minutes. The dough should be smooth and come away from the sides of the bowl on its own.

Using a bit of flour, gently scrape the dough from the mixer, smooth it into a ball, and add it to a greased bowl. Cover the top of the bowl and set the dough somewhere warm. It should take about 1-2 hours for it to double in size. Make sure that you adjust the saran wrap to accommodate the growth of the dough.

When the dough is ready, put it on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out into a rectangle about 12”x24”, and about a ½” thick. Brush 2Tbs of milk over the dough, or enough to make sure that the dough is completely covered in a thin layer. Then evenly sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar combination over the dough. Roll it up the long way, (like you are making a giant cinnamon roll). When you have rolled the whole log up, slice it into thirds, about 8” each.

Add each 8” log to a greased loaf pan, and lest rest for a few minutes. Put the bread in the oven, and bake about 30 minutes or until the crust looks golden brown and is hard when you thump it.

Slice and eat immediately, or store in an airtight Ziploc or Tupperware.