Inspired by my love of Hot Cross Buns, this easy cinnamon raisin bread is the perfect recipe for Easter. Soft, fluffy and perfectly spiced.
I absolutely love Hot Cross Buns and it’s simply not Easter without them. However, I love toasting hot cross buns so this raisin bread gives me all the joy of my beloved Easter treat with the added benefit that slices can easily be toasted. However, this bread is so soft and fluffy, you’d be forgiven for eaten slice after slice as is. No toasting necessary. To make this as easy as possible, I adapted my Easy White Bread recipe and just added the flavors of hot cross buns. No egg necessary and if you don’t have butter, you can use oil!
If you are not a fan of raisins or dried fruit (cranberries, chopped apricots, etc. can be used instead of raisins), use chocolate chunks or leave them out entirely. This bread recipe will be delicious regardless.
Ingredients needed
Full recipe + amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Flour: I used cake (wheat) flour but you can use all purpose or bread flour too. Stoneground flour will need a little extra rising time but most commercial bread flours will react the same as all purpose or cake flour.
- Yeast.
- Milk / Water: I used half milk and half water but you can use only milk or only water if you prefer.
- Sugar.
- Spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger.
- Butter. You can use vegetable/canola oil too if you prefer.
- Raisins. Use any dried fruit you like or substitute with chocolate chunks/chips.
- Salt.
How to make raisin bread
- Make the dough: Combine warm water and milk with yeast and sugar in a mixing jug. Whisk together and then allow to stand for 5-10 minutes until foamy. Take care not to heat the water and milk too much, you want the liquid to be just warm enough so that when you stick your finger in, it feels pleasantly warm, not hot. If the liquid is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Combine the dry ingredients (start with only 3 cups of flour) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. With the mixer running, pour in the yeast mixture. Allow to combine then add the butter/oil. Add the raisins and knead for a minute. If needed, add the remaining flour a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is smooth and soft and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise for an hour until doubled in size.
- To make by hand: Follow the ingredients as above, just mix with your hand in a large bowl until a shaggy dough forms then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until soft and smooth. Place back into the bowl, cover and allow to rise for an hour.
- Roll the dough:Transfer the proofed dough to a lightly floured surface then press into a rectangle as wide as your loaf pan. Press any loose raisins into the center then roll the dough onto itself into a log. Pinch the seam together. Line a loaf pan with baking/parchment paper then transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Cover again then allow to rise for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Bake the raisin bread: Brush the bread with beaten egg and bake for 30-45 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. If the top of the bread browns too quickly, loosely cover with foil. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Can you freeze raisin bread?
Yes absolutely! Freeze slices of raisin bread and toast from frozen. Alternatively, the dough can be frozen in a loaf pan and baked from frozen. Baked raisin bread will last for up to 3 days wrapped in foil on the kitchen counter.
Easy bread recipes
Easy Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 10 g (2tsp) instant yeast
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3-4 cups flour (any white flour can be used: Cake, all purpose or bread)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1/3 cup butter / oil (room temperature butter)
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 egg beaten (for egg wash) (optional)
Instructions
- Whisk water, milk, sugar and yeast together. Allow to stand for 10 minutes until foamy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour, spiced and salt.
- With the mixer running, add the yeast mixture and allow to knead in.
- Add the butter or oil, allow to knead in then add more flour, one third cup at a time until the dough is smooth. Add the raisins.
- Knead for another minuted until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.
- If the dough is still very sticky, add more flour and knead in.
- The dough should be smooth and soft and only a slight bit sticky.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and allow to rise for 1 hour.
- Once the dough has proofed, press it into rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Press any raisins that have fallen out of the dough into the center. Roll onto its self into a log, pinch the seam then transfer to a loaf pan that has been lightly greased.
- Cover again and allow to rise for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Brush with beaten egg and place in the oven and allow to bake for 30-45 minutes until golden brown and risen. If the bread browns too quickly, loosely cover with a piece of foil and continue baking. Once baked the bread will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.
Hi,
Could this recipe be made in a bread maker? Or even just mixed in the bread maker and shapes/ baked in a loaf pan. I don’t have a mixer with a dough attachment.
Also, would it need more yeast or anything tweaked?
I’m sure you could, I haven’t ever used a bread maker so can’t say with certainty if anything would need to be tweaked I’m afraid.
This recipe looks amazing! I’m just wondering, what size loaf pan did you use?
I used a 9x5inch (23x13cm) loaf pan.
This is the cinnamon raisin bread that I’ve been looking for! One that didn’t have the cinnamon swirl but included cinnamon and raisins. I used all purpose flour and it turned out great! I find it more dense then traditional white bread but that may have been the AP flour (I’ll try cake or bread flour next time). I cooked it 35 minutes, so it may have needed more time in the oven as well to lighten it up. My partner has been looking for a cinnamon raisin bread like his mom used to make every Christmas and this is as close as I’ve come so far, he loved it. I’ve found the cinnamon raisin bread recipes I’ve used in the past took forever to rise and never quite got the height of a traditional bread but this rose nicely. I proofed my yeast in a small amount of warm water (it’s hard to break the traditional bread habit!) then continued with the rest of the recipe / ingredients. I didn’t use the egg wash but rubbed some butter on it afterwards and it created a soft crust. This has been pinned and will be my go-to cinnamon raisin bread recipe!
So happy to hear that you and your partner loved this Cindy!
Alida I’m planning on making this loaf very soon as it looks incredible. I was just wondering about the 3-4 cups of flour? Should I use 3 cups at the beginning (i.e. step 2) and then the rest (or however much is necessary (i.e. step 4)? Many thanks in advance!
I always start with 3 cups, since flour can have different levels of absorbency and you might not need the full 4th cup. If the dough looks too sticky, I add the rest of the flour until the dough comes together.
Your recipe casts to use a mixer. Can this be done by hand?
Of course, I would just start the dough in a bowl and then turn out onto a counter to knead.
why wwarm water or warm milk. bit confused
If you’d prefer to keep it lactose free, use warm water instead of warm milk.
Hi. Using warm milk or water helps the yeast to start working. The sugar feeds the yeast and the bubbles are what the yeast produces as it grows. Milk or water should be just warm on the inside of your wrist. Too hot your yeast will die. Cold and it will take a long time to activate your yeast.
is it 389cal for the whole loaf or just one slice?
The recipe makes 8 so it’s 8 thick-ish slices or 16 thin slices. The calorie count is per serving.
Thanks so much for the recipe!!! It came out beautifully!! I used all purpose flour, and it was super moist, light and fluffy. I will definitely making this again very soon.
So happy to hear that, Flora!
I’ve made it 3 times in the past few days and it’s incredible! The crumb is so soft and delicious, but my crust always turns out really “crusty”. Yours however looks amazingly soft, like store bought! What am I doing wrong? I eggwash towards the end of baking, is that the problem?
Thanks for this magical bread recipe ?
If you want it to be nice and soft, brush it with melted butter as it comes out of the oven. It will be perfectly soft. 🙂
I’ve made it a couple times now and it’s wonderful!
So happy to hear that Kelly. 🙂
I made this recipe and it tastes lovely. However, it is very heavy and dense? Why do you think this is?
That’s very strange. It shouldn’t be dense at all. Was it fully baked and cooled before you sliced into it?