Cinnamon Raisin Bread

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Learn how to make soft, perfectly swirled cinnamon raisin bread that won’t fall apart when you slice it. This reliable, beginner-friendly recipe expands on basic yeast bread techniques for consistent, bakery-worthy results. See my post about baking with yeast for answers to all of your common FAQs.

Cinnamon raisin bread is nestled right in the middle of that spectrum.

The dough itself is familiar and approachable, but the addition of raisins and a cinnamon swirl introduces a few new variables that make this bread an excellent next-level skill builder. The shaping is similar to cinnamon rolls, but instead of individual spirals, you’re creating a single, tightly rolled loaf where structure really matters.

That’s where most bakers run into trouble– and where this recipe shines.

This cinnamon raisin bread took me several rounds of testing, note-taking, and small but meaningful tweaks to both ingredient ratios and technique. My goal was simple: to give you a bread that feels like a natural progression from a basic loaf, while setting you up for success the very first time you make it.

The result is a soft, beautifully swirled loaf that slices cleanly, toasts perfectly, and holds together the way cinnamon raisin bread should.

The biggest reason? It all lies in what goes into the swirl.

Unlike cinnamon rolls, where the layers are meant to be pulled apart, a swirled loaf is sliced straight through the spiral. That means the cinnamon layers need to bond to the dough, not slide against it.

Fat in the swirl, most notably butter, would work against you here in this cinnamon raisin bread. Butter acts as a lubricant, and lubricated dough simply doesn’t stick to itself well. When the loaf expands and then gets sliced, those layers pull apart instead of staying beautifully fused.

This is why we lubricate layers in cinnamon rolls, biscuits, and pie dough. Sliding = flakes and falling apart (in a good way). Very encouraged with those bakes!

In this recipe, the swirl is designed to adhere to the dough, not fight it. That’s why the loaf stays intact even when sliced thin– no gaps, no crumbling, just clean layers all the way through.

The dough itself is intentionally lean (I talk about the difference between lean and enriched in my guide to baking with yeast). There are no eggs and just enough butter to provide tenderness and flavor without weighing things down. Whole milk does a lot of heavy lifting here: it adds subtle sweetness, encourages browning thanks to natural milk sugars, and creates a softer crumb than water alone ever could.

The raisins are treated with just as much intention– notes I took from my chewy oatmeal raisin cookies and my hot cross buns. Hydrating them before adding them to the dough keeps them plump and juicy, and, just as importantly, prevents them from pulling moisture out of the bread as it bakes and cools. That one small step makes a noticeable difference in how long the loaf stays soft.

Every choice in this recipe– from the method for the raisins to the way the swirl is built– serves a purpose. The end result is a cinnamon raisin bread that surprises people not because it’s flashy, but because it works. It slices cleanly, holds together for toast and sandwiches, and delivers consistent results without requiring advanced techniques.

RAISINS: if you don’t like them, you can omit them without changing anything else in the recipe except a slightly shorter bake time. You can also use any dried fruit you prefer like currants, cranberries, dates, or cherries– just be sure you’re still soaking them!

HOT WATER: we’re using water to hydrate the raisins as well as activate the yeast. Don’t skip soaking the raisins, even if your raisins seem to be really plump. If they’re as hydrated as possible, they won’t feel the need to steal any moisture from the dough.

DRY ACTIVE YEAST: you can make this recipe with instant yeast, just skip the activation step and add it in with the rest of the wet ingredients. You’ll get the best rise, though, with dry active.

GRANULATED SUGAR: we’ll use this to feed the yeast during activation and sweeten the dough just a touch.

MELTED BUTTER: we’ll use 4 Tablespoons in the dough and the remaining Tablespoon to brush on the outside of the loaf before baking. In cinnamon rolls, I add the butter softened and in chunks, which helps create layers. Since we want to keep this roll tight and together, it all goes in at the same time and melted to encourage a smooth and tender dough.

MILK: milk lends some natural and subtle sweetness and encourages browning during baking (brown = flavor). I prefer whole milk here.

CINNAMON: yes, cinnamon can inhibit yeast growth, but we’re using juuuuust a touch enough to add cinnamon flavor to the dough without squashing the activity of the yeast. Whenever I add cinnamon to yeast dough, I try to give it a little boost during rising. Check the notes section of the recipe card for details about that.

SALT: never leave it out of baking! Salt helps the cinnamon and raisins shine and gives the bread some balance of flavor.

ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR: all-purpose is just fine in this recipe, but if you have bread flour, you can use that for a little extra touch of tenderness.

Add the rest of the dough ingredients + blend: once the yeast is bubbly and active, add ¼ cup of the melted butter, milk, cinnamon, salt, and 2 cups of the flour (this doesn’t need to be exact, just eyeball about half of it). Start to blend everything together, then gradually add the remaining flour until you have added all of it.

Add the raisins: when you’ve added all of the flour, add the raisins and continue to blend until the dough has mostly come together. It may still be shaggy, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl fairly easily.

Knead the dough: turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes, adding flour about 1 Tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky, until it is smooth and elastic. The dough should resemble the surface texture of PlayDoh when it is done.

My favorite part of this bread is how the outside bakes up crusty and chewy while the inside stays incredibly soft. That contrast is what makes it feel like the full yeast bread experience, and one you’ll be excited to make again and again.