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Raisin cinnamon swirl bread

This raisin cinnamon swirl bread recipe will take you back to you childhood. Nostalgic sugar sweetened plump raisins in chewy bread. This recipe is not complicated. Just follow the steps and allow time to let it rise until it doubles in size 2x. This recipe is perfect for a Sunday morning when you are just hanging around the house. Don’t rush the rising process!

Recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Equipment needed:

  • oven
  • loaf pan
  • wire cooling rack (optional)
  • heavy duty mixer or food processor

 dry ingredients (step 1):

  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 -3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3 and ½ cup flour

wet ingredients (step 2-3):

  • ⅔ cup milk
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅔ cup buttermilk (⅔ cup milk + 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice-let sit for 5 minutes)

Other ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons yeast (for step 3)
  • 1 cup + raisins, for best results they should be brought to room temperature (for step 8)

Steps:

1) mix dry ingredients

2) add ⅔ cup milk regular milk (not buttermilk) into a bowl and add ½ cup of brown sugar, stir to dissolve

3) add yeast to milk and brown sugar mixture. let sit for 5 minutes. stir to dissolve (make sure you STIR and allow it to dissolve before adding anything else).

3) mix until combined and makes a soft dough

4) knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic and then place in oiled bowl covered with towel. (although metal bowls are said to conduct too much heat, and rise the dough too quickly. even though I live in the tropics, where it is always warm and humid, my place is windy. I find that my dough rises good in my kitchen aid bowl.)

5) let rise until double in size (no matter how long it takes).

6) after doubled in size, punch down and turn over onto lightly floured surface, let rest for 10 minutes

7) roll out dough into large rectangle, a good 5 inches or more long than your loaf pan

8. Add raisins and rolls into a loaf, tuck the sides in and place in the loaf pan and let rise again (until doubled in size (can be ½ hour to 2 hours).

9. bake in an oven at 425 degree F until the top starts to brown

10.  reduce to 350 degrees F for about 20 more minutes. Cool on wire rack and love it.