Surprisingly Easy Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
This sourdough cinnamon raisin swirl bread perfectly balances tanginess and sweetness. It’s jampacked with swirls so that you taste the delicious cinnamon in every bite. It makes the perfect breakfast, snack, and dessert.
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If you don’t have a sourdough starter, stop right there! I have the perfect fool-proof sourdough start recipe. You will need it in order to make this cinnamon raisin bread loaf recipe.
Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread Is:
- Packed with plump raisins in every bite
- Perfect amount of Sourdough Flavor
- Most time spent is hands-off.
- Easy to find ingredients.
- Delicious!
- TONS of cinnamon swirls!
How To Make Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
Today, I am teaching you how to make cinnamon raisin sourdough swirl bread! Grab that jar of discard sitting in your fridge and get ready to bake. This discard recipe is just as easy as my sourdough sandwich bread recipe but has more flavor due to the cinnamon raisin swirl.
Steps to make this cinnamon raisin swirl bread:
- Knead the Bread Dough: Combine the ingredients and knead the dough. It’s best to do this in a stand mixer. You can do it by hand but it will be quite the workout.
- Let The Dough Rise: This takes roughly 1 to 1 ½ hours to double.
- Shape: Use the jelly roll technique shown in the video!
- Second Rise: Cover the bread pan and let rise for one hour.
- Bake: for roughly 45 minutes in a 350°F (177°C) oven.
- Eat: My favorite step!
Can I Omit The Yeast?
Yes, you can omit the yeast and rely solely on your sourdough starter. HOWEVER, I don’t recommend it for this recipe. During recipe testing, I’ve made various versions of this recipe (some with yeast and some without yeast).
The no-yeast version took a very long time to finish its second rise. My kitchen was a whopping 80°F and it still took 12 hours for the second rise to complete.
I guess that the majority of kitchens are much colder than mine. So, if my loaf took 12 hours to rise, imagine how long it would take in a kitchen that is colder.
Therefore, I do NOT recommend omitting the yeast. Keep this recipe strictly a sourdough discard recipe and all will be well.
If you’re looking for a no-yeast sourdough recipe, try my sourdough sandwich bread, sourdough fry bread, or sourdough dinner roll.
Master Sourdough Bread At Home With My Tested Recipes:
Perfectly Soft Sourdough Bread (No Yeast!)
Homemade NYC-Style Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bagels with Discard
Most Epic Sourdough French Toast (Cracker Barrel Copycat)
Quick Sourdough Flatbread with Discard
Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
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Ingredients
- ¾ Cup (110 g) Raisins
- ½ Cup (123 g) Milk Warmed to 110°F
- 1/3 Cup (78 ml) Warm Water
- 2 ¼ Teaspoon (2.25 Teaspoon) Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast
- 2 ½ Tablespoons (2.5 Tablespoons) Granulated White Sugar
- 2 ¼ Cups (281 g) All-Purpose Flour or Bread Flour
- ¼ Teaspoon (0.25 Teaspoon) Salt
- 1/3 Cup (100 g) Sourdough Starter Discard
- 2 ¼ Tablespoons (2.25 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 1 (1) Large Egg room temperature
Cinnamon Swirl
- 1/4 Cup (50 g) White Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons (2 Teaspoons) Ground Cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons (2 Tablespoons) Melted Butter
Instructions
- Soak Raisins: Place the raisins in a bowl of warm water. Let them sit for 15-20 minutes.
- Warm the milk in the microwave to roughly 110°F. It should be warm to the touch but not hot enough to burn your finger. This should take about 15 seconds.
- Yeast Mixture: In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the warm milk, warm water, yeast, and white sugar. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
- Knead: Add the flour, salt, sourdough starter discard, softened butter, and egg. With the dough hook attachment, knead on medium-low speed for five to ten minutes.
- Raisins: Drain the raisins. Add the raisins to the stand mixer bowl and knead until they are evenly distributed into the bread dough.
- First Rise: Place the dough in a large, greased mixing bowl and cover. Let it rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until doubled in size.
- Cinnamon Swirl Mixture: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
- Shape: On a floured work surface, roll the dough with a rolling pin into a 7×20-inch rectangle. Moisten the dough with melted butter by brushing it on with a pastry brush. You can also use your hands. Then, sprinkle the cinnamon swirl mixture evenly on top of the dough. Starting from the short side, roll up tightly into a log (this is called the "Jelly Roll".
- Second Rise: Place the rolled dough into a greased bread pan and cover. Let it rise for about 1 to 1 ½ hours till the bread dough is over the rim of the pan. (See Notes)
- Oven: Adjust the rack to the lower ⅔ portion of the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake: Uncover the loaf. Bake for 45 minutes or until it is lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped. The internal temperature should be 195°F (91°C).
- Cool: Let the bread sit in the pan for 20 minutes. Then, take it out and let it cool on a wire rack. Let it cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
- Special Equipment (Affiliate Links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Wire Cooling Rack | Instant Read Thermometer | Pastry Brush | Rolling Pin
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare the dough through step five. Then, place it in a container and allow it to rise in the fridge overnight instead of a warm environment. The next day, take the dough out and let it sit on the counter until it comes to room temperature. Then, continue with step 7.
- Do I Need To Add Raisins: No, you don’t have to add the raisins. If you wish not to use raisins, simply leave them out.
- Yeast: I highly recommend using yeast and discard for this recipe instead of omitting yeast and relying on an active sourdough starter. I’ve made this recipe with yeast and without. Since this is an enriched dough, it takes longer to rise. The no-yeast version is delicious. However, it took over 12 hours to finish the rise.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour or bread flour. I have not found a difference in either. I have yet to try this recipe with whole wheat flour.
- White Sugar: You can substitute this with brown sugar.
- Second Rise: The second rise is done once the bread is roughly 1/4th inch above the rim of the pan. Unlike my sourdough sandwich bread, this loaf does not rise as high.
I haven’t baked mine yet but the dough was very moist and sticky. I add to add about 1/4 cup or more of flour while I was shaping it. We will see how the second rise and bake goes. Fingers crossed!
Hi, let us know how it turned out!
Just put mine in the oven. It has risen beautifully! Can’t wait for it to be done and cooled. Yummy.
Hi, let me know how it turned out!
I love raisin cinnamon swirl bread and always wanted to make it myself. I am also just not quite a year into my everything sourdough making journey and have been slowly trying new recipes. The dough was a little too sticky, but I kind of eyeballed it when adding extra flour. It turned out great and the flavor fantastic! Thank you!
Hi, Sofia! I am glad that you love my sourdough cinnamon raisin swirl bread recipe. Thank you for letting me know about your dough consistency. If you notice the dough is sticky, try adding a bit more flour.
Cheers!
-XENA
I am new to sourdough baking or baking in general but I retired and love to eat so made some starter 4 months ago and am having fun baking. My bread came out great thanks for using us measurements it is a pain to convert measurements.
Hi, Trent! I am glad you liked my sourdough cinnamon raisin bread recipe. Yes, it is a PAIN to convert measurements. It’s one of my pet peeves in recipes!
Excellent . Will make again.
Hi Tara, I am glad you enjoyed my sourdough cinnamon raisin bread recipe!
Absolutely great recipe. This. right here, is the cinnamon raisin bread of my dreams!! Soft, fluffy, delicious. Exactly perfectly met my brains expectation of the perfect flavor and texture. The recipe is easy. My only caution is that you need to use a much bigger bread pan. I have a large and didn’t use it. I should have. Nonetheless. It will be made often. Thank you!!!
Hi, Shelley! I am glad you love my sourdough cinnamon raisin swirl bread recipe! let me know what bread pan size you use so that I can update the post for my readers.
Best, Xena
I will use a 10”X5” USA pan. Im making another loaf today in that pan! This recipe is so good I’ve sent it to everyone and posted on the sourdough pages.
I bake in grams with a scale…
I went to double recipe (clicked on the 2x) and you didn’t update any of ingredients in grams- just a FYI.
Hello Katrina,
Thank you for notifying me about that! It seemed to be an error in the website. I have fixed it. Please check again 🙂
Pretty new to sourdough. I made this tonight with my discard. It was so so good. My husband & I almost ate 1/2 the loaf already. Thank you for the
recipe.
Hi Susan, I am glad that you and your husband enjoyed my sourdough cinnamon raisin swirl bread recipe. It is SO delicious! Just like you and your husband, I also have to stop myself from eating the entire loaf.
Have an amazing day!
Best,
Xena
I love cinnamon raisin bread. It is a comfort food for me. Just the smell makes me think of my mom. This recipe is awesome. I too had to add a little more flour but it turned out great. It made a huge loaf. My only issue is it’ll that the rolls seem to have separated while baking. I tried to roll as tightly as I could. It is a learning process for me. Thank you for the recipe. Can’t wait for my mom to try it
Hi Tammy,
I am glad that you enjoyed my sourdough cinnamon raisin bread recipe! I am unsure why the rolls separate during baking. It happens to some, while others don’t have that problem. I am trying my hardest to figure it out!!! Cinnamon raisin bread is also a comfort food for me as well. Let me know how your mom likes it!
Best, Xena
I made the bread yesterday and it’s very very good. I soaked the raisins in warm water that I added vanilla extract to. The only issue I had, I missed that the water was in ML instead of grams like the test of the recipe. It ended up quite sticky so I had to add a little more flour while shaping. This is definitely a keeper! Thank you!!!
Hello, Ann. Thank you for pointing that out! I’m glad that it still turned out well for you.
Looking forward to making this! Do you know if you can omit the egg or replace it? Normally when making, I use club soda instead of an egg, do you think that would work in this recipe?
Hi Ashley,
I am not sure how the bread would turn out if you omit the egg as I have not tried that yet. If you do, please let me know how it turns out! It will help out other readers.
Best,
Xena
I just made two loaves from my sourdough discard (I am still developing my starter) and they turned out excellent! I did refrigerate overnight as given that option, and baked the next morning. I gave one loaf to a friend (untried by me first) and when I tasted my loaf I was so thankful it was delicious and worthy of giving to someone.
I cannot wait to try more of your recipes as I have lots of discard making 2 starters with different flours . Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Hi Debra,
I am glad that you and your friend enjoyed my easy sourdough cinnamon raisin swirl bread recipe! Be sure to check out the other sourdough discard recipes on my blog.
Thanks,
Xena
Can you freeze this bread?
Yes, you can freeze this bread!
Does this bread freeze well?
Yes, the bread freezes well.