If you caught my last post, you already know about Grandma Hoffer’s classic sandwich bread. It’s simple, it’s perfect, and it has a little piece of her heart baked right into it. Well, this recipe is what happens when I got a little creative with her base and made it my own.

This was actually the second bread I ever made, and I won’t lie, it took me a few tries to get it just right. I kept tweaking it, adjusting, testing, eating the imperfect loaves anyway because honestly even the oops ones were pretty good. But now? Now it’s perfect. It’s become one of our favorite breakfasts in this house, and every single time I make it for guests it disappears fast. Like, embarrassingly fast.

The best part is that if you’ve already made the sandwich bread, you basically already know how to make this one. We’re just adding a little cinnamon magic and a gorgeous swirl of raisins to take it somewhere really special.

Let’s Make It

Before you do anything else, get those raisins soaking. Drop them in hot water for 15 minutes so they rehydrate and get nice and plump. Then pat them dry before adding them to your dough. This makes such a difference, don’t skip it!

Now mix your warm milk, warm water, yeast, and sugar together and let it sit until it blooms, you’re looking for foamy and fragrant, about 8 to 10 minutes. This step is so important. Let that yeast fully wake up before you move on.

Add in your salt, egg, butter, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, and soaked raisins. Mix it all together and knead for about 8 minutes. Good news,  this dough is a little less sticky than the classic sandwich bread, but still flour your hands and your surface just to be safe.

Cover with a damp cloth and let it rise until doubled. This dough moves, so keep an eye on it!

Once it’s risen, punch it down and roll it out into a thin rectangle on a floured surface.

Sprinkle a generous layer of cinnamon and brown sugar all over. 

Roll it up tightly and place it into your loaf pan. Let it rise again until puffy.

Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes, watching for that beautiful deep golden brown on top. That’s your sign it’s done.

Don’t Skip These Tips

Soak your raisins. Hot water, 15 minutes, pat them dry. Plump raisins make all the difference between good bread and great bread.

Let the yeast fully bloom. Those 8 to 10 minutes at the start are not optional. A fully bloomed yeast means a full, beautiful rise.

Flour your surfaces. The dough is easier to work with than the sandwich bread, but still keep flour nearby. Better safe than stuck!

Out of the pan immediately. The second it comes out of the oven, get it out of the pan or the bottom will get moist.

Wait for golden brown. Don’t pull it early. That color means the crust is perfect and the inside is fully baked.

Let it cool completely before cutting. I know, I know. But cutting warm bread makes it gummy inside.

Grandma Hoffer gave me the foundation, and this one is what grew from it. I love that her recipe lives on in so many forms in my kitchen now. I hope it finds its way into yours too. 

…and that’s all we did today. 

Cyndi

• Weck Jars
• 1 Liter Weck Jars
• Kitchen Wid Mixer
• Pullman Loaf Pan
• Rolling Pin
• Mixing Bowl
• Scale
• Rubber Spatula
• Bowl Scraper
• Wisk
• Sourdough Wisk

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

What You’ll Need

• 60 g warm milk
• 315 g warm water
• 9 g yeast
• 12 g sugar
• 12 g salt
• 1 egg
• 57 g butter
• 530 g all-purpose flour
• 10 g cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins, soaked

For the Swirl:

• 1 tbsp milk
• Cinnamonand brown sugar to cover

Method

 

1. Soak raisins in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
2. In a bowl, combine warm milk, warm water, yeast, and sugar.
3. Let sit for 8–10 minutes until foamy.
4. Add salt, egg, butter, flour, cinnamon, and raisins.
5. Knead for about 8 minutes until smooth.
6. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.
7. Punch down dough and roll into a rectangle.
8. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon and brown sugar.
9. Roll tightly into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan.
10. Let rise again until puffy.
11. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes until golden brown.
12. Remove from pan immediately and cool before slicing.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!