Spelt Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t really like raisins and would much rather have dried cranberries. In this economy, though, I will eat raisins and be grateful, especially if they’re swirled into a cinnamon raisin bread. I’ve been making this bread for several years and it’s a firm favourite.

This is a light, slightly sweet enriched loaf made with milk, a little oil, and honey. The swirl is a little sugar, a hint of vanilla, and plenty of cinnamon and raisins. The resulting bread is excellent for toasting or fresh with or without toppings. It slices easily, doesn’t fall apart – brushing with milk helps the layers stick together more effectively – and tastes great. For this loaf I’ve chosen to incorporate the raisins into the swirl rather than through the dough but both options are good.

This type of bread is similar to cinnamon rolls but a bit easier to shape and bake as it’s not sliced. You just roll it up and bake in a loaf tin just like any other bread. Don’t worry if the shaping isn’t perfect. Raisins expand during baking and 99% of the time the bread will open up in strange ways in the oven, so it doesn’t matter if it’s been perfectly shaped.

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Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

As usual with my sweet bread recipes, light spelt flour is used, but it can be substituted with white flour (or whole grain, with some changes). These are my notes from recipe testing. You can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Flour: this is a spelt flour recipe, and you should use light or sifted spelt flour (they’re the same thing, but sold under both terms). All-purpose flour can be substituted 1:1 but the dough should be kneaded for double the amount of time. Up to 50% whole grain spelt flour can replace the sifted flour but give the dough enough time to hydrate if you choose to make that change.
• Milk: I usually use soya milk for bread, as the higher protein content makes the dough stronger. Feel free to use dairy milk if you prefer. Other non-dairy milks like oat milk are fine but the dough will be slightly less elastic.
• Raisins: or currants if you’d like, or dried cranberries. The raisins are soaked before adding to the dough to soften them.
• Honey: for the dough. Substitute maple syrup if preferred. If you choose to omit the honey, the dough will be dry.
• Oil: pictured is coconut oil, but any oil works. I sometimes use olive oil. I’m sure butter would be fine but I haven’t tested it.
• Sugar: pictured is a type of raw cane sugar, which has a nice caramel flavour. Any granulated sugar can be used for the swirl. Brown sugar can sometimes ooze more during baking due to the added molasses.
• Yeast: fresh as pictured, or active dry yeast. The yeast is bloomed to ensure that it’s still active. If you use instant yeast, it should be added with the dry ingredients.
• Cinnamon: it makes little difference if you use cassia or ceylon for this recipe, so just use what you have on hand. All spices are best within three months of opening and will start to lose their flavour over time.
• Vanilla: a small amount of vanilla added to the milk brushed onto the bread for the swirl adds a nice sweetness and depth of flavour to the loaf, but it can be omitted.

How to Make Spelt Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Step 1: heat the milk until just warm to the touch, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the honey and sprinkle the yeast over the mixture. Set aside to bloom for ten minutes. If, after this time, the mixture isn’t bubbly and active, either the yeast was too old or the milk was too hot.

Step 2: whisk in the oil, then add the flour and salt. Stir to combine. Knead into a soft, smooth ball, several minutes by hand or four to five minutes with an electric mixer. You can use the dough hooks on a hand mixer or the dough hook on a stand mixer for this.

Step 3: let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size. Since this is an enriched dough, it might take a little longer than you expect, usually around an hour and a half. Keep it tightly covered, and place into an enclosed space like your oven or microwave if your home has very low humidity.

Step 4: gently punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a rectangle and brush with the milk and vanilla mixture. Sprinkle with soaked raisins, pressing lightly to help them adhere to the dough, then sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over top. Roll into a tight spiral.

Step 5: if your spiral is the same width as your loaf pan, this isn’t necessary, but I prefer to make a longer spiral and then fold it for more layers of the raisin swirl. Fold the two ends to meet in the middle and lightly press to help them stick.

Step 6: place into a lined and greased loaf tin, seam-side down. Cover and set in a warm, draft-free place to rise until almost doubled in size again.

Step 7: you can test the prove with a poke test. Gently press the surface of the dough with a fingertip. If the dough slowly springs back to fill the indent, the loaf is ready to bake. If it springs back immediately, it’s not ready yet.

Step 8: bake for about 50 minutes, covering the loaf during baking if it’s browning too much. The internal temperature should reach about 90°C. (I use an inexpensive meat thermometer for baking.)

Expert Tips for the Best Bread

• Let the dough hydrate: while the dough isn’t whole grain, it still helps to let it rest and hydrate for a few minutes before kneading. If the dough doesn’t seem to be coming together as well as I’d like while kneading I also set it aside to rest for a couple of minutes before continuing. This hydrates the flour and also allows the gluten to rest.
• Soak the raisins: raisins should always be soaked before adding to bread dough to help prevent them from altering the hydration level too much. This recipe has been developed specifically with soaked raisins, and skipping the soaking will dry the loaf out. You can soak in brandy or strong tea if you’d like to add another layer of flavour.
• Cover if needed: if the loaf is browning too much during baking, cover loosely with foil or parchment paper. Crumple the edges to prevent it from flying away in the heat. I find that with modern ovens this isn’t as much of a problem, but in older ovens I’ve used for this recipe the surface does get quite dark.
• Brush with oil: I always brush sweet loaves with a small amount of oil when they come out of the oven, to soften the crust and add an attractive sheen.
• Use warm milk: not hot! Overheated milk can kill the yeast and will also make the dough sloppy and difficult to work with. It should feel just warm when tested with a fingertip, not hot.