Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Jul 12th, 2008 by SteveB
If I had to choose one bread whose aroma while baking consistently makes my mouth water, it would have to be cinnamon raisin bread. Unlike baguettes or pan de campagne, which are made from lean doughs (i.e., doughs with little or no fat), cinnamon raisin bread is made from a rich dough. The fat used here is butter (in this case, about 20% in baker’s percentage) and it gives the cinnamon raisin bread its distinctive soft crumb and luxurious texture.
The percentage of fat in a dough is usually the determining factor in deciding when during the mixing process that fat is incorporated. As a general rule, if the fat is 5% or greater than the total flour weight, the fat should be added to the dough after most of the gluten has been developed; less than 5% and the fat can be added at the beginning of mixing with the other ingredients. Since our dough contains 20% butter, it is incorporated towards the end of the mixing process.
The following formula is a modification of one given to me by a very generous friend who also happens to be a professional artisan bread baker. One of these days, despite his modesty, he might even let me thank him on this blog by name!
Poolish
- 185 g King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 185 g Water
- 1/16 tsp. Instant Yeast
Final Dough
- 380 g King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 40 g Medium Rye Flour
- 40 g Whole Wheat Flour
- 370 g (all of the above) Poolish
- 240 g Water
- 13 g Instant Milk Powder
- 1 3/4 tsp. Instant Yeast
- 15 g Salt
- 30 g Sugar
- 90 g Butter
- 140 g Raisins
- Cinnamon Sugar (1:4 mixture of cinnamon:sugar), as needed
The evening prior to baking, mix the ingredients of the poolish to a temperature of 70°F and allow to ferment overnight at 70°F until mature, about 12 hours. The same evening, add enough water to the raisins to cover and allow them to plump up overnight.
The next morning, add the mature poolish to the white, rye and whole wheat flours, instant yeast, milk powder, salt, and sugar. Mix in enough of the water (in my case, all 240 g were used) to make a loose, shaggy dough. Mix by hand (Musings on Mixing…) until the gluten is moderately developed, about 10-15 minutes. Fold in the softened butter and continue hand mixing. When the butter begins to get incorporated into the dough, the dough will start to shred. To borrow a phrase from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “Don’t Panic!.” Continued mixing will bring the dough back together into a smooth, supple consistency.
Once the dough is reconstituted, fold in the drained raisins and then let the dough ferment in a lightly oiled, covered container, for 1 hour at 72°F. Halfway through this first fermentation, fold the dough as shown:
After the first fermentation, divide the dough into two pieces and lightly round both pieces. Let the dough pieces rest, under a plastic sheet, for 15 minutes. Begin forming the loaves by rolling out each dough piece into an oblong shape.
Brush with melted butter to prevent the layers from separating during baking.
Spread a thin layer of cinnamon sugar over the buttered dough. Leave a small border around the edges of the dough so that the dough can be sealed after rolling.
Beginning at the far side, roll-up the dough, all the while maintaining tension at the surface of the dough.
Place the rolled-up dough into lightly greased loaf pans and lightly tamp down the ends.
Cover the loaf pans with Saran QuickCovers and allow to ferment a second time for 1 hour at 78°F. The loaves are then scored down the middle and baked in a 350°F oven for 50 minutes, with steam being supplied during the first 10 minutes of baking. After removal from the oven, the loaves are allowed to cool, then brushed on top with melted butter and lightly sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.
OK, I take back the gram comment… I see grams. Good.
The videos are great. Have you thought of talking in them to explain? It could help even thought the seeing is perfect.
I’ll definitely make this bread during the holidays. The family will love it. I’ve made the Hamelman one that I put in my food blog (not the bread one). It’s excellent, too.
As a former organic chemist, I actually feel more comfortable working in g and mL than I do in lbs. and oz. Those formulae with weights in lbs. and oz. are either older formulae which I have not yet converted or are based on formulae from books which use the avoirdupois weight system. In future posts, I will be using the metric system, when possible.
Thanks for the suggestion about my speaking during the videos. I’m one of those people who have a hard time listening to their own voice on a recording. I’ll have to see if I can get past that!
I wasn’t aware that you had a food blog. Could you please let us know the URL?
Cinnamon Raisin Bread always makes my mouth water too! Your bread looks much softer than all the recipes I tried!! My mouth waters again.
Natalie, thanks for the kind words. You have some beautiful breads on your blog!
Using the butter layer over the dough before the cinnamon mix sounds tasty, but I have found using any fat between the layers of dough tends to make them separate and form big tunnels during baking. I use water or sometimes egg white. It seems to “glue” the layers together better.
JanH, that’s an interesting observation. I can see how it might make sense, with butter layers used to create the space between dough layers in croissant, for example, but in my experience, I’ve found that the melted butter coating results in fewer voids when compared to using no coating at all. Perhaps it’s because most of the melted butter is absorbed by the dough. In any event, I’ll have to try your method of using water or egg white. Thanks for the suggestion!
Why on earth would you want to eat that beautiful bread in such skinny slices!
Enjoying your blog & the great videos. I’m on tenterhooks waiting for your method of introducing steam during baking, a major problem with a convection oven which I have not fully overcome.
Patsy, I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog. You’re right about the thicker slices… they make wonderful French toast!
I’m hoping to discuss steam introduction in my post on pain au levain, more commonly called sourdough bread here in the US. I hope to have that post up soon.
A suggestion: The video is great, but folks on dial up (like I use at home) have a hard time getting video like this to download and run. Your instruction says “Halfway through this first fermentation, fold the dough as shown:”. If we can’t see the video, we miss the instructions on how to fold. It would help (for those with dial up and also for anyone who wants to save the recipe offline rather than just bookmark it) if you would explain the process in the text, then use the video as a demo of what you described. Thanks.
Jan, I try to use video to demonstrate techniques that would otherwise be difficult or too cumbersome to describe in text. The QuickTime videos I post do allow for starting play before the entire file has been downloaded. I hope this is at least of some value to dial-up users.
SteveB,
What material is your countertop made of? It’s lovely and looks as though it could be soapstone. Was it something you had installed, or already in place when you moved in? Just curious about your views on pros or cons of whatever the material is.
And, yes, the bread looks scrumptious, too!
PMcCool,
Thanks for the compliment!
We chose marble as our countertop surface because it stays cool during the summertime, which is a big plus for pastry and bread making. In the wintertime, when staying cool isn’t much of a problem here in New England, I use a wooden tavolini board placed over the marble as my work surface.
SteveB, my mouth is watering, and I can hear the kids asking for their third slice already! What a gorgeous looking loaf. I am so looking forward to trying this recipe. Thank you for sharing it, and the videos help make things clearer. Thanks for making your blog of such a consistently high standard.
KathleenH, thank you for the nice words. I think you’ll have fun making (and eating!) the cinnamon raisin bread. If you’re a fan of sweet doughs, keep watching this blog… I plan to add a post on brioche sometime soon.
Great looking swirl pattern.
Thanks for the ‘brushing with butter tip.’ I allow my bread to rise in the fridge over night and have not had any problems with the layers separating. But if I decide to let it rise at room temperature, it’s nice to know I won’t have to worry about that.
Wow! This is the best cinnamon raisin loaf I have made! Layers did not separate, gorgeous swirl pattern. Per your instructions, I steamed the first 10 minutes. End result was very successful, though I had trouble with the mixing steps. I scaled all ingredients, adding water as required (I ended up holding back about 3 T). By the time I added the raisins, the dough was VERY wet – I resisted the strong urge to add flour. Nothing to lose by allowing time to develop the dough. Folded 30 minutes into the first hour bulk fermentation, then allowed a 2nd of about 2 1/2 hours. Nice puffy dough, much less sticky, by the time I placed on counter to follow remaining directions. Thank you for a another great recipe!
Laura, I just love your enthusiasm! The mixing can get a bit tricky, especially right after adding the butter, but eventually the dough comes together nicely. It was good to hear that you’re evaluating the consistency of your dough and adding or holding back water, as needed. Hydration levels can have a large effect on the quality of the crumb.
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