The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread

cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread
I love cinnamon raisin breads. I make them often and find them to be the perfect breakfast treat, with just enough sweetness to not require jam, just enough fruit to constitute more than just carbs for breakfast.

I've baked many different raisin bread recipes. Some I find to be too sweet, others too heavy on the whole wheat (though white flour alone I don't find that satisfying either). This recipe, from Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread, is one of the best raisin breads I have found: I particularly enjoy how the oats on top of the loaf toast up nicely.

(Despite my initial misgivings about his attitude toward amateur bakers, I do have to say that all of the recipes from Hamelman's book that I have baked have been exceptionally good. I find myself thumbing through it almost as often as The Bread Baker's Apprentice these days.)

One interesting thing Hamelman mentions in a side note is that chemical compounds in bark-based spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg inhibit yeast activity, so more yeast than typical is required. This is a good thing to keep in mind when adapting a normal bread into a cinnamon raisin bread, something I do often.

And a warning: this recipe makes three substantial loaves. It pushed the capacity of the standmixer. You may want to consider halving the quantities.

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread
Makes 3 loaves
24 oz (5 1/2 cups) bread or all-purpose unbleached flour
8 oz (1 7/8 cups) whole wheat flour
5.3 oz (1 5/8 cups) rolled oats
20 oz (2 1/2 cups) water
3.5 oz (3/8 cups) milk
2.4 oz (3 tablespoons) honey
2.4 oz (5 1/2 tablespoons) vegetable oil
.7 oz (1 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon) salt
.37 oz (1 1/4 tablespoon) instant yeast
.5 oz (2 tablespoons) ground cinnamon
10.6 oz (2 cups) soaked and drained raisins

At least half an hour before you begin, soak the raisins in warm water.

soaking raisins
Doing so plumps them, which makes them softer and moister in the loaf and also prevents the ones on the surface of the loaf from burning. Just prior to adding the raisins to the loaf, you'll pour the water out.

Next, soak the oats in the 2 1/2 cups water for 20 to 30 minutes.
soaking oats
If you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, which I did, withhold 1/2 cup of the water to proof the yeast in.

Mix the flours, yeast, milk, honey, oil, salt, and cinnamon into the oats. Mix well, until all of the flour is hydrated. Knead by hand for 5 minutes or in a standmixer for 3, then mix in the drained raisins. Knead or mix until the raisins are distributed throughout the dough.
bowl of dough

Cover the bowl of dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour. Then remove the dough from the bowl and fold it, degassing it gently as you do. The images below illustrate this technique.

Place the dough on a floured work surface, top side down.
dough on board

Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter, gently degassing as you do.
fold 1

Fold in thirds again the other way.
fold 2

Flip the dough over, dust off as much of the raw flour as you can, and place it back into the bowl.
bowl of folded dough

Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise in bulk again for another hour. Then divide the dough in thirds and shape the loaves.
shaping loaves

Place each shaped loaf into a greased bread pan.
shaping loaves
Spray or gently brush each loaf with water and sprinkle with some more oats.

Cover the pans and set aside to rise until the loaves crest above the edge of the pans, roughly 90 minutes.
risen loaves

Preheat the oven to 450. Place the loaves in the center rack of the oven. After 5 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 375. Rotate the loaves 180 degrees after 20 minutes, and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, until the tops of the loaves are nicely browned, the bottoms of the loaves make a hollow sound when tapped, and the internal temperature of the loaf registers above 185 degrees when measured with an instant read thermometer.

sliced loaves

Yeah, ok, you are supposed to let the loaves cool before slicing. I couldn't though, and I have no regrets!

Related Recipes: Sweet Corn Raisin Bread, Maple Oatmeal Bread, Struan Bread.

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread

Comments

Christina's picture
Christina

I would make this tomorrow if I didn't have a run planned, but I couldn't make it even if I didn't because I don't know what pan size to use. Is is 9x5 or 8x4?
Thanks for the help.
C

Floydm's picture
Floydm

I have 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 Pyrex pans. But I don't see why not knowing that should prevent you from baking this.

If you have 9 x 5, you could give it 5 minutes more, 8 x 4, 5 minutes less. But the difference in elevation between us, the differences in ambient temperature or humidity, the quality of our ovens (mine stinks) or baking in metal versus Pyrex is likely to offset any slight difference in pan size. So even if we have the exact same gear I'd caution you to use your own judgement.

Christina's picture
Christina

I don't know why I couldn't, but for some reason I don't like baking bread unless I know the pan size. It may sound crazy and I would have to agree, because after thinking about it, it is. One reason is that I only have two 8x4, but I have 9x5, so since it makes three, I needed to know.
Also, is the pan size you use for loaf bread usually 8x4?

Floydm's picture
Floydm

As I mentioned, my baking pans are 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 Pyrex pans. You can see them in the photos above. Nothing fancy, just what they happened to have at the grocery store the first time I wanted to bake bread at home 10 years ago or so.

shi's picture
shi

Floydm all I can find is white oats is this the same as rolled oats u have used, if not can I simply replace these by all purpose flour in the recipe.

KNEADLESS's picture
KNEADLESS

I've made this bread twice per the recipe and it is excellent. Last week I made it again, but I substituted "Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli" for the oats and it is even better because of the little crunchies in the Muesli. Next time, I plan to increase the Muesli by about 50% and add some crushed walnuts. 90% of the fun of baking and cooking is winging it!

KNEADLESS's picture
KNEADLESS

The last two times I have made this, I get a terrific rise after the folding step, but I get very little rise when the loaves are in the pan, and it comes out much denser than Floyd's picture. Any suggestions or comments? Would a second folding before cutting into 3 pieces be appropriate?

demegrad's picture
demegrad

I'm making this bread right now, and I just hit me, do you soak the raisins then measure, I'm measuring by weight, or measure then soak?  I know it doesn't matter that much being that they're just raisins, and I measured then soaked figuring I would be adding more raisins which I would prefer.  But I was just wondering if there is a standard method here.  The more I think about it if the recipe calls for x amount of soaked/drained raisins the you should soak them first then measure. 

demegrad

http://www.demegrad.blogspot.com

Scott_R's picture
Scott_R

Old question but: the recipe calls for "10.6 oz (2 cups) soaked and drained raisins"

Generally, that means that it's 10.6oz/2cups raisins measured after soaking and draining. If it was a pre-soak measure it's supposed to be written "10.6 oz (2 cups) raisins, soaked and drained." That is, the measure is for "soaked and drained raisins," not a measure of untreated "raisins" followed by how you then prep them.

I can't say for certain the recipe author followed this convention, but that's the standard.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

i would measure out two cups of raisins and then wash, pick off any stems and soak them.  

Why?  Because they only soak for half an hour and there won't be much change in volume in such a short time.  If water soaked overnight, then I can understand some concern as the raisins will have swollen into grapes overnight.  So just add raisins as you like them.  :)

beenjamming's picture
beenjamming

got two loaves of this stuff in the oven now and it smells incredible

 

soupcxan's picture
soupcxan

Thanks for posting this great recipe. I thought I would add my own twist, so I took half the dough and made a 9x5 loaf, then rolled the other half into 18 buns (2 oz each), baked everything, then covered the buns with cinnamon roll frosting (cream cheese, milk, and powdered sugar). I did adjust the recipe a bit - I kneaded much longer than the 5 minutes specified before the first rise - it took about 15 to get enough structure. I also only used two 1 hour rises separated by a 15 minute rest before shaping and baking. I forgot to put the oats on the top but oh well, still tastes great. Check out this pic with the quasi-rolls on the right:

Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Bread

cherub0110's picture
cherub0110

I just started baking bread. This is my very first bread that I baked and it turned out perfect... I love it! Thanks for posting the recipe.

I am wondering if you can also post a recipe of a 100% whole wheat bread.  Thanks!

My husband couldn't resist- he have to taste it right after I pull it out from the oven...yumBreadBread!!

mse1152's picture
mse1152

Last time I made cinnamon raisin bread, I used the recipe in the BBA, posted here. I made it with the swirl inside, and it didn't spring in the oven at all.

This time, I used Floyd's recipe (above), and experimented by making one loaf with a swirl and one without. I wanted to see if either method resulted in more squished loaves, as happened with the BBA recipe. Here they are. In both photos, the swirled loaf is on the right, though it's hardly visible in the crumb shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is not what I expected! I thought the extra handling of the dough to flatten it, then roll it up with the cinnamon sugar inside would take away from the rising, as Floyd suggested in a comment on the BBA version I made earlier. Big whoop, it still tastes great!  I like this version better than Reinhart's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Try disolving 2 teaspoons of yeast into 1/4 cup of milk and squish it into your dough.  When it's all in, let it rest 15 minutes and then knead a little white flour if needed.  Continue with directions.  Hope this note is not too late -- Mini Oven

cej2's picture
cej2

I made this yummy bread today. I did change the recipe a little. I added 2 eggs, and more flour. Also just used Quaker oats.since that was what I had. I used brown sugar and one Tblsp cinnamon to make swirls. The additional cinnamon was not too much at all. Had to sneak a slice hot out of the oven YUM....It is a keeper...

earthygirl's picture
earthygirl

Thanks so much for posting this recipe.  I tried it over the weekend and it was a hit with the family and the neighbors. 

KipperCat's picture
KipperCat

I just did this quick calculation using excel. Thought I'd post it here and maybe save someone a minute.

 

3 loaves
680 grams bread or AP flour
227 grams WW flour
150 grams rolled oats
567 grams water
99 grams milk
68 grams honey
68 grams vegetable oil
20 grams salt
10 grams yeast
14 grams cinnamon
301 grams soaked,drained raisins

2 loaves
449 grams bread or AP flour
150 grams WW flour
99 grams rolled oats
374 grams water
65 grams milk
45 grams honey
45 grams vegetable oil
13 grams salt
7 grams yeast
9 grams cinnamon
198 grams soaked,drained raisins

1 loaf
225 grams bread or AP flour
75 grams WW flour
50 grams rolled oats
187 grams water
33 grams milk
22 grams honey
22 grams vegetable oil
7 grams salt
3 grams yeast
5 grams cinnamon
99 grams soaked,drained raisins

AnnieT's picture
AnnieT

KipperCat, you are an absolute treasure! Thank you so much for figuring the quantities for 2 loaves - I was getting panicky about trying to halve it and ending up with 1 1/2 loaves! Math phobic, AnnieT

ejm's picture
ejm

Thanks so much for doing this, KC. My calculations into grams were way off because I was casually calculating on the basis that 1 oz = 28 gm. Could have been disastrous....

-Elizabeth 

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

Floyd's original recipe above is about right for two larger loaves in 9 x 5 pans.

 

Glenn

Joanna Sheldon's picture
Joanna Sheldon

I did a conversion to grams myself, before I saw this, though of course altering the quantities up or down a gram to round things out. In fact it looks like a recipe that was originally developed in grams, the one we have here being so packed with awkward fractions of ounces and slivers of cups.

Teresa_in_nc's picture
Teresa_in_nc

Floyd,

I tried this recipe earlier this week and it is delicious! The only changes I made: I used golden raisins, upped the honey to 4 TB instead of 3, and forgot to put the oatmeal on the top, so I brushed the tops with honey while they were still hot.

One thing....I could not get all the white flour into the dough. I only used about 4.5 cups instead of 5.5. But the bread rose nicely and was not too wet when kneading it. No sad streaks, great taste and texture. It is fantastic as toast - very crunchy and yummy warm with honey drizzled on.

 

Thanks for a great recipe!

Teresa

KipperCat's picture
KipperCat

I think this will be a regular around here. My husband liked it so much he said it would make a great bread even without the cinnamon and raisins - high praise from a white bread man!

LuceFLY's picture
LuceFLY (not verified)

Bread turns out great ... yummy! But I reckon it's dense and on the heavy side. I ran out of time today so I cut the final rising time from 90min to 60min. Could this be the problem?

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Yes, it certainly could be.

bnb's picture
bnb

Made half the recipe. Used golden raisins and chopped dried pineapple. Instead of the whole wheat called for in the recipe I used a 1:1 combination of durum flour and white whole wheat. Added 2 tblsps of sourdough starter for flavor. The dough turned out very wet coz of the starter so I had to add atleast 1.5 cups of additional flour but I still kept it on the wet side. Kneaded for 5 mins and the dough came to together into a smooth elastic ball. The resultant dough was one of the most perfect I have ever made. Soft, supple, very good gluten formation. I only did 2 rises: one long rise followed by shaping and then the final rise in the pans. The final rise only took 30 mins. The dough yielded 2, 8x5 loaves weighing 1lb 10oz each before baking. Baked at 400F for 30 mins. The oven spring was phenomenal. The crust was crisp and the crumb was super soft, silky and open with a slight chewiness. The cinnamon flavor was a bit weak because of the extra flour I had to add but still discernible. The starter gave the bread a slight tang. Will post pictures later.

Janedo's picture
Janedo

I made this on Sunday and posted it on my other blog (because it's a yeast bread and my bread blog is dedicated to sourdough)

http://saveursdefamille.canalblog.com/archives/2008/05/19/9238417.html

I used T65 and T150 but about 5/8 of a cup never made it in to the dough. I didn't put all the flour in and then added just a little bit because I find the proportions in american recipes always have to be played with. Just mentioning that in case any other europeans want to try this bread.

The bread came out really well and was a very big hit. Toasted, it is exceptional. I like the idea of making mini frosted buns that I saw up there.

Thanks Floyd!

Jane 

ejm's picture
ejm

This looks like really good bread! I must say that when I got the Hamelman out of the library, I wasn't that wild about it. (It really isn't a book for the home baker at all.) I read the first chapter or so before giving up; I didn't manage to go so far as to even think of trying any of the recipes.

Thanks for posting this one. I think we neeeeeeeeed to try it.

-Elizabeth

edh's picture
edh (not verified)

Hi Grammbd,

First, I sympathize with your first attempt at this bread; the same thing happened to me but, like you, I thought it tasted so good I'd better give it another try. It's now a staple for breakfast in my house. Mornings just shouldn't begin without it! I think the problem is with over proofing in the final proof. I went just a bit shorter the next time and all was well.

This recipe also works well with spelt, and I've upped the whole grain content considerably over time, to no ill effect.

About hand grinding; that's what I do, and I've had the best results with soaking the flour before using it. My mill makes a pretty coarse flour, even after 3 passes through, but I find that a good long soak (overnight is great, but a couple of hours helps too) takes care of any problems with heavy bread. Improves the taste 100% as well!

If you haven't seen it, Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Baking is a huge help in this regard. I don't recall that he addresses coarse flour specifically, but that's what I've used to make all his recipes, and it's worked wonderfully!

Keep us posted,

edh

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread from BBA has been one of my favorite non-sourdough breads for several years. I finally got around to making the Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread from Hamelman's "Bread" today. 

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Breads

 

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread Crumb

Most seem to have made 3 loaves from this recipe, and, although that's what Hamelman says one recipe makes, he also says to scale it to 18 oz for 1 lb bread pans. One recipe made 4 - 17+ oz loaves for me.

I did the optional overnight retardation. After forming the loaves, they took 3-1/2 hours to fully proof. (They never really crested the pans.). I got good oven spring, but the loaves do have a lower profile than the heavier ones pictured above. I baked at 450F for 15 minutes before turning down the oven to 425F. The loaves got really dark, as Hamelman warns they can. Next time, I'll do as Floyd did and turn down the oven after 5 minutes.

In contrast to Reinhart's raisin bread which I'd definitely classify as a "sweet bread," Hamelman's is more substantial due to the WW content. But, in spite of how it might appear, the crumb has a very light, tender chew. Quite lovely. Oh! I also substituted a smidgen of whole rye for a little of the high-gluten flour.

I'm looking forward to having it toasted for breakfast.

David

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Those are quite delicious looking David. I've been pondering what to make for a holiday gift bread this year. Maybe that would be a good choice. I'm just a little leary of the rise stalling and having it become dense.

I just took a look at the recipe and I see he gives an alternate application of the spice. Have you ever done that process? It does look like a tempting bread. Nice job. You have me thinking.

Eric

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I've not made this bread before, so I havn't tried the alternative cinnamon application - making a swirl. That's what I do with the BBA bread. I think you would probably get more of a cinnamon-sugar "hit" with the swirling method.

Next time I make this, I will probably try the roll-up/swirl alternative and also add walnuts.

The bread doesn't have a super-sweet flavor. The main effect of the sugar to to really crisp the crust when you toast it. As a holiday gift bread, it is certainly good, but it's not a first choice if your recipients are sugar junkies.

As far as the "rise stalling" goes, I don't know how much was because of the cinnamon zapping the yeast (which shouldn't happen with the swirl method) or the cold retardation. In either case, just proofing longer worked for me. The bread certainly is not "dense."

If we were neighbors, I'd swap you a loaf for a couple of Mark's palmiers, and you could see what you think. ;-)

David

ehanner's picture
ehanner

That would be a good trade. The seal is still on the box where I put it last night hoping to keep the mischief to a minimum.

No real sugar junkies in the bunch so this might be a winner.

Eric

ehanner's picture
ehanner

David,
Just a quick question that I think I know the answer to but, did you do the overnight retard at room temperature? Not to be picky but yours look a little like they might have been over proofed or maybe fermented. They don't seem tight.

I like the idea of the longer ferment but I was thinking of retarding them. What do you think about that?

Happy Hanukkah!

Eric

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Eric.

You may know the answer, but I'm not sure about the question.

How would "over night retard at room temperature" not be oxymoronic?

The dough was retarded in the fridge over night.

I don't think the loaves were overproofed. Slightly underproofed, if anything.

Happy holidays to you too!

David

ehanner's picture
ehanner

David,

Is it possible my IQ is degrading as I continue to put dough in the cooler?
Very funny.

 

Eric

ejm's picture
ejm

This really is unfair! I'm already freaking out trying to decide which bread NOT to make tomorrow. I have to pare down my list to one... and now there are three recipes instead of two. (Until reading the latest post, I had conveniently forgotten about this particular bread.)

Elizabeth

choices (to go with red pepper pate):

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Is what you have, Elizabeth.

I'm afraid I can't help you without being able to taste your red pepper pate on each of the breads you list.

Please understand that, for you, I am willing to undertake this assessment.

David

ejm's picture
ejm

This is very noble of you, David. Do let me know which you think works best.

As for my dilemma; it's still unsolved. I've just finished making the pre-ferments for the rustic boule but still in my madness, I'm thinking about making the molasses fennel bread as well tomorrow too. I wonder if I can borrow our neighbour's oven....

-Elizabeth

P.S. That red pepper pate is dead easy to make and really delicious! (Looks pretty too.)

Mary Jane D. Toribio's picture
Mary Jane D. Toribio (not verified)

is it right that ill gonna make it rise twice?  i'll gonna try it tomorrow. thanks.

ejm's picture
ejm

It works with just one rise too, but do it on the counter rather than in a warm oven. It's pretty forgiving bread (read about what I did when I made this cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread the first time before I had a digital scale...).

-Elizabeth

Mary Jane D. Toribio's picture
Mary Jane D. Toribio (not verified)

thank you for this wonderful recipe.i made it today but i cut the amount of cinnamon in half but its still delicious.

BNLeuck's picture
BNLeuck

I've got a batch of this doing it's bulk ferment right now. I used half KA bread flour and half KA white whole wheat, added some more milk to adjust for the extra ww, and subbed walnuts for the raisins. (Because raisins are the bane of my foodie existence. I hate them with a passion. LOL) I'll post how it went later.

carrtje's picture
carrtje

We had a sleep-over for the kids last night.  I made your recipe late at night and we ate it for breakfast this morning.  Ok, I lied.  Us parents devoured one loaf while it was still sticky-warm and squishy.  The other we ate for breakfast  :)  Even the picky kids ate it.

I really loved the way it was soft and chewy through and through, but it crisped up really well when toasted.

I'm now a hero among the 2-9 yrs crowd.  Thanks.

Bama's picture
Bama

And it is still the best bread I make. I've made it several times now and it never fails me. I bake mine in 2- 4 1/2 by 12 bread pans because I didn't have 3 pans alike and I am obsessive about matching pans. I need to work on that.  So I bake 2 pans, cool, cut in half, wrap well and freeze 3 of them. That way we don't eat it all in a few days. I can thaw half a loaf and it lasts a few days. We love it toasted with a bit of honey or peanut butter. The best!

bread_chemist's picture
bread_chemist

I've made this bread (fantastic, especially if one adds some diced pecans). 

Any idea how much one can bump up the oatmeal (great for lowering cholersterol) while mainting the taste? 

Is addition of oatmeal best done by reducing wheat or hi-glut flour?

ejm's picture
ejm

Because oatmeal has zero glutens, I would be inclined to keep the high gluten flour at the same level and replace the regular flour with the oatmeal. Or perhaps reduce both kinds of flour and add a some vital wheat gluten.

-Elizabeth

P.S. Good idea to add diced pecans!

3 Olives's picture
3 Olives

Do you put dry or soaked oats on top? I'm guessing dry. Thanks!

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

You win.

David

3 Olives's picture
3 Olives

My only mistake was making just half the recipe, as this is REALLY TASTY! I approximated and didn't drain the raisins as thoroughly as I should have and was surprised at how well the loaves came out. This recipe appears to be foolproof. Next week I'm going to substitute pecan bits for the oat topping because my son requested it. Thanks!

alldogz's picture
alldogz

I have made this twice...luckily i bought a dough hook that has a wide flat piece at the top and it kept the "blob" from overtaking the KA mixer (fondly referred to as the cement mixer...almost met it's match here though!).  I will probably do two loaves the next time as I am spoiling the people at work. I had no problems with the recipe or the rise...great!!!

Franko's picture
Franko

Thumbing through Jeffrey Hamelman's book this morning I was looking for a bread I could make for my sister in law . She loves to browse the local rummage and garage sales , coming up with some great deals from time to time. Her latest find was an unused 14x16 oven stone. Thinking of me she forked over the entire $3.00 they were asking for it, knowing that I'd been looking to create a little more baking real estate in my oven. I've priced these locally and on the net and the best price I've been able to find is in the $55-60 range, so for 3 bucks the least I could do was tell her I'd make a few loafs of bread for her over the coming few weeks in appreciation of her thoughtfulness. When I asked what she'd like me to make she said "surprise me, but please, nothing sour" . I decided on Hamelman's Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin bread thinking it would be something she'd enjoy with her coffee in the morning. As usual with Jeffrey's formulas, this one came together nicely, my only regret is not getting it in the oven sooner. Although it got a decent spring , I know that had I put it in even 10 minutes earlier I would have had a higher, tighter loaf. Regardless, it baked off fairly well, has a good crust and a soft crumb typical of a semi rich dough. I wondered a bit about the percentage of cinnamon as I was scaling it, thinking it seemed a bit much but it's a perfect balance for the other components and the  overall flavour of the bread. I'm just glad I made a large enough mix to make a loaf for my sister in law and myself. This is easily the the best raisin bread I've ever tasted .

Franko

hullaf's picture
hullaf

It's funny, I made this bread just this last week too; is it the coming fall weather and everyone wants a cozy bread for making toast and drinking tea or coffee? 

Here's what I wrote on my bread blog: 

 

Though I haven't been blogging much I've still been baking all along for my family's daily needs. The last recipe I tried was from Hamelman's Bread book called Oatmeal Bread with Cinnamon and Raisins, on page 236. It's great - the overall cinnamon taste is what makes it wonderful, especially for toast.

I followed the recipe fairly well with my usual two-thirds amount. The only substitution was for the water ingredient, I used part drained water from the soaked raisins. Hate to waste all that flavorful water. Also, I added cinnamon sugar when shaping the loaf to form a small swirl, just a little bit to get a little more sweetness in there.

My dough made two loaves, about 24 ounces each. The recipe said to put that amount in a 9x5 pan, and I did this for one of the loaves but the other I put in an 8x4 loaf pan. The amount of dough seemed too small for a 9x5 pan. All in all, they both rose and baked well, dark crusts as Hamelman said they would and both seemed to fit the pans.

 

 

Next time I think I'll just use the 8x4 pans and . . . not forget to put the oatmeal on top. 

kylelindstrom's picture
kylelindstrom

Made this yesterday and it came out marvellously.

I found that I did need more liquid, so I used some of the raisin water.  Also I worked in the raisins by kneading them in.

I also used one tablespoon of Chinese Cinnamon and one of Ceylonese Cinnamon which gave it a nice flavor.  I think I might add some more cinnamon to it the next time to try to compensate for the lack of any other sweetener in the bread.

 

earth3rd's picture
earth3rd

I had a go at this recipe yesterday. I thought the recipe sounded good, especially all the feed back. The raisin bread my wife buys has a cinnamon swirl in it so I thought I'd try that as well. I had a recipe from the Kitchen Aid mixer book and thats the method I used to put the cinnamon sugar into the loaf. It says to spread soft butter then spread the sugar cinnamon mixture on the dough, then roll up the loaf. Before I even baked the loaf I was having some reservations about the butter, thinking it would make the dough come apart which you can see in the photo it did just that. Does anyone know how to do it without having the separation like in my photo? I was thinking next time just put the sugar mixture on without the butter. One of you people will know I'm sure. Any feed back is appreciated.

By the way... I used "KipperCat" calculations for two loaves and it worked out great... thanks for converting the recipe over to gram measurements. 

 

Ready for the oven.

 

After baking.

Inside the finished loaf.

 

 

MichaelH's picture
MichaelH

BBA there is a cinnamon raisin loaf that is similar to this that I have made many times. His method suggests flattening or rolling out the dough, then sprinkling the sugar cinnamon mixture without spreading butter on the dough first. I have never had a separation problem using this technique. I have seen the butter first method suggested by other bakers but have never tried it. Some of them might have had better luck than you did.

You might want to omit the butter next time. If you have the same problem you might want to try a tighter shaping technique.

Good Luck.

Michael

earth3rd's picture
earth3rd

Funny you should mention "tighter shaping". I actually rolled out the dough to approx. 14" x 9" rectangle before I applied the butter. I was concerned that rolling it out might cause a problem as well, but to my pleasant surprise the dough rose in the pans beautifully. When I put the bread in the oven for baking I mentioned to my wife about the possibility of the separation, thinking that the dough doesn't stick in the bowl when its lightly oiled. 

The next time I will for sure omit the butter from the plan. Other than the obvious the bread sure tasted good!!!

purplepig's picture
purplepig

Wow , this was a good recipe.

I only made a 1/3 batch (single loaf) and it was great.

I made it verbatim except I used maple syrup in place of honey (love that maple)

This one is a keeper.

pp

pdurusau's picture
pdurusau

I am a beginning baker so tried to follow the directions to the letter. Got no rise out of a 1 loaf batch. Found Mini Oven's 1/4 cup milk rescue plan in time to save the bread.

Looking at the original recipe, the amount of yeast is less than the amount of salt and cinnamon.

.7 oz (1 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon) salt

.37 oz (1 1/4 tablespoon) instant yeast
.5 oz (2 tablespoons) ground cinnamon

Is that right?

Thanks!

Patrick

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Yup.  Slow rise, low yeast is where it is at.

century's picture
century

At what stage would you retard? Overnight rise in the loaf pans (in the fridge), then bake out of the oven.
Ive done this with other breads with great success but not sure about this one.

pattycakes's picture
pattycakes

This is a bread that I made with yeast, leftover oatmeal, milk, raisins, pecans, and the cinnamon smear from KA.

It's delicious, rich and soft, and it's hard to stay away from for long.

Patricia

katyajini's picture
katyajini

I could scream!  The flavor is amazing.   The dough rose very well initially but after shaping rose just a little in the pans and then stalled and then there was no oven spring.  The breads look NOTHING like the high loaves in the pictures above.   Dense and small.

This thread is so old I wonder if anyone is looking.  To those who succeeded what could have gone wrong? 

What flour did you use?  I used KA bread flour and KA white whole wheat flour..  Would the choice of flour be it?

Why does the later proofing not work well?  Lack of gluten formation?  Yeast dying?  Should I use more yeast and/or add VWG?

Also does this bread, this big amount of dough, really need only five mins of kneading?  The dough came together nicely in a few mins and was soft and smooth but to me it felt like it needed more kneading.  I kneaded maybe 15 mins when it got springier. I have very little experience with whole wheat or oatmeal in bread.  Could I have over-kneaded ?

I don't want to give up on this recipe....people call it fool-proof UGH:(

Any help would be way so appreciated.

Thanks.

Katyajini

 

 

Swimmer's picture
Swimmer

came out great, I use KA bread and wheat. I left the dough a little on the sticky side as I live in the high desert and have trouble to form loves.

Swimmer (Tom)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I suspect the cinnamon could be fault for rising discrepancies.

Two reasons: 1) Cinnamon contains an fungicide, yeast is a fungus, too much cinnamon can hamper yeast or even kill it.  

2) Cinnamon products vary.  I was quite surprised to find what I thought to be just ground cinnamon cut with a little more than 50% sugar the last time I bought it.  Half the container was sugar!   Only about 2% sugar occurs naturally.  I quickly started comparing brands getting very irritated.   

Cinnamon comes from the soft underlying bark of a cinnamon tree and is wood, ground cinnamon is sawdust.  It will not melt unless sugar has been added.  If you happen to have tried this recipe and failed, it could be that the cinnamon was pure and not cut with sugar.  

Try heating your cinnamon and see if it melts.  If it doesn't melt, use less spice in the dough recipe.   Moisten or combine with some sugar to make a "swirl" in the loaf when shaping.  (Pat out the dough flat and smear or sprinkle on the spice and roll tightly together.) See if that improves the rise.  

LaurenAshley's picture
LaurenAshley

I made this today. While I was finishing weighing out all the dry ingredients, my 3yo came to "help". He knocked into the container of cinnamon causing it to fall on the floor and pop the top open which started a chain reaction that lead to a HUGE mess. He also knocked into a jar which fell onto the edge of the bowl that contained the soaking oatmeal then propelling it into the air and inevitably shattering on the kitchen floor. Ironically, this happened to be the last oatmeal I had in the house!

Two hours later, after a trip to the store to replace the tragically lost oatmeal and retrieving the other 3 kids from school, I was able to continue making the dough. For the forst time in quite awhile, I had 2 fabulous proofings and OVEN SPRING!! My 10 yo exclaimed "Oh my gosh, what happend to it?"

Thank you so much for this recipe!

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Wow, sounds like a lot of excitement in your kitchen!  I made this one this weekend too, but it went much more routinely than it did for you.  Good stuff, I agree, and incredible oven spring if you time it right.

Enjoy!

-Floyd

ejm's picture
ejm

Wow! I love those kind of "all's well that ends well" stories. Of course, I don't envy you having to clean up the cinnamony mess but I do envy the oven spring. It's always so satisfying when that happens.

-Elizabeth

Happy baker's picture
Happy baker

Hello ...

Thank you for the nice recipe. This is my first participation and I am really happy with the results . I followed the 2 loaves ingredients according to  KipperCat and they turned wonderful. However, they took a bit longer in the oven.

Farahkamal23@gmail.com's picture
Farahkamal23@gm...

I have been baking successfully from Hammelman’s Book, and this was on my list to try out. But I was a little reluctant due to the cinnamon reaction. So went through every post here and gathered some courage to go ahead and bake it. Will share the results.

 

Joanna Sheldon's picture
Joanna Sheldon

Hi. Looks like a great recipe. I've just converted it to grams, and intend to have a go. But about those raisins. I wonder why so often we soak raisins in water and throw the water away. Instead, I heat the raisins in a little water or brandy until the raisins are plump and the water/brandy is just about gone. Then I take them off the heat, toss them in a bowl, put a lid on the bowl and voilà: I get to keep all the raisin goodies. In this case, if you don't like my system, you could at least use the soaking water as part of the water in the recipe.

elenamar's picture
elenamar

This bread is so good!! I made it several times and I love eating it for breakfast with a thin layer of honey. I also make a "non-breakfast" version of it just omitting raisins and cinnamon so I can have it for lunch or dinner. Thank you for sharing!

joann1536's picture
joann1536 (not verified)

I've made several versions of cinnamon raisin bread, including the recipe in BBA and a sourdough hearth loaf with walnuts  I'd thought that BBA was the best one, and it is, for a swirl type.  Today I used the recipe in ounces, but also prefer to measure in grams.  This recipe is delicious, quick, and easy.

Joanna Sheldon's picture
Joanna Sheldon

Looks like a lovely loaf (though I will cut the cinnamon by at least half -- not surprised it's interfering with the yeast at 1.3% of the flour weight), but why do you, like so many others, throw out the water you've soaked the raisins in? If we don't care about the gobs of flavor we're chucking out, we should consider at least all those anti-oxidants on the grape skins that are about to go down the drain. Stay your hands, folks, and use the raisin water to soak the oats in. Dreadful waste, otherwise. Thanks for sharing the recipe, though!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

raisin water because I've seen the way raisins dry.  I wash the dust off.  I also wash the dust off before I soak them in anything stronger.  

I also rinse my loose tea in cold water first before adding boiled water.  Tastes better too. Why?  I've seen how it dries.

Making loaves tomorrow, two weeks before Ground Hog's Day.  Yay!  

Tip:  For a nice shine on the loaf, brush lightly with cream or half and half milk while loaf is still hot.  

Country Baker 57's picture
Country Baker 57

This is a great recipe, tried it just a little while back. Gave loaves to each of my daughters and they enjoyed it toasted.

Jaybird's picture
Jaybird

So I am in the process of making this recipe for the first time right now.  Doing my first rise but the dough smells AMAZING!  I'll let you know how it turns out.  

Cheers

Jay