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Floury Friday with Kate Downham

Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Published 2 months ago • 2 min read

Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Today I’m going to share my favourite recipe for cinnamon raisin bread.

This is a well-balanced fruit and spice loaf. Not overwhelmingly fruity, spicy, or sweet, but just enough fruits, spice, and sweetness in the dough, along with a sweet glazed crust that makes this loaf even more special, and a favourite loaf for children.

The milk in the dough creates a soft crumb and dark crust, and helps the loaf keep for longer.

This bread is very satisfying to make. Like all my bread recipes, it uses 100% whole grain flour, and works with fresh milled flour. You can use whole einkorn or spelt instead of wheat if you reduce the amount of milk by 50g or 3 tablespoons per loaf.

The instructions below are for pan loaves, but feel free to shape and bake as buns or a dutch oven loaf instead.

Ingredients (for 1 loaf )

225g ripe whole wheat sourdough starter at 100% hydration

337g (2 1/2 cups) whole wheat flour (or emmer, or khorasan)

1 teaspoon salt

275g (1 cup + 2 Tbsp) warm milk

30g (1 1/2 Tbsp) honey

87g (3/4 cup) raisins

1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Mix basic dough ​
Combine the starter, flour, salt, milk, and honey. Mix until no traces of flour remain.

Rest, Squash, and fold
​Allow to sit for around 20 minutes. Do several squash and folds until it starts to feel bouncy. Repeat the resting, squashing, and folding one more time. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Add cinnamon and raisins
​Flatten out the dough and spread the cinnamon and raisins on top, lightly pressing them into the dough. Fold and squash the dough several times to spread the fruit evenly through the dough.

Ferment
Ferment for around 3 hours, or until slightly puffed up.

Divide, shape, and proof
​Divide the dough if you are making more than one loaf. Shape into pan loaves.

Proof in greased loaf pans for around two hours, or until risen. Alternatively, you can cover your pan and proof it in the fridge overnight.

Bake
​Preheat the oven to 190ºC (375ºF).

Brush the tops of the loaves with milk. Place them in the oven and bake for around an hour.

Optional: make bun wash
​While the bread is baking, prepare a bun wash by combining 60g honey (3 Tbsp) and 60g water (1⁄4 cup) in a tiny saucepan (I use a stainless steel measuring cup). Bring to the boil and allow to boil for two minutes. Brush bun wash onto the top of the loaves as soon as they are out of the oven. Any unused bun wash can be stored in a jar in a cool place until needed.

May your kitchen be filled with the warm smell of cinnamon,

Floury regards,

Kate

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P.P.P.S if you want to make more than one loaf, here's the ingredients chart:

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Floury Friday with Kate Downham

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