Everyone has those flavors they love, and for me it’s cinnamon raisin. A slice of this bread, toasted, with butter. Extra butter. It’s enough to get you through winter. Barely.
Like all sourdough bread recipes, you must be patient and give the dough plenty of time to rise.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need
You’ll need your starter active and bubbly, so make sure you feed it a few hours before. Use the bread flour over the all-purpose. It has a higher protein content and will give your bread the structure it needs to create that chewy texture. A Dutch oven makes this easy, but you can bake it on a baking sheet with a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of your oven while the bread is baking.
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This will make one round loaf. If you’d like to double or triple this recipe, or use metric measurements, you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Equipment
- large bowl
- Dutch oven
- Parchment paper
- banneton
Ingredients
- 360 grams (1 ½ cups) warm water
- 100 grams (½ cup) active sourdough starter
- 25 grams (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
- 450 grams (3 ¾ cups) bread flour
- 6 grams (1 teaspoon) salt
- 150 grams (1 cup) raisins
- 7 grams (1 tablespoon) cinnamon
- 4-5 ice cubes
How to Make Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Boule Bread
You may need to adjust the recipe and baking times if you live above sea level. Use this guide to help you.
Step One: Make the Dough
Grab a big bowl and dump in your warm water, sourdough starter, and sugar. Give it a stir – doesn’t have to be perfect.
Add half the bread flour and mix until combined, then add the salt and remaining flour. Use a spatula to bring it all together into a shaggy mess. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Step Two: Stretch and Fold
Get your hands wet (trust me – dry hands stick) and pick up the dough. Stretch it up and fold it back down, then turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat until you’ve done all four sides. Flip it over, cover, and wait 30 minutes.
Do this same process 2-4 more times with 30-minute breaks between each round. You’ll know you’re done when the dough gets smooth and stretches easily – it takes about 2 hours in total.
Step Three: Add Cinnamon and Raisins
After your final stretch and fold, sprinkle about half of your cinnamon and raisins on the dough.
Do another stretch and fold to work it in, then add the rest of the cinnamon and raisins. Stretch and fold again until everything’s incorporated.
Step Four: First Rise
Roll the dough into a loaf shape, tuck the ends under, and put it in a clean bowl. Cover and stick it somewhere warm for about 4 hours until it doubles in size.
Step Five: Shape and Overnight Rise
Turn the dough out onto a floured counter, flatten into a rectangle, fold in the corners, and roll it up with ends tucked under.
Put it in a banneton or floured bowl seam-side up, cover, and stick it in the fridge overnight.
Step Six: Prep and Bake
Pull the dough out an hour before baking to warm up. About 30 minutes before you’re ready, put your Dutch oven on the bottom rack and preheat to 450°F. Put the dough on parchment paper and score down the middle with a razor or sharp knife.
When the oven’s hot, take the lid off your Dutch oven, toss in 4-5 ice cubes, add your bread (parchment and all), and bake covered for 25 minutes. Drop the heat to 375°F, remove the lid, and bake another 20-25 minutes until golden.
Step Seven: Cool
Let it cool for 20 minutes before cutting. I know it’s hard, but the inside needs time to set up properly.
Storing & Serving
Your bread will last for 3 days at room temperature or in the fridge for 4-5 days in an airtight container. This also freezes really well. Slice it up, wrap it tightly, then place it in a freezer-safe container or resealable bag for up to 3 months.
This bread is tasty all on its own, but here are a few ideas on what to serve.
- Toast it and spread some butter, cream cheese, honey, or apple pie jam.
- Make French toast with it on the weekends and serve it with pecan pie croissants for an extra special brunch.
Questions and Troubleshooting
Sourdough bread dough tends to be a bit sticky. Make sure you’re using lukewarm water (not hot!) and that your starter is active and bubbly. If the dough is excessively sticky, add a tablespoon or two of extra flour at a time until it becomes more manageable.
Make sure your sourdough starter is active and healthy. A sluggish starter won’t have the strength to leaven the bread properly. Check out my tips on how to maintain a healthy starter. Also, double-check that your rising environment is warm enough. A cool draft or chilly kitchen can slow down or even stop the rising process.
Yes, you can! You can bake the bread on a baking sheet if you don’t have a Dutch oven. To create a steamy environment, place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of your oven while the bread is baking.
A good way to tell if your starter is active is to do the “float test.” Drop a small spoonful of starter into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready to bake! If it sinks, it must be fed and given more time to become active.
More Cinnamon and Raisin Breads
I love the cinnamon raisin flavor. So I made lots of recipes with it. Enjoy!
- This cinnamon raisin swirl sourdough bread is in a loaf style and has a lovely swirl pattern inside.
- Cinnamon raisin swirl bread is almost the same, but there’s no sourdough.
- Iced cinnamon raisin bread has icing that dries firm, so it’s easy to slice.
- No-knead cinnamon raisin bread needs just a few minutes of hands-on time and an overnight rise.
- Ok, there’s no raisins in this cinnamon sugar sourdough boule but there’s still cinnamon and it tastes amazing!
Printable Recipe
Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Equipment
- large bowl
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- ½ cup active sourdough starter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 ¾ cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 4-5 ice cubes
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Instructions
- Mix. In a large bowl, combine the water, active sourdough, and sugar and stir to combine.
- Add half the bread flour. Add half the bread flour to the bowl and stir until well incorporated.
- Add salt and bread flour. Add the salt and the rest of the flour, and use a spatula to mix until everything comes together. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let it sit for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold. Uncover the dough and use wet hands (this prevents the dough from sticking) to pick it up. Stretch the dough upwards and fold it back down towards the center. Turn the bowl ¼ of a turn and repeat. Turn and repeat two more times until the dough has been released from the sides of the bowl. Flip the dough over, cover, and let it sit for 30 minutes.
- Repeat. Repeat the stretch and fold process 2-4 more times, including the 30-minute rest, until the dough stretches easily and is soft and smooth. This will take about 2 hours.
- Add half of the cinnamon and raisins. After your last stretch and fold, it’s time to incorporate the cinnamon and raisins. Sprinkle about half of the cinnamon and raisins over the dough.
- Stretch and fold. Stretch and fold the dough to swirl the cinnamon and raisins into the dough.
- Add the rest of cinnamon and raisins. Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon and raisins over the dough and stretch and fold the dough to get everything incorporated.
- Roll dough. Roll the dough into a loaf shape, tuck in the ends, and place it in a clean bowl. Cover with plastic or a tea towel.
- First rise. Set the dough in a warm place to rise for about 4 hours or until it has doubled in size.
- Shape dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Slightly flatten the dough into a rectangular shape, fold it in the corners, and roll it up, tucking it in the ends.
- Bulk rise. Place the dough in a well-floured banneton (you can use a clean bowl if you do not have a banneton). Cover with a towel, plastic wrap, or a plate and place in the fridge overnight.
- Prep for baking. One hour before you bake the bread, remove the dough from the fridge and let it warm to room temperature. About 30 minutes before your dough is ready, place your Dutch oven into the oven on the lowest rack and preheat to 450°F.
- Score the dough. Place your dough onto parchment paper or a silicone bread mat. Using a bread razor (or a very sharp knife), score the dough vertically along the midline (you can make fun designs at this point).
- Bake. Once the oven has preheated, remove the lid from your Dutch oven, add 4-5 ice cubes to the inside, place the dough with the parchment paper into the Dutch oven, and bake it covered for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F, remove the lid, and bake the bread uncovered for 20-25 minutes.
- Cool. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes before cutting into it.
Nutrition
Love,
Hey Maureen, yes, for this recipe, I do all the stretches in one session without pausing between. It’s a little different from regular sourdough, where you space them out. But if you prefer to do them with breaks in between, that should work too! Hope that helps, and happy baking!