This whole grain cinnamon raisin bread is made with spelt and is relatively simple as far as yeasted breads go!
Good 100% whole grain bread recipes aren’t that easy to come by. And most of them can be a bit fussy. But this cinnamon raisin bread? It’s just as easy as a recipe made with white flour! There’s no soaker and no biga required, cutting way down on prep time.
I tried making this with whole wheat flour and it didn’t work out. When you use spelt, it makes things a little tricky. Spelt requires less moisture than wheat, but the question is exactly how much less to use. I’ve read that you should use 10 – 25% less less liquid when using spelt and I know a 15% differential doesn’t sound like that much, but in bread baking it seems to be. I sub whole spelt for whole wheat all the time in non-yeasted baked goods and haven’t had a problem. It’s just in yeasted bread that I have this issue.
So I was extremely excited when I found a recipe on Sonya’s page already calling for whole spelt. My changes were to add more cinnamon because I wanted more of a cinnamon taste and less of a spelt taste, and to give it a cinnamon swirl. You could leave that out if you really want to, but it makes the bread so much more fun and tasty. And whose morning doesn’t need some more excitement?!
I put some icing on top and then realized it was a pretty silly move. This bread is really best toasted and icing in the toaster isn’t the best idea. So ignore that! No comments about how you burned down your kitchen with toasting icing will be allowed. ;)
I don’t know what’s up with German dry yeast, but I haven’t had much luck with it. And neither have my American bread baking friends over here. For this loaf, and all my other yeast breads, I’ve been using a two pound bag of active Red Star Yeast I bought at Sam’s or Costco three years ago. It was only about $4 at the time so it was an amazing value.
And one important thing to note: With most of my recipes, you can’t tell that they’re whole grain. You can with this whole grain cinnamon raisin bread but that’s not a bad thing if you actually like whole grain goodies! Just letting you know because this might be a difficult one to sell to the whole grain haters.
And I just realized that this is vegan and dairy-free. Bonus! And this here maple cinnamon almond butter would go perfect on it. It’s like eating spreadable maple cinnamon candy. :)
100% Whole Spelt Cinnamon Raisin Bread
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup (240ml) warm water
- 2 tablespoons honey or agave (use agave for vegan)
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) melted coconut oil or canola oil
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups (375-438 grams) whole spelt flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 - 1 cup (70 - 140 grams) raisins
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) coconut or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Directions
- In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, warm water and honey. Proof for 5 minutes.
- Add the oil, 1 1/2 cups flour, cinnamon, salt and raisins. Mix with a hand mixer until well combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 30 minutes or until doubled.
- Add more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, just until the dough comes together. I used about 1 1/2 cups in this step, meaning I used 3 cups in the entire recipe.
- Mix the dough on low for 3 minutes. The dough should be just slightly sticky, but not so sticky that you can't work with it.
- Spray an 8 x 4" loaf pan with cooking spray.
- On a floured clean surface or a Silpat, roll the dough into an eight inch square.
- Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
- Roll into a tight loaf and place in the prepared loaf pan.
- Spray the plastic wrap you used to cover the bowl with cooking spray and use this to cover the loaf.
- Let the dough rise for 30-60 minutes in a warm place or until doubled.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake the loaf for 30-40 minutes. It should be golden brown and when tapped, it should sound hollow.
- Let the bread cool in its pan for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Adapted from Arrowhead Mills as seen on Home Cooking with Sonya - Spelt Cinnamon Raisin Bread
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90 comments on “Cinnamon Raisin Bread (vegan, dairy-free, 100% whole grain)” — Add one!
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Can instant yeast be added to the dry ingredients vs active?
I’m sorry for just now seeing this! I haven’t tried it but I imagine that if you use it according to the package directions, it’d work.
Cheers Erin, now I’m excited! I followed an alternate spelt recipe last night which flopped with no rising and it’s now going to be “French toast ” instead this week! I see your proportions of flour to liquid are quite different (less liquid)….. I’ll let you know how successful I am! ;)
I hope that it worked out better! And hopefully the “French toast” wasn’t that bad. ;)
So my husband has gotten into a more healthy diet and made this bread. I don’t like to cook, much less, bake. It was really delicious. He’s been making other things, too, like kumbacha, keto crackers, fat bombs (Google it). I’ve been making yogurt with my Crockpot express multi cooker. That has gotten me to cook more.
That’s great that you’ve been cooking more! It sounds like you’ve both been making some delicious recipes. :) I’m glad that you liked the bread! Thanks for your feedback.
I just made this tonight! It was pretty easy to make in terms of making bread and delicious! My two toddlers and husband loved it as well. Thanks for a great recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m glad that your family enjoyed the bread. :) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
Hi! This recipe looks delicious! My local store only carries arrowhead organic spelt flour, would that work here? It doesn’t say that it’s whole spelt flour. Thanks!
Hello! Yes, that’s the right stuff. Spelt flour is labeled so confusingly. I’d love to hear how the bread comes out if you try it!
Is it possible to cut the loaf before baking to rolls and just bake them like that? Thinking about 9 pieces for a 9×9 square pan.
It’s been many years since I made this (I can’t eat gluten anymore) but I think the dough may not be firm enough to form into rolls. I could be wrong, though! Sorry I don’t have a more helpful answer for you.
Hi Erin,
Would it be ok to use sprouted spelt flour in this recipe?
Hi there! I don’t have any experience using sprouted spelt so I’m not sure. I’ve just started using sprouted oats and finding that things come out denser than with regular oats, so I really don’t know. Sorry about that!
Why won’t my mix double/rise?! Not sure what I’m doing wrong. Is in a warm area covered but no change!
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! Is the yeast still good? Are you sure you’re using the right kind? Here’s a great troubleshooting guide. Click on “Dough did not rise, or rose too slowly.”
This looks fantastic! I’m new to bread making and wondering if I’d be able to use my Kitchen Aid hook instead of the hand mixer? If so, would I let it mix for a shorter amount of time? Thanks for sharing this recipe by the way!
You’re welcome for the recipe! And you can absolutely use the Kitchen Aid hook. You don’t need to alter the instructions at all. :) Hope you’ll enjoy the bread! (and sorry for just now seeing your question!)
I made this recipe today. I am so pleased with the outcome. The bread turned out perfect. I didn’t change a thing.
I will be making this recipe again and again!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks a bunch for your comment. :)
I made this yesterday – it is DELICIOUS!! I’m just wondering how to store it? I imagine with the sugar to put it in the fridge? And if so, how long will it last? Thank you!
Hi there! Sorry for just now seeing your comment. I’m so happy that you enjoyed the bread! It can be kept wrapped up at room temperature for up to a few days. Thanks for your comment and sorry again for the slow reply!
Love this! It looks delicious but is way healthier than traditional cinnamon raisin bread. I’ve never baked with spelt flour, only whole wheat and almond flour. I’ve been wanting to experiment with different flours, I actually just bought coconut flour. I’m going to add spelt four to my list. Thanks!
I’m so sorry I just now saw your comment! I don’t know how I missed it. And I’m so excited that you bought or will buy some spelt! It’s really awesome in this bread. :) I hope you’ll get to try it out! Thanks for your comment and sorry again for the slow reply.
Hi!
I just wonder if raisin mean they are dries raisins or fresh ones?
Thank you!
Hi there! I mean dried ones. Wouldn’t fresh ones be grapes? :)
Lovely.
Thanks! :)
Hi Erin, we tried your recipe this morning and it turned out just perfect! We used 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 white spelt flour and German dry yeast ;-) Delicious :-)
Haha. That’s awesome that it came out well with German dry yeast. I’ve had the worst luck with American recipes and German yeast! And good to know that that mix of wheat and spelt worked out well. :) Thanks so much for your feedback!
Just tried this recipe but instead of bread i made little bread rolls and it worked beautifully. i let it sit for about half and hour maybe max 35 min because its peak summer here and hot in the kitchen. i also combined coconut sugar cinnamon and a little bit of coconut oil and made a paste and just glades it over the top omg the rolls didn’t even last 3 hours in my house hold heheh thanks 4 the great recipe. is there a instagram i can tag u once i upload the photo .???? :)
Haha. I’m so happy that they came out well as rolls! I definitely want to try that. My name on Instagram is texanerin. I’d love to see your rolls! Thanks so much for the feedback. :)
The recipe and the pictures look amazing. ❤️
I know you mention that this bread won’t work with Whole Wheat Flour? But I was wondering how much more liquid to add if I wanted to use whole wheat flour?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Thanks! :) Since I haven’t had success with using whole wheat flour in this recipe (I’ve tried), I’m not sure how much liquid you’d need. I recommend using this recipe, and adding some cinnamon and a cinnamon swirl. I hope that helps!
Hi! Just found this recipe and YUM! However my bread didn’t rise when baked. I was really careful not to over mix the spelt. It rose beautifully on the counter but come time for the oven it actually reduced in size. Any tips? Luckily it didn’t really effect the taste!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it, Melodee! Sorry to hear that it shrunk in the oven, though. That’s happened to me before when I’ve let the dough rise for too long. Then it sometimes collapses a little or like you said… just gets smaller in the oven. Here’s a little something about it! Hope that helps and thanks for your feedback! :)
Yum! I LOVE cinnamon bread, but hate raisins. Sadly the the whole grain store bought cinnamon bread (Ezekiel, etc) all contain raisins. I can’t wait to try your recipe, sans raisins, I think I’ll decrease the brown sugar though.
I hope you’ll enjoy it, Kristin! Let me know how it goes. :)
My dad was telling me how he wishes bakeries or grocery stores would sell whole grain raisin bread… so I searched and found this recipe…
It turned out amazing! And I found it very easy to make. I could not find whole spelt flour in the store so I used whole grain flour specifically for baking bread and we loved it. My house smelled so lovely of fresh bread and cinnamon.
If you do decide to use whole grain flour, I used a total of 3 cups.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Oh, wow. I’m so happy that whole wheat worked for you! And thanks for adding the note about using 3 cups if using whole wheat. :) That sounds about right. That was so sweet of you to make bread for your father. I hope he was happy with it! Thanks a ton for the feedback. :)
I make all my bread in a bread maker. Has anyone tried to make this in a bread maker?
I haven’t used a bread maker in years and so I haven’t tried this recipe in one but I’m assuming it would work. :)
Did you use your bread machine with this recipe?
Thanks
Donna
Hi Erin, I made this bread the other day and while it’s yummy, it’s pretty crumbly. Is that typical with spelt breads? Or do you have any ideas to fix it? Thanks! Lise
Hi Lise! I’m sorry to hear that it came out crumbly. It’s definitely not typical of spelt bread or this loaf! Did you follow the recipe exactly or did you make some changes? If it came out crumbly, it sounds like perhaps there was too much flour or that it was in the oven too long. So sorry I couldn’t be more of a help!
Well, I’m glad to hear that it’s not typical of spelt breads, because I love the flavor of spelt flour! Perhaps I left it in too long – the last loaf I made (in a crockpot, long story) wasn’t totally done and I had to stick it back in with a piece missing ;). So maybe I’m erring too far the other way! Thanks for the suggestion!
Next time, use a thermometer and when it reaches 190F, you’re good! And perhaps weigh the flour. It could be you just pack your cups tighter than I do. :)
Cinnamon Raisin bread is one of my favorite things–I have a feeling I’d love your whole grain version. :)
I think you would, too! ;)
Your first statement is so right! It’s not hard to sub 50% whole grains in place of white flours but all of it? So hard! I LOVE cinnamon raisin bread and of course I’m thrilled that you used all whole spelt flour for this. I have to try this!
I hope you’ll like it, Heidi! :)
Erin, this is a perfect loaf of bread!!! I would like to have this for breakfast please. Wish I had a fresh loaf right now…
So do I, Jen! I’ll send you some next time. ;)
Delish! I can just imagine a slice of this toasted with a bit of butter. Oh how great your house must have smelled!
Ooooh… how about with butter and cinnamon sugar?! YES! :D
I need to find where I can get Spelt. I do like whole grain goodies, especially bread – so I want to try this!
Yeah, it stinks. It’s hard to find in the US! Whole spelt, which is the good stuff, is even more difficult to find. :(
I have to get whole spelt from the local natural food store. I bake with spelt and have discovered that not only does it require about an extra 1/8 cup per 1 cup as a conversion from wheat, it only requires one rise. Once you get the ratio down, you should be able to substitute spelt in any wheat recipe. I am gluten intolerant but because spelt is gluten friendly (it still has gluten) I can eat it!
Thanks for the tip! I usually add extra spelt when I use a recipe meant for whole wheat, but then I find that the other amounts are off. The yeast, the cinnamon, etc. So I try reducing the liquid. And it usually doesn’t come out. I’ll try using your formula. Thank you! :)
This looks so delish! That swirl is seriously calling my name!
Thanks! I’m happy that the swirl did its job. :)
I love baking with spelt flour! This loaf looks amazing, girl!
Thanks, Ashley! :) And agreed – spelt is awesome!
I’ll take three slices, please. (With lots of butter!)
My math skills are sad, so dealing with percentages is kind of nightmare – thanks for finding an easy recipe. :D
Your bread looks gorgeous! Great job!
Thanks, Kristi! :)
Wow x10000!! A non-fussy, EASY, whole wheat bread recipe. Ahhh you’ve done it Erin! It looks so soft, so cinnamon-y, and I love all the raisins. Cinnamon Raisin bread is my favorite kind and I’ve never seen a whole wheat version before. Pinning this one!
Thanks for pinning! And thanks for the nice comment. :) I have another version of whole grain cinnamon bread but it’s way more complex. So happy to have found this one!
I need to try a spelt flour, and this bread will be a good ocasion.
I have some here! We can use it today. :)
I like whole grain! Well at least I like it in bread. I tend to not like it so much in cakes and such, but this is bread and I love bread, especially cinnamon swirl bread. I’m not allowed to buy cinnamon swirl bread anymore because I did that once and within three hours half the loaf was gone, whoops :P
This bread looks very good, and the spelt makes it more interesting :)
Haha. I do the same with fresh bread. So you’d better not make this. ;) And how do you not like it in cakes and stuff? You can hide the flavor there!
This is awesome, I love the swirl!
Thank you, Anna! :)
I’m imagining how good this would be toasted. I suppose it would ruin the great nutritional value of it though to smother it in butter but maybe it would just come out even, what do you think? It looks wonderful and I’m imagining the aroma when it’s baking, mmmm mmmm
It would most definitely come out even! Smothering it in butter makes sense. We all need some fat in our diets. ;)
I’ve never worked with spelt flour before but I’m definitely curious! I’ve been using a ton of white whole wheat flour since it’s pretty mild – I need to slowly introduce whole wheat goodness to my husband ;)
But spelt tastes even less whole grainy! At least to me. Whole wheat tastes pretty healthy, in my opinion. Spelt? Less so. :) I hope you and your husband will like spelt!
You could always try easing the family into it. I did it by starting with all white spelt, then I introduced half white spelt and half whole spelt. Finally, I went to whole spelt. Each level was a little more dense, but when using the correct amount of yeast, it will still be pretty light in comparison to other whole grain breads (excluding store bought, those are always the lightest from processing). Also, spelt has a nuttier flavor that wheat so spelt bread tastes delish!
Thanks for the tips, Heather! This bread is definitely a nice fluffy one. But I agree – whole spelt is so much yummier than whole wheat! I’m not a fan of healthy tasting goodies. ;)
Oh, this bread looks so good! Love the cinnamon swirl and your maple-cinnamon almond butter suggestion sounds perfect!
Thanks, Laura! :)
I’ve never used spelt, so I’m glad for your little Spelt101 in here :) This bread looks amazing, bonus points for being vegan and pretty low on oil. Think it’s safe to say this is going to be my first venture into using spelt!
I hope you’ll enjoy it, Kelly! Let me know how it comes out. And happy that my little spelt schooling was beneficial to someone. ;)
Mmmmm…this sounds great! I totally agree, whole wheat recipes are hard to find. I like the fact that this one is not difficult to make.
Thanks, Holly! And yeah, most whole grain bread recipes taste too healthy. I don’t like that at all!
I think the icing looks fine over the top but you are right though, not very practical when you want to toast the bread :-) I haven’t made bread in for ever, I think pizza dough is about as close I have gotten lately. The bread looks really spongy like for a 100% whole wheat loaf. I am sure this bread was gone in no time :-)
Now that I think about it, you don’t post much bread, do you? Why not? Bread is just so yummy, especially when fresh from the oven! I hope to see more bread recipes from you soon. :D
This sounds absolutely perfect! Love the spelt flour in there. I need to bake with it more!
Yeah, you do! It’s great stuff. And thanks. :D