World's Best Cinnamon Raisin Bread (Not Bread Machine)

I made this bread today, and it is amazing! I read all the reviews, and I did make some additions based on the helpful suggestions of others: I added 1 Tablespoon of sugar to the water that the yeast was proofing in, and I also added 1/4 c. white sugar, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. salt to the dough. I also added 2 cups of raisins to the overall recipe (so there are 3 c. TOTAL), and put half of them (1 1/2 c.) in the dough, and half of them in the filling. I was a little worried that the chunks of softened butter would screw up the dough, but they were fine, and it didn't matter that they were all chunky before I put the flour in. I guess the kneading took care of them. It took me about 9 cups of flour to have a dough that was manageable. I also changed the filling a bit. I used 2/3 c. brown sugar (packed), 2/3 c. white sugar, 1/4 c. cinnamon, and I mixed it all together and sprinkled 1/3 of it in each loaf with the remaining raisins. The baking temperature was right on, and my loaves were done in 30 minutes. I'm sorry I messed with your recipe so much, but thanks so much for posting it! I am SO glad I took the time to try it and for all the others who have tried it and made the suggestions that made mine such a success. Thank you Lydia. :)

I don't write reviews nor did I decide to read any from this recipe...except for the one just before this one...I have tried to make bread for years and gave up trying to find one that was good enough for a repeat. I've been living in Denmark for about five years. They make wonderful bread here but they don't do cinnamon raisin bread here. Needless to say I miss it. Like I said I didn't read any reviews here and made this exactly as it read and lo and behold it was the best bread I've ever made. Holy crap was this good. I was so impressed that I had to set up a profile here to tell you how much I liked it...in fact I have more baking as we speak.

Oh My Stars! Ya'll weren't kidding about the "World's Best Cinnamon Raisin Bread" recipe! I took the advice of some of the others who wrote in and added a couple of my own. It is easier to divide the dough into thirds before you roll it. I did, however, "plump" up my raisins with some hot tap water and a little vanilla extract. And step 18, I just took a stick of butter with a piece of paper towel and lightly rubbed it on the hot bread when I took it out of the oven. This is by far, the BEST cinnamon-raisin recipe ever! Thank you very much!

So good toasted. Yes to soaking raisins and using brown sugar. I would probably use more cinnamon and brown sugar because the swirl was not significant. The roll makes the loaf perfect for my baking flower pots and looks impressive.

WOW! This bread definitely lives up to its title! I made it last night and my husband was still raving about it as he was leaving for work this morning. Don't let the long list of directions scare you off-it's really pretty simple if you just take it step-by-step and follow the directions.

I had read that the stickier your dough, the fluffier and moister it will be once baked. I didn't use all 8 cups (about 7 instead) and the dough was still a bit sticky but elastic and in one piece. Loved the tip about letting the bread rise in the oven with the light on- worked perfectly in my old, cold kitchen! How have I not known about this before?? Also, when you roll your rectangle up, I found mine to be approximately 24 inches long (in addition to 3 inches thick) if that helps. I also didn't use the whole cup of sugar, only about 1/2 cup, and we found it to be be plenty sweet.

This is a fantastic recipe and I can't wait to try it, as one reviewer suggested, in bread pudding! Yum!!!