Cinnamon Raisin Bread (vegan, dairy-free, 100% whole grain)
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 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. I only experience this issue in yeasted bread.
I was extremely excited when I found a recipe on Sonya’s page that already called 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 wanted to let you know, as 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 perfectly on it. It’s like eating spreadable maple cinnamon candy. :)
Cinnamon Raisin Bread (vegan, dairy-free, 100% whole grain)
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup (240 ml) water warm
- 2 tablespoons honey or agave, use agave for vegan
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) coconut oil melted or canola oil
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups (375 to 438 grams) whole spelt flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 – 1 cup (70 to 140 grams) raisins
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) coconut or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, warm water and honey. Proof for 5 minutes.2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 cup (240 ml) water, 2 tablespoons honey
- Add the oil, 1 1/2 cups flour (ignore the amount below – it's a technical issue I can't change), cinnamon, salt and raisins. Mix with a hand mixer until well combined.2 tablespoons (28 grams) coconut oil, 3 to 3 1/2 cups (375 to 438 grams) whole spelt flour, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 – 1 cup (70 to 140 grams) raisins
- 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.1/4 cup (50 grams) coconut, 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 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.
Notes
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator.
- Adapted from Arrowhead Mills as seen on Home Cooking with Sonya – Spelt Cinnamon Raisin Bread.
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