Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread

This cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread is super easy to make, and is the perfect bread for breakfast toast. It is also wonderful for French toast and peanut butter sandwiches.

There's something about toasted raisin bread spread with melty salted butter for breakfast.... and it's full of whole grains... a little healthy with your butter.


Note: This recipe makes a lot of dough, about 4 3/4 pounds, including the raisins. You can divide the dough into pan loaves, free standing loaves, or rolls. You can also spray the tops of the loaves with water and press rolled oats into the surface to make them extra pretty.

Math whiz that I am (not), and with my collection of 6 sizes of bread pans (not counting baguette pans), I broke out a 1 pound pan (4 1/2 x 8 inch), a 1 1/2 pound pan (5 x 9 inch), and a 2 pound pan (5 x 10 inch), and, using my kitchen scale (get one! you totally won't regret it), divided the dough among all three. They kind of looked like loaves from Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We gave away two of the loaves, and kept Papa Bear's.

The surface of this bread may burn easily in the hot oven, so keep an eye on your bread and tent the loaves with aluminum foil when they are sufficiently browned. There are few things more fun than watching bread bake through your oven window. Magical, at least for a bread geek like me.

Do you like oats in your bread? After the recipe, check out all of the #BreadBakers members' contributions this month. There are over two dozen different recipes for bread using oats!

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound, 8 ounces (5 1/2 cups) bread flour

8 ounces (1 7/8 cups) whole wheat flour

5.3 ounces (1 5/8 cups) rolled oats

2 1/2 cups water

3/8 cups milk

3 T honey

5 1/2 T vegetable oil

1 T plus 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 T instant yeast

2 T ground cinnamon

10.6 ounces (2 1/8 cups) raisins, soaked in warm water for about 30 minutes, and then well drained

Instructions

1. Add the oats to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the water and mix to moisten for about a minute. Let stand for about 20 minutes. 
2. Add the rest of the ingredients except the raisins and mix with the dough hook on low for three minutes. Change the speed to to medium low and mix for about 4 minutes. 
3. Add the raisins and mix on the lowest speed for about a minute, until the raisins are mixed in. If necessary, knead by hand to get the raisins thoroughly distributed. 
4. Place the dough into a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 2 hours, folding at the one hour mark. 
5. Divide the dough and shape as you wish, into loaves or rolls (see Note above). 
6. Let rise for about 90 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and set a pan on the lowest rack for creating steam, and a rack in the middle for baking the bread. 
8. Place the bread pans on the middle rack and add 4 ice cubes and 1/2 cup of water to the steam pan. Quickly shut the oven door. 
9. After 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 425 degrees F and tent the bread if it is sufficiently browned. Depending on the size of your loaves, the bread should take an additional 30 to 45 minutes more. I use an instant read thermometer to test the loaves. The internal temperature should be about 190 to 200 degrees F. 

Recipe adapted from Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month's host is Rocio from Kids & Chic. Thanks for the wonderful theme!

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Here are the amazing breads!

Oatmeal Bread themed #BreadBakers:

• Blueberry Currant Oatmeal Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Honey Oatmeal Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Honey Oatmeal Bread from Recipes, Food and Cooking
• Honey Wheat Oat Bread from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Lemon Blueberry Oat Bread from Kids & Chic
• Multigrain Twist Bread from What Smells So Good?
• Oat Breadsticks from Passion Kneaded
• Oatmeal and Whole Wheat Rolls from Sneha's Recipe
• Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread from Ruchik Randhap
• Oatmeal Stout Loaf from Food Lust People Love
• Oat & Honey Bread from La Cocina de Aisha
• Oats and Millet Idli from Spice Roots
• Oats Garlic Kulcha from SimplyVeggies
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips Oatmeal Scones from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Triple Seeded Oat Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Whole Wheat Honey Oatmeal Bread from Spill the Spices