This easy no knead cinnamon raisin walnut bread has an incredible texture and flavor with minimal effort. The golden raisins add sweetness and the walnuts add crunch with just the right amount of cinnamon mixed in. Only 15 minutes of active cooking – time does all the hard work for you!
Why this recipe works
- Simple no knead technique adapted from the great Jim Lahey
- Requires minimal time and effort
- A long rise develops better texture and flavor
- Easy for beginners – no experience necessary
- Only 7 ingredients
- Makes the best cinnamon toast!
Essential Ingredients
- Raisins – I love golden raisins for their fruitiness and color but dark raisins will work just as well.
- Flour – All purpose does the trick but you can also use bread flour if you wish.
- Yeast – Instant, quick rise, rapid rise, and active dry will all work
Helpful Tools
- Bench Scraper – One of my most used tools in the kitchen. It’s essential for cutting and moving around dough and is great for cleaning caked-on flour off your counters.
- Bowl Scraper – Similar to a bench scraper but made of a flexible material, a bowl scraper does exactly what it says. Can also be used like a bench scraper.
- Dutch Oven – Creates a hot steamy environment for the bread to develop a nice crust. It doesn’t have to be one of the expensive French ones. See FAQ for substitutions.
Step by Step Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon and yeast.
- Add the raisins and walnuts and mix to coat.
- Pour in the water and stir until just combined.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and place the bowl in a warm, draft free spot to rise for 12-18 hours (I like to do it overnight). The dough is ready when it smells yeasty, is more than doubled in size and is dotted with bubbles all over.
- Turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, dust with flour, then turn it over onto itself twice, like a book.
- Gently shape the dough into a ball, then cover with a towel and let rise for an additional hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a large dutch oven or other oven-proof pot with a lid into the oven as it heats up and leave it in there for at least 30 minutes to get nice and hot.
- Score the top of the dough with a sharp knife, then use a bench scraper to carefully transfer it to the pot.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and allow it to cook for another 10-30 minutes, depending, to let it get deep brown and caramelized.
- Remove bread from the dutch oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing.
Tips for Success
- Make sure your yeast is active. Check the expiration date and if you’ve had it for a while, try proofing it in warm water first to make sure it’s still alive. Store opened yeast packets in the fridge or freezer.
- If making this bread in cold weather, you will likely need all 18 hours for it to rise. In warmer summer months it will rise much quicker. You will know it’s ready when it has more than doubled in size and the surface is filled with bubbles.
- The dough should be quite sticky. Avoid adding too much excess flour along the way.
- For the best accuracy, use a kitchen scale to measure ingredients
Faq
Yes, but you’ll have the better results if you mix half wheat flour and half all purpose flour. Using all whole wheat will result in a dense bread.
I don’t recommend making this gluten free. Try this Paleo Pecan Streusel Banana Bread instead!
There may have been too much flour added or it may have not risen enough. It will likely need the full 17-18 hours to rise unless it’s very warm where you are.
Your oven may run hot (it’s common), so check with a separate oven thermometer and make adjustments as needed. Also, make sure the convection setting is not turned on.
Any large oven-safe pot with a cover can be used. Just make sure it’s large enough to hold the bread and can withstand a very high oven temperature. If you don’t have a lid, you can use heavy duty tin foil, but make sure it’s very tightly sealed.
This bread will dry out and go stale within a day or two. The best way to preserve it is to slice it and freeze in a zip-top bag or airtight container. Simply defrost a slice when you’re ready to eat or add it straight to the toaster from the freezer.
Related Recipes
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Cinnamon Raisin Walnut No-Knead Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour plus 15-20 hours inactive rise time
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: bread
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This easy to make no-knead cinnamon raisin bread takes minimal effort, yet produces a bread with incredible flavor and texture. Plus, it makes the most amazing cinnamon toast. Adapted from Jim Lahey.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (370–390 g) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) salt
- 3 tablespoons (43 g) sugar
- 1 tablespoon (28 g) cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) instant yeast
- 1 ½ cups ( 355 ml)luke-warm water
- 1 scant cup walnuts
- 1 scant cup golden raisins (regular raisins are fine)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon and yeast.
- Add the raisins and walnuts and mix to coat, then pour in the water and stir until just combined.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and place the bowl in a warm, draft free spot to rise for 12-18 hours (I like to do it overnight). The dough is ready when it smells yeasty, has more than doubled in size and is dotted with bubbles all over.
- Turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, dust with flour, then turn it over onto itself twice, like a book. Gently shape the dough into a ball, then cover with a towel and let rise for an additional hour.
- In the meantime preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a large dutch oven or other oven-proof pot with a lid into the oven as it heats up and leave it in there for 30 minutes to get nice and hot.
- Score the top of the dough with a sharp knife, then use a bench scraper to carefully transfer it to the pot.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and allow it to cook for another 10-30 minutes, depending, to let it get deep brown and caramelized.
- Remove bread from the dutch oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- It will likely take at least 16 or the whole 18 hours for the bread to rise unless it’s very warm where you are.
- Bread will keep, wrapped tightly, at room temperature for up to 3 days. I prefer to slice the bread then place it in a zip-top bag and freeze it. Slices can be removed straight from the freezer and toasted for best results.
Keywords: no knead, bread, cinnamon raisin, walnuts, toast, butter, easy, recipe
Danielle
I love those photos. So warm and cozy. We’re actually getting a “cool” front this weekend, so I think it’s time for me to give this bread a shot.
So excited to hear about that Chile trip! Please eat some seabass for me. I know it’s not a sustainable choice, but damn it’s worth the occasional splurge.
Coley
Do it! And please have that extra slice for me. Now about that Chilean seabass… is it actually from Chile? I’m with ya though… Not sustainable, but sooo buttery and delicious.
Danielle
They’re really Patagonian toothfish, and they do fish for them there, but I guess they’re not that popular on menus. Hope you have an amazing trip. Can’t wait to hear about all the food and see all the pics!
Coley
I am usually obsessive about researching anything and everything about a place before I go, but there’s not a whole lot about Chile out there (at least for towns were headed to). That said, I didn’t see any mention of Chilean sea bass in any of my searches. I wonder if they call it something different there? They must! Right? I will be sure to do some digging once I’m there to find out, and if it’s on the menu, I’m ordering it. When in Rome…
Vidya
Hi would you know if active yeast would work for the recipe? Thank you
Coley
absolutely!! go for it. 😀
K. G
Easy, delicious no knead bread
★★★★★
Coley
thank you!
.Marie
Not happy with finished product. Produced a load that is very tight and heavy. Thinking only a half teaspoon of yeast just isn’t enough.
Coley
I’m sorry this didn’t work for you, Marie. How long did you let the dough rise overnight? Did it fully double in size? If not, you may have needed to leave it longer or there’s a chance your yeast was bad. I would give it another try!
Diaa
Hi
Can I use half the quantity or will it be small? if yes for the half, do I need to just use half of all ingredients?
Coley
I’ve never tried it but I don’t see why not. Yes, your loaf will be small and therefore will require a much shorter bake time. If you do it, let me know how it turns out!
Carrie Reed
I had the same experience as another baker in that the dough didn’t rise enough and felt dense after 16 hours. Since I only used a portion of the yeast package I proofed the rest and it foamed up beautifully so it wasn’t my yeast. I ended up putting the dough into my food processor with the dough blade and added the extra proofed yeast and a bit more flour and it rose very nicely and was good when baked. The processor pretty much decimated the raisins and walnuts though so I’ll give it another try in the future. The temperature was a bit too high as well so I’ll have to adjust it lower next time so my crust doesn’t scorch (I baked as directed and only did 5 additional minutes with the lid off but it scorched on the top and bottom). I do t know what could have gone wrong, I followed the recipe initially until I could see it was going to be wasted if I didn’t do something. Could it be altitude? I am at 4500 feet. It’s also winter so it may not have been warm enough in my house (I put the dough into a slightly warm oven initially but it didn’t stay warm overnight). The flavor and texture are both quite good but the crust was ruined and I really like whole raisins and walnut chunks so it was disappointing.
★★★
Coley
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you. The amount of yeast called for and oven temperature in the recipe are both correct. There are a few things that could have happened – If the water you added to the dough was too warm it could have killed the yeast which would have caused it not to rise. Similarly, the oven you put it in to proof may have been too warm at first and could have killed the yeast that way as well. It also could have had to do with the altitude (unfortunately I have no experience with high altitude baking) or could have needed to take longer because of the cold temperature. As for the crust getting scorched in the oven – again, the temperature may have to be adjusted for the altitude or your oven may just run hotter (many do – get an oven thermometer to be sure). Yeast doughs can be finicky and again I’m sorry this didn’t work out, but I hope you give it another try!
Helene Henry
Hi! I am wondering if you can make this recipe without a dutch oven?
★★★★★
Coley
You really do need the dutch oven, or a very large oven safe pot with a lid. The heavier, the better. You can bake it uncovered in a pan and I’m sure it would turn out okay, but you won’t get the same crust as if you used the Dutch oven.
Penny
I forgot to add the cinnamon last night and the dough has already risen. Can I add the cinnamon in now, before baking? If so, how?
Coley
Hmm. I would sprinkle the cinnamon over top and gently fold it in. It wil still be delicious if it’s not fully incorporated but more of a cinnamon swirl. Please report back and let me know how it works out!
Penny
Thank you for your guidance! I added the cinnamon before folding the dough and baked it as usual. The finished bread was just as beautiful and delicious as always. Thanks for your advice and quick response. You saved the day!
Coley
So glad it worked out!!
Nic
This bread makes the best cinnamon toast and always comes out delicious!
★★★★★