Gluten-free Cinnamon Raisin Bread combines the cozy taste of cinnamon and raisins with the tender, chewy nooks and crannies of traditional bread. Eat it soft and fresh or toast it for a little crunch. Either way this vegan, refined sugar-free and nut-free bread should be added to your list of quick but comforting breakfast food!
Gluten-free Cinnamon Raisin Bread
One of the biggest challenges of making gluten-free baked goods is creating the right blend of flours and starches to mimic the soft and chewy texture of their glutenous counterpart. The blend that I created for this bread is a-maz-ing!
The top of the loaf has that crusty firm shell of fresh-baked bread. When I cut into the loaf I think I may have heard the angels sing! The knife gently made its way through without producing broken chunks or a plethora of crumbs. Instead, there before me lay a fully intact slice of bread, containing those sought after nooks and crannies so often illusive in gluten-free bread. The mouthfeel was wonderful — tender and chewy.
Nut-free Cinnamon Raisin Bread
I have heard from so many people with nut allergies how difficult it is to find gluten-free recipes that don’t contain nuts or nut flours. I am happy to report that this recipe is nut-free.
It does contain coconut oil which is disputably not from a nut. While many people have allergies to coconut, it is usually classified as a drupe (a fruit with a hard covering that encloses a seed). But safety first! If you are not comfortable consuming coconut oil then feel free to replace it with grapeseed oil.
Switchy Changey
I truly love this recipe just the way it is. But anytime I develop a recipe I always try to account for as many taste preferences and dietary restrictions as possible. If you are a serious lover of cinnamon, I think you could add another teaspoon or two of cinnamon.
When using sweetener (in this case I use maple syrup and coconut palm sugar) I add the minimum amount required to make the recipe taste delicious and legit without going over the top. If you are not concerned about reducing sugars in your diet and you desire a sweeter loaf, you could use 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar instead of the 1/3 cup I call for in the recipe.
Have Fun!
I love to change up the dried fruit! I substitute regular raisins with golden raisins or cherries. One of my all time favorite combinations is golden raisins with dried sour cherries, yumm! Though I haven’t tried it, next on my list is dried apricot.
Looking for another fruit bread? Try my Gluten-free Cranberry Banana Bread. Or maybe something savory like my Rosmarino Vegan Flatbread. If you can’t decide, perhaps something in between like my Vegan Brazilian Cheese Bread. Enjoy!!
Gluten-free Cinnamon Raisin Bread combines the cozy taste of cinnamon and raisins with the tender, chewy nooks and crannies of traditional bread. Eat it soft and fresh or toast it for a little crunch. Either way this vegan, refined sugar-free and nut-free bread should be added to your list of quick but comforting breakfast food!
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm filtered water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (or one packet)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup plant-based milk (room temperature)
- 5 tablespoons golden flaxseed meal (to place in milk for flax egg)
- 3 tablespoons melted refined coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
- Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1/2 cup white rice flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch
- 1/2 cup arrowroot
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar (may be increased by up to three tablespoons if sweeter flavor is desired)
- 2 tablespoons finely ground cinnamon (more can be added if stronger cinnamon flavor desired)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
Instructions
- 1) Pour one cup warm water into small bowl. It should be warmer than skin temperature but not too hot (about 110 degrees Fahreneheit) or it will kill the yeast. Sprinkle yeast on top and add maple syrup then stir gently and set aside (it needs to sit for a mininum of five minutes).
- 2) In a separate bowl combine plant-based milk and golden flaxseed meal. Set aside for at least five minutes until thickened and slightly gelled.
- 3) While yeast and flax mixtures are sitting, combine 11 dry ingredients in large mixing bowl and stir well. I like to use a whisk to ensure that everything is thoroughly combined.
- 4) Add melted coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla to flax mixture and stir until combined. I also like to use a small whisk in this case to ensure they are thoroughly mixed. Then add flax mixture to yeast mixture and stir gently to combine.
- 5) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir gently with a wooden spoon until combined. The consistency will be more like batter than dough.
- 6) Pour into a greased 8"x 4" or 9"x 5" loaf pan. Set aside in a warm area while preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The amount the loaf rises will depend on many variables in your environment (i.e. room temperature, age of yeast used, etc.) Do not allow the loaf to rise higher than 1/2 inch from the top of the pan or it may overflow when baking (this is normal with gluten-free breads as they lack the structure). I usually place a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom of my oven to catch any potential overflow if I use the smaller pan. The larger pan will yield a slightly shorter loaf.
- Place loaf pan in center of the oven and bake about 45-50 minutes until a toothpick is inserted deep into the center and comes out dry. Cooking times may vary. Remove from oven and place on a baking rack to cool. Once loaf is cool enough to handle with bare hands run a butter knife around the edges and invert to remove. It should fall out with relative ease.
- To store I wrap the loaf in wax paper and place in a air tight container in the refrigerator.
Jeanine says
Hello,
I canβt have flax. Any thoughts on swapping the flax egg to chia egg or egg replacer? Iβm not sure how that would change the plant milk amount. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you!
Jana says
Hi Jeanine! Yes, a chia egg would be a great substitute for the flax egg. The amount of plant milk would remain the same. I hope this helps. Enjoy!
Rozina says
Hi. Thanks for the recipe. I really want to try this. How can I make it yeast free as I am intolerant to it.
Jana says
HI Rozina, I have not tried making my recipe without the yeast. I think you could try eliminating the yeast, but the outcome would be more like a denser cake bread rather than a loaf style bread with nooks and cranies. Also, the recipe would still need the cup of liquid that is also used to dissolve the yeast. I’m just not sure, without trying it myself, if the liquid amount would need to be adjusted at all. I hope this helps. π
Ryan says
I only have brown rice flour and arrowroot flour. Can I use a whole cup of brown rice flour instead of 1/2 cup of brown and 1/2 cup white? Same for the arrowroot (can I use a whole cup of that instead of 1/2 cup of arrowroot and 1/2 cup of tapioca? Thanks so much! Looks delicious!
Jana says
HI Ryan! I have not tried your suggestions, but I think you could probably give it a try. Using all brown rice flour instead of half white rice flour may yield a slightly earthier flavor. I’m not sure about using all arrowroot instead of half tapioca. I don’t have any reason why it would not work. If you decide to give it a try please let me know how it goes! I hope this helps. π
Kristin says
Hi! My daughter also can’t have oats π she has heaps of allergies – would banana flour, or sorghum flour be ok to replace the oat flour? Thank you!!
Jana says
Hi Kristin! Sorghum flour should be ok to replace the oat flour but I would probably add a little extra coconut palm sugar (I address this in the ingredients section of the recipe card). I find sorghum flour to be a little more earthy than oat flour so I think this would help to balance the flavors. I hope this helps! π
Shannon says
Hi Jana,
This looks like a ‘must try’. How many eggs would I use to replace the milk and flax?
Jana says
Hi Shannon, That’s an interesting question. I haven’t tried it with eggs myself. If I had to make an educated guess I would say three or four eggs (depending on size). Then the issue would be making up the rest of the fluids provided by the cup of milk. So what I might do is crack your eggs into a measuring cup and if it is not a full cup make up the difference by adding milk or water. I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes if you decide to give it a try! π
Goda says
Hi, if I wanted to do it NOT gluten-free, how can I sub the flours/starches?
Jana says
Hi! I have not tried it myself but I think you could sub most glutenous flours for the 3 cups of gluten-free flours and starches that I used in this recipe. I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes! π