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cinnamon-raisin swirl bread
No yeast? No problem! This sweet bread relies on baking soda and buttermilk to make it tall and fluffy. It’s perfect for a breakfast treat!
Prepare Ingredients
Gather Baking Equipment
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray inside bottom and sides of 8½-by-4½-inch metal loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.
In small bowl, whisk together cinnamon and 6 tablespoons sugar. Set aside. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and remaining 1 cup sugar.
In large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, and eggs. Add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture and use rubber spatula to stir until just combined and no dry flour is visible. Add raisins and gently stir to combine. Do not overmix.
Use measuring cups to measure 1½ cups batter into greased loaf pan (use rubber spatula to level batter and scrape it out of cups). Smooth batter into even layer. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar evenly over batter. Repeat layering 2 more times with remaining batter and cinnamon sugar (there will be 3 of each layer in total).
Insert butter knife into batter until tip touches bottom of loaf pan. Swirl cinnamon sugar and batter together, moving knife side to side and down length of pan. Make sure tip of knife touches pan bottom as you work. Smooth top of loaf into even layer.
Place loaf pan in oven. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean, 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Food for Thought
Bread in a Hurry
Most breads rely on yeast for their height, but yeast needs hours to make dough rise. What if you want to skip all that rising time? Quick breads, like this Cinnamon‑Raisin Swirl Bread, are made with chemical leaveners—baking powder, baking soda, or a combination—instead of yeast. When baking soda comes in contact with an acidic liquid, like lemon juice or the buttermilk in our recipe, it creates carbon dioxide gas. That gas causes batters and doughs to rise and gives quick breads and other baked goods, such as cakes and brownies, their height. Baking powder already contains an acid, so as soon as it comes in contact with a liquid, it gets to work creating carbon dioxide.
