Perfectly soft and sweet, with an amazing soft and fluffy texture with a slight chew from oats, this cinnamon raisin oat bread will be your new favorite breakfast or snack! I am truly so excited to share this recipe with you today; it’s currently one of my absolute favorite recipes!

About a month ago in early December I was randomly craving something cinnamon raisin. Which, if you know me is very surprising since I’m much more of a chocolate person. OR chocolate + peanut butter. Since I had already made oatmeal raisin cookies, I wanted to try something new. If I remember correctly, it was also late at night which meant I didn’t want to go to the grocery store so needed to use what was in my pantry.

Enter this delicious cinnamon raisin bread (or muffins, I’ve made it both ways! Whatever you’re feeling like). Filled with oats (going for an oatmeal raisin cookie flavor theme here), almond butter, maple syrup, applesauce, cinnamon and nutmeg, and raisins. The ingredient line up is quite impressive I have to say, and I can 100% promise you you’d never guess this bread is actually filled with healthy, wholesome ingredients.

Since that first time making this cinnamon raisin bread, I’ve made it at least 4 times to test various other ingredient options. I also wanted my family to try it over Christmas. And let’s be honest, much of it was eaten by yours truly. ? In case you’re wondering, my absolute favorite way to eat this cinnamon raisin bread is warmed up and topped with copious amounts of either cinnamon butter (store bought) or this homemade cinnamon raisin almond butter.

Cinnamon Raisin Oat Bread Ingredients

Oat flour.

Nothing complicated here, folks. Simply add two cups of oats (any kind, old-fashioned whole oats or quick oats) to a blender or food processor and process until a fine flour forms (aka oat flour). A quick note: I did find out with recipe testing that very finely ground flour has the best taste/texture here. I had the best results when using my Vitamix. The muffins in these photos were made with oat flour that was more coarsely ground, and the bread had more finely ground oat flour. Another option if you don’t want to be bothered with making your own flour is to simply buy store bought oat flour, which is found in the baking aisle. You’ll need 1 3/4 cups oat flour, since the 2 cups of oats break down when you grind them.

 Applesauce.

While I wouldn’t say this bread has any apple flavor, the applesauce helps bind the ingredients together and keep it moist. You could absolutely try substituting 1 cup of mashed banana instead, but that would definitely affect the taste. I recommend the neutral tasting applesauce, and not to mention this is an ingredient I always have on hand in my pantry! I used two of the single serving cups, which are perfect when you just need a certain amount for a recipe.

Flax eggs.

Another pantry staple for me, I always have ground flax meal on hand (I keep in the fridge to stay fresher longer). Combining one tablespoon of ground flax with 2.5 tablespoons of water can create a “gel” or egg-like binder to use in place of egss in recipes. This is a great vegan option if you need that!  However, I’ve also tested this recipe using two eggs, and both options work great!

Milk.

I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk in almost all of my recipes (since that’s what I have on hand), but any type of milk will do (whole, 2%, skim, soy, cashew, etc.).

Almond butter.

I think almond butter pairs perfectly with the cinnamon and raisin flavors. I personally wouldn’t use peanut butter in place of the almond butter, as that would have a very strong taste. As much as I LOVE peanut butter, that’s not the flavor I was going for here. I’ve also used cashew butter, melted coconut oil, and melted butter which all turned out great!

Raisins.

You can’t exactly have a cinnamon RAISIN bread without raisins, haha! I have used both ½ cup and ¾ cup; use whatever your preference is! I have used both golden raisins and regular raisins in this bread (just using what I had on hand); of course any type of raisins will work! You could substitute other dried fruit (chopped dates, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.) but again you’d be really changing the flavor profile here.