Name: Chai & Cinnamon Sourdough Raising Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 55 min
Ingredients: 3 Cups Organic Bread Flour (or favorite flour); 1 tsp. Sea Salt; 2 Tbsp. Chai Mix*; 1 Cup Raisins; 1 1/2 Cups Warm Water; 1/2 Cup Sourdough Starter; 2 Tbsp. Butter or Coconut Oil, softened; 5 Tbsp. Cassia Cinnamon (or any powdered cinnamon); 2 Tbsp. Nutmeg; 1 Tbsp. Ginger; 2 tsp. Cardamom; 1 tsp. Cloves; 1 tsp. White Pepper

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Here’s a simple but truly delicious chai spice and cinnamon sourdough raisin bread to celebrate the coming fall season. This sourdough is very straighforward to make and we have lots of links to help you improve your sourdough skills, if you need some practice. The combination of spice and sourdough tang creates a loaf that’s perfect for tea time or anytime!

More Sourdough Recipes for Later:

Grape Rosemary Sourdough Loaf

Cranberry Sauce Sourdough Bread

Mini Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

I’m not going to spend a lot of time gabbing about this recipe because it’s so simple and straightforward. Some sourdough loaves with inclusions get fancy, and there’s a place for that – they’re delicious!

However, this chai and cinnamon sourdough raisin bread loaf is easy enough to make for a daily fika break, tea time, or healthy treat. My chai spice includes hearty cinnamon but no black tea, FYI.

Chai & Cinnamon Sourdough Raisin Bread Recipe

This delicious chai and cinnamon sourdough raisin bread will warm you through as a breakfast bread or even as a dessert bread. Use any mix of spices that you prefer and any color raisin. Serve with plain butter or honey butter.

cinnamon raisin sourdough loaf bread with chai spice sliced on a table

Chai & Cinnamon Sourdough Raising Bread

Homestead Lady Tessa Zundel

A simple, spicy loaf with sweet raisins to warm your tummy for breakfast or fill your belly for dessert.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 55

Ferment & Rise Time 8

Course Bread

Cuisine Homemade Breads

Servings Loaf

Ingredients

Chai & Cinnamon Sourdough Raisin Loaf

3 Cups Organic Bread Flour or favorite flour
1 tsp. Sea Salt
2 Tbsp. Chai Mix*
1 Cup Raisins
1 1/2 Cups Warm Water
1/2 Cup Sourdough Starter
2 Tbsp. Butter or Coconut Oil, softened

*Bulk Chai Baking Mix

5 Tbsp. Cassia Cinnamon or any powdered cinnamon
2 Tbsp. Nutmeg
1 Tbsp. Ginger
2 tsp. Cardamom
1 tsp. Cloves
1 tsp. White Pepper

Instructions

Chai Loaf Instructions

Mix 3 cups flour, 1 tsp. sea salt, and 2 Tbsp. chai mix together in a bowl.
Combine 1 1/2 cups warm water and 1/2 cup sourdough starter in a liquid measurer.
Add the water mixture to the flour mixture and add the 2 Tbsp. of softened fat. Mix by hand or with a stand mixture with the bread hook attached until the dough clears the sides of the bowl.
Form into a ball and cover the bowl. Allow to rest covered for 30 minutes.
Peform a stretch and fold every 30 minutes, 3 times.*
Cover and set aside in a warm place to ferment for at least 6 hours.
After 6 hours, remove the dough from the bowl and perform one last stretch and fold. Shape and place into your bread pan. Cover with enough room to rise and set aside until the dough has doubled in size. Depending on ambient temperature, this could take 1-3 hours, or more.
Remove the cover, slash the dough several times, replace with a baking safe cover (like a metal lid or an inverted bread pan) and bake at 400F/204C for 45 minutes.
Remove the cover for the last 10 minutes of bake time to brown the top. The finished loaf should register between 200F - 205F (93C - 96C).
Remove from the oven and place the loaf on a baker's rack to cool completely. It takes a bread loaf 12 hours or longer to completely cool. If you choose to cut into this loaf while it's hot, be gentle and don't crush the crust. The crumb may be a little gummy after cutting hot. I don't judge, though; this bread is best when served hot with melted butter.

Bulk Chai Mix Instructions

Mix all spices in a bowl thoroughly.
Place in a glass jar with a lid.

Notes

Note that the chai mix I use doesn't have black tea. Also, when I make a chai mix for drinking, I add a lot more herbs to the mix.

This chai baking mix has fewer ingredients but is no less spicy, delicious, and healthy!

*If you don't want to stretch and fold the dough, knead it after it's mixed for 8-10 minutes. (Eight minutes by mixer, or ten minutes by hand.)

Kneading will typically give you a smooth, firm loaf and great texture. Stretching and folding will usually result in an extra light loaf, also with great texture.

Honestly, it's six to one, half a dozen to the other as the old saying goes. I prefer stretching and folding as I age and my old shoulder joints protest kneading.

You can also completely ignore most sourdough loaves and interact with them only when putting them into their baking pans. Allow them to double in size before baking, and you'll end up with yet another delicious loaf. This is called no-knead bread.

Sourdough is simply the best, most forgiving bread you'll ever make.

See the body of the post for links to sourdough bread tutorials for more information.

Keyword chai, cinnamon raisin, sourdough

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Learn More About Sourdough Basics

The following collection of articles can help you learn more about the basics of sourdough bread baking. They’re each detailed in different ways and we hope they’ll help you feel confident to begin making sourdough baking a natural part of your routine.

Easy Sourdough Bread has information on using active or “discard” sourdough starter, as well as insight into long-fermentation. There are also helpful tidbits about pans, covering your dough and marking stretch times, as well as whether or not to knead your dough.

Our Sourdough Bread Beginner Recipe has a lot more information on stretching and folding your dough. It also discusses feeding your starter, as well as whether or not to leave it on the counter or put it in the fridge. So much more here!

Other helpful articles include:

Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread

Yeast Free Sourdough Bread with Spelt

Healthy Bread and Naturally Leavened Sourdough

To keep track of your sourdough recipes, as well as ferment times and baking details, please join our newsletter family and receive our super simple Sourdough Worksheets!

More Chai Mixes to Choose From

If you’d like some more options when it comes to chai spice mixes, I’ve included several quality ones below. Eat hearty!