A low carb Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread that does the original justice! Enjoy this naturally sweet and healthy treat for your holiday brunch or breakfast. This post is sponsored by the California Raisins Marketing Board.
Many moons ago I was asked by a long time reader to try my hand at creating a low carb, gluten-free cinnamon raisin bread. I replied happily that I would give it a go but that recipe creation kept getting pushed to the back burner by other ideas and projects. I will admit, part of my hesitation was that I didn’t really think I could do cinnamon raisin bread justice. I thought I’d essentially be creating a quick bread flavoured with cinnamon and studded with raisins. That would be good unto itself but it wouldn’t have all the chewy, bready texture one desires of a true cinnamon raisin bread. So I just kept the request in mind and mulled it over and let it keep slipping back as I created other recipes. But the request niggled and naggled at me for ages and I always felt that I was doing my reader a disservice by not managing to fulfill her cinnamon raisin dreams.
And then two things happened that spurred me on. The first was that I discovered the joys of psyllium husk powder. Yes, yes, I know it’s been on the low carb circuit for ages and I am late to the party. Not an unusual occurrence, really. As with anything, we tend to get into our comfort zones in cooking and baking and psyllium husk was outside of my comfort zone. I was perfectly happy with my repertoire of almond flour and coconut flour and things of that ilk, and figured I was pretty good at working with those ingredients. But I procured some psyllium husk powder one day and decided to play around with it. I made Judy Barnes Baker’s recipe for flatbread with a few minor changes and made my Caramel Bacon Monkey Bread with Maria Emmerich’s dough recipe. It’s a very interesting ingredient with lots of potential. It gives things the chewiness of a conventional yeast bread and you can also get a nice crust. But it can also make things overly moist and chewy so there is a fine line to be tread there. I’ve been quietly experimenting behind the scenes to try to get it right for my purposes. I found a recipe for Paleo Dinner Rolls from Low Carb Ella and found that with some modifications, it made really great loaf bread.
The second thing that happened was that California Raisins asked me to come up with a healthy low carb holiday recipe that included raisins. My mind went instantly to my old promise to create cinnamon raisin bread. So many people love to have a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread on the holiday table and it can be sorely missed on a low carb diet. I felt with my newfound ability to create a chewy, bread-like texture, I might be able to pull off a really great low carb cinnamon raisin swirl bread. I think raisins are a great natural and nutritious source of sweetness. I can’t eat a handful on their own anymore but I love to work them into low carb recipes to give it an added feeling of being a real treat while still being nutritious. And the holidays are the perfect time to treat ourselves while still keeping our overall dietary needs in mind. Done right, you can enjoy some of your favourites without consequence. That is always my goal in creating and recreating recipes for this blog. Controlled indulgence, if you will!
I really loved this bread and I hope you and yours enjoy this #sweetnaturally Low Carb Cinnamon Raisin bread over the holidays. For more information about all-natural, no-sugar added California raisins, please visit www.loveyourraisins.com, or get social with us at www.facebook.com/californiaraisins, www.pinterest.com/calraisins, or www.twitter.com/caraisins.
I worked together with the California Raisin Marketing Board to create this recipe and was compensated for my time. The opinions below are mine and mine alone and do not represent those of the California Raisin Marketing Board.
A low carb Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread that does the original justice! Enjoy this naturally sweet and healthy treat for your holiday brunch or breakfast.
- 1 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 6 tbsp psyllium husk powder
- 1/4 cup California raisins chopped fine
- 2 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups egg whites (liquid egg whites work well but you can also measure out whites from regular eggs. It will be 8 to 12 whites, depending on the size)
- 4 tbsp melted butter divided
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup hot water (almost boiling)
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Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Grease 2 large pieces of parchment paper.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the sweetener and cinnamon. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, almond flour, psyllium husk powder, chopped raisins, sweetener, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
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Add egg whites, 3 tbsp of the melted butter and the apple cider vinegar. Stir to combine. Slowly stir in hot water until dough expands.
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Turn dough out onto one of the pieces of greased parchment and pat into a rough rectangle. Top with other piece of parchment and roll out to about 8x 12 inches. Brush with about half of the remaining melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon filling. Roll up tightly and place seam-side-down in prepared loaf pan.
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Brush with remaining butter. Bake 60 to 70 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and tent with foil. Let cool in pan (this will help keep it from deflating). Once cool, transfer it to a cutting board or serving plate.
Serves 12. Each serving has 12.36 g of carbs and 6.02 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 6.3 g.
Food energy: 132kcal
Saturated fatty acids: 3.27g
Total fat: 6.58g
Calories from fat: 59
Cholesterol: 10mg
Carbohydrate: 12.36g
Total dietary fiber: 6.02g
Protein: 6.28g
Sodium: 283mg
Monica says
So excited to try this. Bet it would be awesome as cinnamon rolls too.
Carolyn says
I think the same! I have been planning on trying it that way. You’ll probably see a recipe soon! 🙂
Maria says
Looks awesome! Thanks for the shout iut!
Carolyn says
You’re welcome. You know so much more about psyllium than I do!
jo says
oh my… or something that is more strongly worded but not comments-friendly… Again with the happy dances!
I’ve been playing around with bread and psyllium recently, too, with some really interesting results. Dry-cured black olives, additional finely ground walnut crumbs, salt and rosemary on top, is really good with butter and blue cheese.
But I cannot wait to try this raisin bread!
Carolyn says
Oh my gosh, I love the one you’re talking about. Kind of like focaccia?
jo says
Do you remember Ace Bakery in its early days, in Toronto? Used to make (maybe they still make, but now I ignore that section in the grocery/market) a black olive walnut bread – which I looooooved. I seem to remember a boule-like loaf. Although it would be brilliant as a focaccia! I need to try that next, after your cinnamon raisin bread. It was one of the first experiments I tried when I started playing around with Maria’s and Shauna Ahern’s ways of using psyllium in bread. Still working on the gumminess issue, but sliced thin and toasted in the oven, it’s so good with aged cheddar or gorgonzolla. or roasted garlic. and salted butter…
Serena says
If one wanted to add yeast for the flavour, not so much the rising, any idea if it would be best added to the wet ingredients or the dry?
Carolyn says
That’s a good question. I’d add it to the wet ingredients to get it “yeasting” before adding it to the rest of the mix.
Julie says
Oh, I have been wanting this for a while and the breads that I tried with psyllium husk powder always had a weird texture. I definitely will try this and I love to use Swerve. Thanks for all your hard work. Looking forward to toasting it also.
Carolyn says
My experience with psyllium is limited but I’ve found you really need to make sure it’s baked through to get the bready texture versus the wet/overly chewy texture. And let this cool in the pan so it doesn’t deflate!
Amanda says
I really like this recipe and really want to make it! Just added California Raisins to my grocery list!
[email protected] says
Cinnamon Raisin bread is one of my favorites, and I don’t seem to make it often either. I need to work on that!
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
I had no idea what psyllium husk powder was until I read this post!! Congrats to you for being able to create a fabulous looking low carb, gluten-free cinnamon raisin bread!! Hope the unpacking is going well. . !! Can’t wait to hear about your new adventures in your new city!
Alida says
What a beautiful cinnamon raisin swirl bread!
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl says
This is one of my absolute favorite breads!!
Crystal says
Could whole eggs be used instead of egg whites? If so how many do you think.
Carolyn says
You’d need about 6 eggs but your end result will likely be much more dense.
Lowcarborama says
Love your blog Carolyn! This bread looks great, I will have to try. If you get a chance, check out my blog at http://www.lowcarborama.com We’re all getting people healthier, one recipe at a time! Merry Christmas to you and yours from downunder (Australia) !!…..Julie B
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
I would have put this on the back burner, too, just because it sounds so difficult! I don’t even try grain-free bread baking. It sounds like a nightmare. I’m really impressed with what you came up with! It looks just as good as a more traditional cinnamon raisin loaf. 🙂
patti schwabe says
I encourage you to try it! It is NOT difficult. However, instead of ‘rolling’ the dough, I took my sister’s advice and just LAYERED it in the parchment lined pan ~ turned out GREAT.
I WILL bake it longer than 70 min. though, as the bottom 1/4 seemed like it wasn’t fully done. GONNA try the focaccia next time ~ olives and walnut,,,,yumm. Think I’ll spread it onto parchment paper into a rectangle, like Foccacia usually looks, and cut it into squares for toasting
Sherry says
What is the best way to store this bread? Perhaps after slicing, will it freeze well?
Carolyn says
Probably. I didn’t try it!
Sherry says
Okay, I give up. I just haven’t had luck with these psyllium bread recipes. Yesterday I made this recipe with high hopes, following the recipe exactly. It looked wonderful out of the oven after baking for 70 minutes and I tented it to cool. I ended up with a collapsed piece of rubber. Can you over mix the batter? Would love to know what I’m doing wrong.
Carolyn says
I don’t have too much experience with psyllium yet, but I wonder if the brand of the ingredients matters? I used honeyville almond flour, Bob’s coconut flour and Now Psyllium powder. And mine was done at 60 minutes, and at first when I tried to turn it out of the pan, it started to deflate so I quickly got it back into the pan and tented it and it didn’t deflate any more.
It could also be that your oven runs on the cool side and it needed another 10 minutes or so. Very hard to say.
Sherry says
Thanks for your response…..I too used high quality ingredients. Guess I’ll try baking it a lot longer. I love cinnamon bread and want this to work! I’ve been on a ketogenic diet for a year now and miss morning toast the most.
Carolyn says
It’s not so much about the quality, I just think brands can differ a lot. I asked around in one of my forums and this is what one person who knows psyllium well had to say: I think the “type” of psylli is very important in recipes. If you add too much, you will have rubber. And so maybe some are adding too much psylli? Maybe spec your brand and whether its whole or ground and maybe add the weight? Oh and I do think you can “overwork” the dough and turn it to concrete.
The problem is that I didn’t weigh my psyllium husk, just measured it out in tablespoons.
Sherry says
Good things to think about. Thanks for your recipes! I use many of them.
Suzy says
I this supposed to look like batter? It no way resembles dough. How can I fix this?
Carolyn says
Nope, it should be a dough. So something obviously went wrong and now you need more flour.
Diane says
Made this yesterday and the flavor is wonderful. Probably didn’t cook it long enough and it deflated down a quarter of the volumn. Toasted nicely. Ended up using it like it was bread pudding – after toasting a piece I added a little sugar free maple syrup and added some whipped cream – and – ohhhhhhhhh – it was heavenly! I will be making this again!! Thanks for all your hard work and doing all the experimenting for us Carolyn!
Chris says
Wow, great idea about putting syrup and whipped cream. I just made this yesterday and looking forward to my cinnamon toast breakfast. Yum!
barbara says
I purchased psyllium husk instead of psyllium husk powder. How will this affect the recipe?
Carolyn says
You will need to grind it to a fine powder or purchase some already powdered.
Chris says
I made this bread with the husk instead of powder as I was in the middle of mixing and realized I did not have the right item. Well, it turned out pretty good still. I will try grinding it next time.
Charlotte says
I made this today. I was pretty pessimistic during the process as I have just given up trying to find any sort of low carb bread product that will make me content. I am happy to report that I am pleasantly surprised…..VERY TASTY!!!!! This low, low carb diet I am on has kicked my butt for breakfast. Eggs are good, but I get tired of them. I am hoping and praying this delicious bread will give me the diversity that I need. Thank you for a great recipe.
Carissa says
This looks so delicious! I may have to put aside my fear of baking grain free bread to try this. Does it seem like it would hold up as French toast? I have yet to make successful gluten free French toast and I miss it badly!!
Carolyn says
I didn’t try it that way but I think it would be great! I would let the bread dry out in slices before soaking in egg.
Heather Odum says
Just tried this in my bread maker! It turned out surprisingly delicious! I didn’t bother to roll out the dough and add more cinnamon glaze for the swirl. Will definitely use this recipe again!
Jess F says
How did you try this in the bread maker? Did you add all the ingredients, let it mix and then remove and bake in your oven? Or did you mix and bake it in the bread maker?
Dayla Dee says
Always enjoy your recipes, Carolyn! Thanks for bringing this one to my attention again from pinning it on Pinterest.
Terri W says
Is there a particular reason you use only egg whites, and not whole eggs? Will whole eggs work just as well? Thanks.
Carolyn says
No, it won’t, it makes it much to heavy and your bread won’t rise very well.
Shari Champagne says
Carolyn, so happy I found this recipe. I made it today and it is fantastic! Will be making this again soon. Thanks for sharing!
Carolyn says
Wonderful to hear!
Sladana Redner says
I’m trying to figure out what went wrong with my bread. I followed the recipe and baked it for 70 minutes, looked great from the outside, but when I cut into the bread, it was wet and raw. Had to throw away, unfortunately.
Any idea what could have happened.
Side note:
I once attempted focaccia bread (not sure where I found the recipe), and before baking the texture was exactly the same like this cinnamon bread. I had the same result: good on the outside, complete raw from the inside after more than hour baking.
Carolyn says
It’s really hard to say, it could be any number of things. What brand of psyllium did you use?
Sladana Redner says
Bob’s Red Mill.
Joi says
Love this recipe! We’ve made it so many times and just discovered it freezes well, too! So tempted to put the dough into donut molds…what’s the worst that can happen? 😉
Carolyn says
You will get cinnamon raisin bagels, yum!
Joi says
Exactly! They turned out to be delicious- thank you!
Linda says
Hmmm…this is the first recipe using psyllium husk powder that has tempted me to buy some. Maybe it’s time to try it in order to make one of the recipes I miss. Thanks for this one. 🙂
Anne Ambuhl says
Can you make it without psyllium husk?
Allergic to it.
Carolyn says
No, this is a psyllium based bread.
Mira says
Do these cinnamon rolls have a Psyllium Husk flavor since they use 6 Tbsp. of PHusk?
I have made several recipes from other sites where Psyllium Husk Powder was an ingredient (Naan bread, for one). Once the Naans were cooked, the flavor had a psyllium husk undertone, which I didn’t like and I ended up throwing them in the garbage. Ugh. (FYI: I have a seed cracker recipe made with psyllium husk that I love, but you cannot taste the psyllium.)
Carolyn says
I don’t taste a particular flavor from the psyllium and no one else has told me that they do but I can’t promise that you won’t.
Cristina Pena says
I tried this the other day, The whole family enjoyed it. It was on the wet side, should I leave it in the oven for longer?
Carolyn says
Yes. Psyllium husk is tricky, it’s really hard to know when it’s done. Wish I had more to say than that!