7 Store-Bought Cinnamon Raisin Breads, Ranked From Worst To Best

Sure, you can always use a standard piece of white bread or wheat bread to make your toast in the morning, or you can make your dish feel a bit more upscale with some sourdough bread. But ultimately, if you want to taste more than just bread and butter, you'll have to add any additional flavors you want on your own. This is why you might want to consider upgrading to cinnamon raisin bread to make your mornings sweeter. No, these flavored breads aren't cake, but they tend to be sweeter than standard bread, and they're infused with the flavor of cinnamon. Add in real raisins for an extra touch of sweetness and a slight chewiness, and it's clear why this type of bread is such a popular option.

I've tasted seven different store-bought cinnamon raisin breads to help you figure out which brands are worth trying and which you can skip entirely. Chances are, you'll find a lot of these brands at your local grocery store as well. I evaluated each bread on its flavor, in which I looked for a balanced sweetness and perceptible cinnamon flavor, as well as texture, where I preferred softer, more pliable breads. Then I ranked them, starting with my least favorite and working my way to the best. Give some of the best-ranked brands a try for yourself if you're looking for a sweeter start to your day.

Reach for Dave's Killer Bread brand when you're looking for something that feels a bit healthier than your standard loaf of white bread. These breads are packed with whole grains and other nutritious ingredients that can help you feel like you're getting more nutrition into your toast and sandwiches. Therefore, I wanted to like this variety of cinnamon raisin bread. Unfortunately, though, I found that Dave's Killer Bread Raisin' the Roof was actually the worst variety on this list.

First of all, I could barely taste any cinnamon at all. The raisins were there, offering a nice textural element to the loaf, but with the lack of strong cinnamon flavor, they just felt out of place. The real issue, though, is the texture of this bread. It's incredibly dense, with a hardness that makes it crack almost immediately when you bend it even slightly. This might be an okay choice if you're trying to find a healthier alternative, but this is not the bread to seek out if you're prioritizing taste.

I'm sad to say that I've had a few Panera Bread experiences at the actual restaurant lately, so I wasn't too surprised to realize that the brand's cinnamon raisin bread wasn't particularly delicious either. Panera Bread's Cinnamon Raisin Oat Bread definitely looks good, with its pieces of oats that make for a heartier texture, but it falls flat on every front other than appearance.

This is another incredibly dry bread, albeit slightly moister than the Dave's Killer Bread selection. It might be better once you toast it and absolutely slather it with butter, but the texture is quite off-putting all on its own. Again, the cinnamon flavor isn't too strong here, with the raisins taking center stage. If you ask me, the cinnamon is the best part of cinnamon raisin bread, and I prefer to keep the actual raisins to a minimum, so this loaf ranks low for me.

When you're looking for an affordable, accessible loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, then you may want to check out Signature Select Cinnamon Raisin Bread. I love an option that's cheaper than most, and that's what you'll get with this store brand. However, it's far from the best of the bunch. Admittedly, the flavor balance here is a lot better than the two worst-ranked varieties on this list. The flavor of the cinnamon is actually quite pronounced, and it balances nicely with the raisins. It is thin on the raisins, which can be a drawback if you prefer a fruitier bread, but it's not an issue for my palate.

This bread is also slightly softer than some of the other varieties on this list, although it doesn't have the luscious, pillowy softness that some of the better options do. Ultimately, though, this cinnamon raisin bread tastes and feels kind of cheap. It may not be terrible after toasting it and adding butter on top, but there are certainly better brands out there to try before settling for this variety if you don't have to.

Thomas' actually calls its Swirl Cinnamon Raisin Bread its most popular flavor, and it's easy to tell why once you give it a try for yourself. It's relatively soft, with a nice texture that feels less like bread and more like a pastry, although it could arguably be a bit softer for an even better texture. There's also a balance of cinnamon and raisins here, and the company doesn't skimp on the raisins, either. By all counts, this is a solid cinnamon raisin bread, and I definitely wouldn't complain if this were the only variety I tried.

I don't really have any complaints about this bread, but others on the list are softer, more flavorful, and just more delicious overall. Therefore, you could probably skip this loaf without feeling like you're missing anything major. But if you don't happen to have those other brands available in your local grocery store, this selection from Thomas should meet all of your cinnamon raisin bread needs.

Now, we're really getting into the good stuff. Pepperidge Farm's Swirl Cinnamon Raisin Bread is everything you want when you think of cinnamon raisin bread. On the sweetness scale, it walks a thin line between bread and pastry, but it's not so sweet that it's inadvisable to add a little drizzle of honey on top of your toast. The flavor of the cinnamon is quite pronounced, but it's not so overpowering that you miss out on those moist raisin pockets. If you like raisins, you might want a few more of them in every slice, but as someone who prefers more cinnamon to raisin in these types of bread, I think that this is absolutely a solid product.

Yes, there are better cinnamon raisin breads than this one, but honestly, I think this stuff is delicious enough to meet all of your sweet-ish bread needs. Since it's a product you can probably find at most grocery stores, you can easily make it your go-to cinnamon raisin bread.

Most of the breads you'll see on this list are white bread, so if you prefer sourdough loaves, you might think that you're out of luck when it comes to cinnamon raisin bread. That's not the case, not when there's When Pigs Fly Cinnamon Raisin Bread. This isn't your standard packaged bread — rather, it's a sourdough loaf that's infused with cinnamon and real raisins for a flavor combo and squishy texture you won't get from other brands.

This feels like the highest-quality bread of the bunch, with thick swirls of cinnamon and huge, ultra-moist raisins in every nook and cranny of the bread. It has that freshly baked texture you'd look for in bakery bread, and it offers just a hint of that acidity you expect from sourdough. Although I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the top-ranked bread on this list, this variety seems like the best loaf to snag if you're looking for quality above all else.

If you want to taste the most delicious cinnamon raisin bread of them all, you'll have to make your way to Trader Joe's bread section to pick up the store's Cinnamon Raisin Bread Sliced. Admittedly, this loaf doesn't feel as high-quality as the When Pigs Fly version, but it's still my favorite thanks to a few different factors. 

First of all, this store-bought sliced bread is extremely moist — so moist, in fact, that you'll notice its pillowy softness as soon as you take the first slice out of the bag. But there's also a level of sweetness here that you won't find in the other loaves on this list. This bread seems to be reaching into the dessert category and almost tastes like you're biting into a particularly good cinnamon roll.

Toast a few slices of this bread, slather on the butter, and you're going to feel like you're eating a freshly baked dessert. It's not the kind of bread you'll want to use for every application, but for those who simply love a good cinnamon raisin bread, you really can't beat this brand's offering.

I selected all of the cinnamon raisin breads that were available at three of my local grocery stores, and I tried all of them plain, untoasted, without any butter or added condiments, so I could get a better idea of how they taste all on their own. The criteria for this ranking were flavor and texture. On the flavor front, I looked for a good balance between cinnamon, raisins, and sugar, and when it came to texture, I prioritized bread that was soft, moist, and/or had a nice bounce to it.