В булочках с изюмом мне не хватает корицы, зато мой брат их обожает.

В булочках is the prepositional plural form of булочка.

• булочка = a bun / sweet roll
• в булочке = in a bun
• в булочках = in buns

It is plural because the sentence is talking about raisin buns in general, not one specific bun. Russian often uses the plural this way when speaking about a type of food.

After с meaning with, Russian normally uses the instrumental case.

• изюм = raisins
• с изюмом = with raisins

So булочки с изюмом literally means buns with raisins, which is the natural Russian way to say raisin buns.

The verb не хватать / не хватить works differently from English to lack.

In this construction, the person who feels the lack goes in the dative case:

• мне = to me
• тебе = to you
• ему / ей = to him / her

So:

• мне не хватает корицы literally means something like to me, cinnamon is lacking
• more naturally: there isn’t enough cinnamon for me / I find there isn’t enough cinnamon

You do not say я не хватает because я is nominative, and this verb does not use the person that way in this pattern.

Because не хватает usually takes the thing that is lacking in the genitive case.

• корица = cinnamon
• корицы = of cinnamon / some cinnamon

So:

• не хватает корицы = there isn’t enough cinnamon / cinnamon is lacking

This is especially common with substances, amounts, and abstract things.

Compare:

• Мне не хватает времени. = I don’t have enough time.
• Нам не хватает денег. = We don’t have enough money.

Because не хватает is not agreeing with булочках here.

The core idea is:

• мне не хватает корицы = I find there isn’t enough cinnamon

The plural noun булочках is inside the prepositional phrase в булочках с изюмом = in raisin buns. It gives the context, but it is not the grammatical subject of не хватает.

So the verb stays in the normal 3rd person singular form: хватает.

Here не хватает means there isn’t enough or is lacking.

So мне не хватает корицы means:

• I think they need more cinnamon
• there isn’t enough cinnamon for my taste
• I find the cinnamon insufficient

This is different from saying you literally do not possess something. It is more about insufficiency than ownership.

In some contexts, мне не хватает X can mean I miss X:

• Мне не хватает тебя. = I miss you.

But in this food sentence, корица clearly means there isn’t enough cinnamon, not an emotional sense of missing.

So context decides how to translate it.

Зато means something like:

• but on the other hand
• whereas
• but at least
• however, as compensation

It often introduces a contrasting positive point.

Here the idea is:

• I think the raisin buns don’t have enough cinnamon, but my brother loves them.

So зато creates a contrast between my opinion and my brother’s reaction.

It is not exactly the same as но.
Но is a general but, while зато often suggests a balancing contrast.

Их means them, and it refers to булочки.

• булочки is plural
• обожать takes a direct object in the accusative
• for plural inanimate nouns, the pronoun is их

So:

• мой брат их обожает = my brother adores them

Russian often uses a pronoun like this instead of repeating the noun.

It could repeat the noun, but их sounds more natural and less repetitive.

Compare:

• ...зато мой брат булочки с изюмом обожает.
• ...зато мой брат их обожает.

Both are possible, but the second is smoother because the buns were just mentioned.

Russian word order is flexible, and this order puts emphasis on where the problem is:

• В булочках с изюмом мне не хватает корицы
  = In raisin buns, I find there isn’t enough cinnamon

This sounds like the sentence begins with the topic: as for raisin buns...

You could also say:

• Мне не хватает корицы в булочках с изюмом.

That is also correct, but it shifts the focus slightly. The original version foregrounds the buns as the topic.

Russian often uses possessive words like мой when English would also use my. Here it simply means:

• зато мой брат их обожает = but my brother loves them

You could sometimes omit possessives in Russian if the context is obvious, but in this sentence мой брат sounds natural and clear.

Yes. Обожать is stronger than любить.

• любить = to like / love
• обожать = to adore / absolutely love

So мой брат их обожает means he really loves these buns.

Russian has no articles like a/an/the.

So В булочках с изюмом can mean:

• in raisin buns
• in the raisin buns
• in raisin buns in general

The exact meaning comes from context. In this sentence, it most naturally means raisin buns in general.

A very literal version would be:

• In buns with raisins, to me there is not enough cinnamon; on the other hand, my brother adores them.

That literal version helps show the grammar, but it is not natural English. A more natural translation would be something like:

• I don’t think raisin buns have enough cinnamon, but my brother loves them.

So the Russian structure and the English structure are not identical, even though the meaning is the same.

Yes. Russian often uses noun + с + instrumental to describe food with an ingredient:

• булочки с изюмом = raisin buns
• чай с лимоном = tea with lemon
• мороженое с шоколадом = ice cream with chocolate

So this is a very normal and idiomatic phrase.

Yes, but the meaning or tone would change slightly.

For example:

• В булочках с изюмом мало корицы.
  = There is little cinnamon in raisin buns.

• В булочках с изюмом недостаточно корицы.
  = There is not enough cinnamon in raisin buns.

• Мне не хватает корицы в булочках с изюмом.
  = I find there isn’t enough cinnamon in raisin buns.

The version with мне не хватает sounds a bit more personal: it is my impression / for my taste.