Putting raisins (etc) in bread, but avoiding the outside?
Rolling it up with the stuff inside is not only a reasonable way to do this, it's a really common kind of bread. Try searching for "raisin swirl bread" - usually this means cinnamon-raisin swirl bread, with cinnamon sugar along with the raisins, but you don't have to do that part.

You do take air out while shaping it, but that's normal when you're making bread. You let it rise again after shaping.