Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Recipe for cinnamon raisin bread

Found this recipe here and loved it so much I wanted to share it. I did make a couple of changes in the below recipe from the original, such as using whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose, and mixing the cinnamon-sugar into the dough rather than sprinkling it on and rolling the loaves up. I figured that would make it easier to slice the loaves without them falling apart, which it did. I also lowered the oven temperature and shortened the baking time, after several reviews on the original recipe mentioned that the loaves would otherwise start turning too dark.

The loaves came out wonderfully moist and fragrant. Even using 100% whole wheat, they were easy to slice, even thinly, without crumbling. This recipe has been added to my stash of all-time favorite staple recipes.

This is enough to make three loaves - one to eat fresh out of the oven, one to have for breakfast the next day, and one to freeze or give away!


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup boiling water
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup raisins
8 cups whole wheat flour (or all-purpose, or both)
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions:
1. Mix milk and boiling water in mixing bowl to get a lukewarm milk-water-mixture.
2. Dissolve yeast in warm milk-water-mixture, and set aside until yeast is frothy. Mix in eggs, sugar, butter, salt, raisins, and cinnamon. Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
3. Knead dough in mixer or by hand on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
4. Punch dough down, cut into thirds, shape each into a loaf and tuck under ends. Place loaves into well greased 9 x 5 inch pans. Lightly grease tops of loaves. Let rise again for 1 hour.
5. Bake at 325 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35-45 minutes, or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when knocked. Remove loaves from pans, and immediately brush with melted butter. Let cool before slicing.

4 comments:

  1. That bread looks great! I LOVE to bake homemade bread and can't wait to make this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a question about this recipe: can you divide the dough and freeze part of it to bake fresh later on, or is it not as good that way? I think a lump of dough would fit into my freezer better than a loaf of bread.

    ReplyDelete
  3. bafleyanne,

    I have never tried freezing this particular dough, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work well. I do that a lot with pizza dough and cinnamon rolls for convenience, and it does not affect the taste, so I'm sure this dough would do fine, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi…I have enjoyed your bread recipes and wanted to thank you for posting them. I thought you might like this simple recipe for a one pot, mac and cheese that can easily be doubled. I’ve made some tweaks to the original recipe first appeared in Godey’s Lady’s Book magazine in 1861.

    Civil War Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
    • Prep time: 5 minutes • Cook time: 45 minutes

    Ingredients
    • 4 cups whole raw milk
    • 1/2 pound organic elbow macaroni pasta (2 to 2 1/2 cups)
    • 4 Tbsp butter (from grass fed cows of course)
    • 2 cups, packed, grated raw cheddar cheese (about 1/2 pound, you can substitute with any cheese)
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • Nutmeg
    • 1/4 to 1/3 cup homemade bread crumbs (or leftover crackers or corn chips)
    • Garlic powder (optional)
    • Cayenne (optional)
    Method
    1 Heat the milk in a large saucepan until steamy. Stir in the dry macaroni pasta. Let come to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Pay attention while the macaroni is cooking in the milk as the milk may foam up and boil over if the milk gets too hot. Cook the macaroni for 15 minutes or until done.
    2 Preheat oven to 400°F. As soon as the macaroni is close to being done, melt the butter in with the milk and the macaroni, stir in the grated cheese until melted, add black pepper to taste and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. Taste and add salt if needed.
    3 Once the cheese has melted, pour the macaroni mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle lightly with cayenne and garlic powder (if using). Bake in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
    Yield: Serves 4.

    Leslie in Maine

    ReplyDelete

Your KINDLY WORDED, constructive comments are welcome, whether or not they express a differing opinion. All others will be deleted without second thought.