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Raisin Bread



My daughter and her boyfriend came home from college this weekend.  We've had a great visit and it is so good having a few more mouths to feed.  We were perusing the grocery store yesterday and Rachel and her boyfriend were admiring the raisin bread in the bread aisle.  I told them not to get it, so I could try making some.  I've been wanting to try making homemade raisin bread for quite some time.  I love toast made with raisin bread. 

I have a special love of food and farm blogs and lately I've been loving a blog called Chickens in the Road.  Suzanne has a post on raisin bread and her picture of raisin toast just made me CRAVE it.  Suzanne's post is found HERE. 

I used my own sandwich bread recipe, added one egg, a half of a cup of raisins and one teaspoon of cinnamon to the liquid ingredients in my bread recipe.  I used my bread machine for the dough but you could do it by hand just as well.  It turned out perfectly!  My daughter and I made toast with it this morning.  She ate hers with honey and I ate mine with butter.  Mmmmmm...  Make some and you will know what I'm talking about.

Here's how I made Raisin Bread AT HOME MY WAY:

Raisin Bread

1 cup warm water (hot but no hurt - should feel like hot bath water)
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon yeast (1 packet)
1/4 cup oil
1 egg (beaten)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
3 cups AP flour or bread flour (unbleached is best)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
  • In a 2 cup measuring cup, measure the very warm water (1 cup), stir in yeast, sugar. Set a timer for 10 minutes. It will start bubbling and at the end of 10 minutes, will look like a big glass of root beer with a tall soft, frothy foam on top. Add the oil, cinnamon, and beaten egg, stir.  Add 1/2 cup raisins and stir gently again. and Dump in the pan of the bread machine.

  • Next add your flour and top with the salt. (I realize your bread machine may say to do this in a different order, but do it this way and you will have a perfect loaf.)

  •  Set your bread machine to the dough setting.

  •  And the end of this cycle (when it is "ready"), dump the dough directly into a sprayed/prepared bread pan.  Press the dough lightly until it fills the bread pan. 

  • I did brush on a mixture of egg yolk + a little water to give the loaf that deep sheen.  I saw that idea on the Hickery Holler Farm Blog and it works like a charm.  That step is purely optional and the bread tastes no different because of it.  Just looks prettier!

  • Let rise 1 hour or until it rises up out of the loaf pan by an inch or so.
Mine looked like this when it was READY to go into the oven:

  • Preheat your oven completely before putting the loaf in -to 350 degrees.

  • Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. (check at 25 minutes).

Fresh from the oven:

  • Let it sit in the pan about 5 minutes. Then, carefully (because the loaf is so soft) take it out of the pan and let it cool on a cooling rack. Let it cool completely and then slice using an electric knife or large surrogated knife.

 
This morning I sliced the bread with my electric knife and we had a delicious breakfast.  For sure this is a keeper recipe!


  • One more hint is to let your bread cool completely before slicing and to let it cool completely before bagging it up. 

Enjoy!
 
Ginaļ»æ

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Comments

  1. dobermomAugust 27, 2013 at 12:22ā€ÆPM

    I am attempting to make cinnamon rolls using this recipe. We really love the white sandwich bread recipe! Notice that the dough is stickier this time ~ possibly the egg? You have really me baking again ~ my husband loves it! Lil

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GinaAugust 27, 2013 at 1:03ā€ÆPM

      Dobermom,

      So happy to hear from you!

      Are you making the dough by hand? If so, you may have to knead in a little more flour so that it is more manageable. I find that using the bread machine allows me to handle the dough only a little bit which allows it to make a fluffy light loaf even if the dough is sticky.

      For cinnamon rolls, I use the sandwich bread recipe + 1 egg (which is the same as this one, minus the added raisins in the dough) so it should work great for you (but you are right about the egg causing it to be stickier). I make my dough in the bread machine for cinnamon rolls as well and just heavily flour the area I am rolling on, tossing the ball of dough good with flour before rolling it, and keeping my rolling pin floured and/or sprinkling the disc with flour as I roll.

      For sure, the egg makes stickier dough (since I don't really adjust the recipe even though I add the egg) so you might have to add a little extra flour if kneading by hand.

      I find that the sandwich bread recipe + the egg makes DELICIOUS cinnamon rolls.

      Let me know how they turn out for you. I am so happy that you are having success!

      Gina

      Delete
    2. GinaAugust 27, 2013 at 1:07ā€ÆPM

      I kind of flubbed in my comment. For my cinnamon rolls, I use the sandwich bread recipe + 1 egg. The raisin bread incorporates the sandwich bread recipe + 1 egg + 1 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/2 cup raisins.

      I didn't want to confuse you (if I haven't already LOL).

      My post on cinnamon rolls is here if you need it:

      http://athomemyway.blogspot.com/2012/10/homemade-cinnamon-rolls.html

      Delete
    3. dobermomAugust 28, 2013 at 9:58ā€ÆAM

      Raisin rolls turned out beautifully. I did add a few more raisins, and brushed tops with melted butter before cooking. Tops were brown and soft ~ the flavor was wonderful. We had them warmed up for breakfast! Made 18 rolls (with a little dough left over).

      Delete
    4. GinaAugust 28, 2013 at 11:27ā€ÆAM

      That's great! I bet they were delicious!

      Delete
  2. Veronica | Veronica's CornucopiaAugust 29, 2013 at 3:58ā€ÆAM

    Brings me back to my youth when Dad used to frequently buy a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. I adored it! We weren't allowed many sweets, so this was always a treat b/c it was almost like a dessert. Not quite but close enough! Yours is gorgeous - it rose so well! I just got rid of my electric knife and so hope I don't live to regret that. I only ever used it on bread, but usually a regular long knife cuts just as well. I'm afraid for softer breads I might really need one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GinaAugust 29, 2013 at 9:36ā€ÆAM

      I was really thrilled with my raisin bread, specially since Rachel's boyfriend was there to enjoy it. Typically when I work really hard on something special, it flops LOL. You'll have to try it. I gave the rest of the loaf to the kids to take home with them to KC and I need to get another loaf made for me because it made a great and filling breakfast.

      Raisin bread isn't something that my mom ever had in our house but I remember that my dad's parents often had it at their house and when I spent the night with my dad's sister (exactly my age), we would eat toast with it. Good stuff!

      Definitely I think food brings back more memories for me than anything, doesn't it?

      Thanks for commenting, Veronica. I love your updates too. I'm just so happy for you and your hubby! Just think, you'll be making raisin bread as a treat soon for your own little man.

      :)

      Delete

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