Cinnamon Raisin Bread (see? told ya i'd get to it)
The smell of a fresh loaf of bread baking merrily away is one of the things that will instantly put a smile on the face of everyone who comes through the door. It's better stuff. Oh, I forgot, you have to actually slice this yourself. Wah-wah-wah. No preservatives used here. No xanthan gum or any other laboratory stuff that gets thrown into commercial loaves. Just good solid food.
This one is a perennial favorite here. The kids love it. It's great in the afternoon, lightly toasted and smeared with cream cheese and home made jam or preserve.
You can easily substitute any kind of dried fruit (or for a little slice of heaven use crystallized ginger) for the raisin and the food police will not track you down, at least not yet.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon powdered milk (or use 1 1/4 cup skim milk)
2 tablespoons shortening
2 tablespoons sugar (I use the vanilla sugar that's in the pantry)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/3 cup all purpose flour (bread flour works fine too, so does whole wheat, just not stone ground stuff for this recipe)
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
Put the first eight ingredients into the baking pan of the bread machine in the order listed.
Set it for Sweet Bread
Pick your crust color (mine's stuck on dark)
Turn it on.
When the first mix and kneading is finished add in the raisins. (mine beeps twice for this stage)
Walk away for three and a half hours.
Cool in the baking pan for 20 minutes. Remove from the pan. Cool another half hour before slicing.
Dig in.
3B's
posted by The Minstrel Boy at 3:07 PM
6 Comments:
Oh shoot. I gave my bread machine away last year because I just wasn't using it that much any more and it was taking up room in the cupboard.
I can almost smell the bread cooking as I write this.
ah, no bread machine, but i do have a big kitchenaid
stand mixer that i am in love with.
i'll bet your kitchen always smells welcoming.
i would imagine that using the stand mixer and a dough hook, following the regular instructions for a standard loaf of a sweet bread this would work just fine.
my daughter, when she was in her second year of college (after moving out of the dorms and into a house) when she just couldn't stand having to eat bread off of a shelf and out of a plastic bag found herself a bread machine at the local salvation army store. i think she paid $30 for it. she has used it since to the delight of her roommates and her own satisfaction.
there's not much else better than fresh bread unless it's kids and animals.
Alas, I love bread, but my body no longer needs it and every time I get into a bread eating binge I gain weight that never comes off!
- oddjob :-(
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