Let’s take a break from skincare and makeup and BAKE!
I believe that I’ve mentioned that I bake my own bread about 90% of the time. I actually enjoy it. It’s relaxing to work with dough, IMHO. I often alternate between “almost no knead” breads whose dough sits overnight so the gluten develops overtime and doesn’t require lengthy kneading. The almost no-knead breads I make most often are whole wheat bread and rye bread.
This winter, I’ve taken a break from whole grain and higher protein bread flours, and I’ve been making yeast breads that use all-purpose flour that yield a softer crumb. The breads made with all-purpose flour and active dry yeast are made in several hours rather than overnight. They must be kneaded either by hand or in a machine. This week and last, I’ve been working on perfecting my recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Swirl bread.
I’ve got a KitchenAid mixer, and for this bread, it has been a pleasure to do most of the kneading with the dough hook. But if you prefer, you can certainly knead it by hand. Although the dough is a bit sticky when first mixed, it kneads beautifully by hand as well.
The dough is put together in a few fairly quick steps. Here are the first three prep steps:
- I warm a half cup of milk (actually I only have half & half in the fridge for my coffee, so I dilute it by half to yield “milk”) and one tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan till the butter is melted. Then I let it cool to lukewarm.
- Meanwhile, I empty a packet of active dry yeast (about 2.25 teaspoons) in a small bowl with 3/4 c. of warm water and stir till the yeast dissolves.
- Then I place 2 T. of sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in the mixing bowl of my KitchenAid.
When the milk/butter mixture is cooled to lukewarm, I add it to the sugar, cinnamon, salt mixture and stir till the sugar and salt dissolve. Stir in the yeast-water mixture.
Next, add to the mixing bowl 3 cups of all-purpose flour a little at a time till it’s incorporated. Sometimes I use the paddle attachment to mix the dough together, and other times I just use the dough hook. If I use the paddle, I set the KitchenAid to 2, and if I use the dough hook, I set it a little higher, like maybe 4, so it can get at the flour that may collect on the sides. Once the flour is just combined, switch to the dough hook if you were using the paddle. Knead the dough with the hook at about the 4 speed for about 10 minutes total (including the time the flour was being mixed in). The dough should be nice and smooth.
Remove the dough, and shape it into a ball. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough in the bowl to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place till it rises and doubles in size.
I put my dough in a 100 degree oven and then shut off the heat. With that method, it takes an hour to rise. If I just let it sit out on the counter in my house that is kept around 67 degrees for much of the year, it can take 2 hours to rise.
After the dough has risen, punch it down. Turn it out onto an oiled or a floured surface and knead it by hand for a minute.
Shape it into a rectangle that’s about 9-10″ by about 12″.
Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter and brush over the rectangular dough. Sprinkle about 4 tablespoons of sugar mixed with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon over the dough. Sprinkle on as many raisins as you like, or skip them if you don’t like them. Or if you prefer raisins throughout the bread, add them into the dough while it’s being mixed.
Roll up the dough the long way as tightly as you can to create the spiral. Pinch the seam closed.
Place in a bread pan (mine is 9 x 4 x 4 with straight sides) that has been buttered, oiled or sprayed with cooking spray. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it over the top, so the bread won’t stick to the plastic wrap as it rises. I put my dough back in the oven at 100 degrees for about 45 minutes or till it crests the pan. Again, if you keep it on the counter or in a warm place in your kitchen, it will probably take a little longer for the second rise.
If you like, you can brush the top of the loaf after it’s risen with an egg mixed with a little water. It will make the top shiny. Also, if the top of the dough isn’t as smooth as you like, brushing on the egg wash can sometimes help smooth it out. (But this time, I should have smoothed the dough before the rise.)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and bake the loaf for about 40 minutes till golden. Remove it from the oven, and allow the bread to cool on a wire rack till it’s cool.
I love this bread! Every time I make it, I learn something else. It may not look completely perfect every time (those little bumps on top this time??), but I can see my loaf improving. And it tastes so gooooooood!
Do you make cinnamon raisin bread? Does my recipe interest you? Here’s the recipe written out:
Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Bread
- 1 T butter
- 1/2 c. milk
- 3/4 c. warm water
- 1 package of active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast)
- 2 T sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 c. all-purpose flour
- 2 T butter, melted
- about 4 T sugar
- 1 1/5 T cinnamon
- handful of raisins (optional)
- 1 egg, mixed with a little water for top
- In small saucepan on the stove or in a glass bowl in the microwave, heat 1/2 c. milk with 1 T butter till butter is melted. Let cool to lukewarm.
- In small bowl, mix yeast and warm water and stir till yeast dissolves.
- In large mixing bowl, place 2 T sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp salt. Pour in lukewarm milk/butter mixture. Stir in yeast/water mixture.
- Add in 3 cups of all-purpose flour a little at a time, either by hand or using a mixer with either paddle attachment or dough hook. Mix until combined.
- Either turn out the dough onto a flour or oiled surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes, or use the dough hook of a mixer and knead for 7-8 minutes on about speed 4. Knead until the dough is smooth and shape it into a ball.
- Oil or grease a bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn the dough to coat. Cover with plastic wrap, and put the bowl in a warm spot. Allow to double in size, 1-2 hours.
- When the dough has doubled, punch it down. Turn the dough out onto an oiled or floured surface and knead by hand for about a minute.
- Shape into a rectangle, and roll out to about 9-10″ x 12″. Brush the dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place raisins on top. Roll the dough tightly the long way to get the maximum amount of spiral. Pinch the seam closed. Place in greased loaf pan. Cover with greased plastic wrap.
- Allow to rise a second time in a warm place till the dough crests the pan (about 45-60 minutes). After the dough has risen, brush the top with egg mixture.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for about 40 minutes or till golden.
Wow that looks so good. I haven’t made bread in ages! I used to make it all the time but trying to cut back on carbs….if I made a loaf of this I would eat it all within two days.
I hear ya, Sandy. Surprisingly, I have a lot of willpower. The loaf has to last me a week, one piece a day for breakfast 😉
Looks so good but I am not a baker any way shape form or fashion. 🙂 But anytime you want to make extra you can drop it right in the mail to me 🙂
LOL, Gloria! I really enjoy making bread. I find it relaxing. This one’s a keeper 😉
There is nothing as good as homemade yeast bread! Brings back childhood memories. Every Christmas mom would make (and still does) her special coffee cakes and homemade bread. I can remember coming home from school and walking in the door and smelling all that homemade goodness!!! She would put a big bowl of dough on the dryer to get warm and rise, and we kids would alternate who got to punch the dough down. Love that you make your own bread! Looks so good!! Thanks for sharing.
That’s a great idea, Michele, to put the dough on the dryer to get it to rise! That’s wonderful that you have such nice memories of your mom’s baking. Glad I could bring them back 🙂
Wow! This looks awesome Allison! I’d slap some Brummel & Brown on that and warm it a few seconds and enjoy! I am not very interested in baking or even cooking, but I love eating what others make 🙂
Yes, the cinnamon bread is great toasted!
Homemade bread is THE BEST! My mom made the best breads when I was growing up! This looks delicious!
How wonderful to have those memories of freshly baked bread! Hope she still does it from time to time
I’d leave the raisins out but it looks yummy!
It’s delicious either way!
It looks absolutely delicious! I’m not a very talented baker myself, but the recipe actually looks easy enough. I don’t have a KitchenAid for the kneading but I usually get my husband to do it, haha!
Your husband would probably enjoy kneading this one. The dough is really pliable and easy to work with! Hope you try it
I would love to make some this weekend!
I can’t bake to save my life so I’m in awe of your skills! Adopt me?
Yes, but you can make Indian food. Deal!
This looks so delicious!! I think I would prefer the raisins to be throughout the dough, so I would add them into the mixer.
I think I will add them to the mixer next time too. They fall out of the swirls, unfortunately.
This sounds so delicious!