Easy Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Easy Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Easy-as-can-be cinnamon raisin bread that can be made conventionally or entirely in the bread machine.  We’re giving away these gorgeous pans from Temp-Tations by Tara too!

This is one of the easiest “specialty” breads I make.

The original recipe came in the booklet that came with my very first Breadman bread machine.  I’ve adapted it some, but it’s pretty much as I found it.

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Easy and delicious

I use bread flour for one–but you don’t have to.  All purpose will do just fine.  You can also toss in some chopped walnuts or pecans.  In fact, the original recipe calls for them, but as much as I like nuts, somehow, the thought doesn’t turn me on with this particular bread so I leave (and always have) them out.

A sweet treat that also toasts well

This is also a good toasting bread–if it lasts that long!  I love it just out of the oven with nothing…not even a pat of butter…on it.

I’ve given directions for the conventional and bread machine way.  Either way you decide, it tastes the same!  Even if the bread machine doesn’t deliver the desired shape–this is the now-infamous “Herman Munster’s shoe bread.”  That name was coined by my friend Lori W. when I made a loaf for her and her family.  Any other time I used the bread machine, it came out perfectly; except THIS time when I was making it for somebody (can you say “Murphy’s Law?”).  It was sort of low on one end and high on the other and she said it looked like Herman Munster’s shoe.  It did!! I only wish we’d gotten pictures of it and we still laugh about it years later!

Perfect with coffee

Now on to the contest–I’m giving away exactly the pans you see in the photographs–the teal and hot pink.  I wanted both colors, not 2 of the same as they are sold, so I bought 2 sets. However, I have no use for 4 loaf pans so I decided some lucky reader would get the other 2.  Of course if you can’t wait to see if you win them, they are available in many colors and patterns such as the polka dot (shown here), Old World, Carved Old World and Floral Lace at Temp-Tations.com

Gorgeous hot pink and teal loaf pans from Temp-Tations by Tara

Here’s the deal–there is NO choice of color because this is what I have.  You also have to be a US resident, over 18 years of age and live in the contiguous 48 states (no Alaska or Hawaii).  I pack things very well, so there should be no problem with breakage–but since (you-know-what) can happen, I always insure the packages. By USPS regulations, it is the recipient who must claim on the insurance, so I can do nothing if it is broken.  Of course if there is a problem with the dish itself after baking, washing, etc. (I washed it and found no cracks, pinholes, etc.), the product is warrantied and all you have to do is call Temp-Tations customer service for a replacement. You also have to fulfill all required entries on the Rafflecopter app, which includes, but is not limited to: liking Facebook pages, following on other social media sites and commenting where appropriate. And of course the famous, “void where prohibited by law,” thingy.  And I never understood that anyway, but I put it in to be safe.

Required:
1.  Like my FB page (you can click on this and take the entries even if you’ve liked it forever LOL)
2.  Follow me on Pinterest (same as above if you’ve been following me)

Optional:
1.  Follow me on Twitter
2.  Leave a blog post (on here, not Facebook) comment

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easy Cinnamon Raisin Bread

• 1 1/4 cup warm water + 2 tbs
• 2 tbs oil
• 3 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbs non-fat dry milk or powdered regular milk
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 1 pkg active dry yeast -OR- 2 1/4 tsp yeast*

*I use bread machine or “instant” yeast


Mix warm water, brown sugar in bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer (I use a 6 qt pro Kitchen Aid).  Sprinkle yeast on top to soften and proof (proofing tests to see if the yeast is alive.  In about 5 minutes or so, you will start to get bubbles–this means the yeast is good.  If after 10 minutes, you see no bubbles or foam, the yeast will NOT rise the bread.  Discard the water/sugar mixture and buy new yeast).  If yeast “proofs,” then proceed—


Add the oil, salt, dry milk, raisins, cinnamon and 2 cups of the flour to the bowl.  Fit mixer with dough hook and using speed recommended by manufacturer (with KA that’s #2), mix the ingredients in the bowl.  


Add the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until a soft, but NOT sticky dough develops.  If dough is a bit too sticky, add flour a tablespoon at a time.  Flour is almost always a range–you only use as much as needed to get a soft, yet workable dough that doesn’t stick to your hands. 


Knead (by machine) about 5 minutes or turn out on floured surface and knead by hand about 8 minutes.


Place about 1 tsp of oil in the bottom of a large bowl and place the kneaded dough in the bowl, coating the bottom of the dough with the oil.  Turn dough oil side up and cover with greased plastic wrap.  Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until double in bulk–about 1 hour.


Punch down dough after the rise (yep, just give it a good clop in the middle of the dough to deflate it).  Turn out on a floured surface and shape into a loaf–all this means is rolling or patting the dough out into a rectangle about 6×10 inches and rolling up, jelly-roll style from the narrower end.  Seal the seams and place in a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Cover with greased plastic wrap and place in a warm draft-free place to rise until double in bulk; about 45 minutes.


Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake bread for 30-40 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when you tap the bottom -OR- bread’s internal temp is 190 degrees F (if you have an insta-read thermometer).  


Remove from pans and cool completely on a rack.


Makes 1 loaf (recipe is easily doubled)


Bread Machine Instructions


Place ingredients in bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer–this is usually all the wet ingredients first, ending up with the flour on top and the yeast on top of the flour.  Set for SWEET cycle and just let the machine do it’s thing.  When I make this in my bread machine, I don’t bother waiting for the “beep” to add the raisins–I just throw them in at the beginning.

Easy Cinnamon Raisin Bread

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