• 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.

• Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup of warm water in a large bowl; add the pinch of sugar. Let stand 10 minutes. If bubbles form the yeast is active and you may proceed with making the bread.
• Add to the bowl containing the yeast the 2 1/2 cups very warm water, the honey, the butter, the salt and 3 1/2 cups of the whole wheat flour. Mix with electric mixer until a dough forms that begins to leave the sides of the bowl*. Add the remaining 1 cup of whole wheat flour. Stir in 2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups of the bread flour. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead in the remaining 1/2 - 1 cup of the bread flour. Knead for 5-10 minutes.
• *If your heavy-duty stand mixer has a dough hook, you may switch to that at the point you add the last of the whole wheat flour. If using the dough hook to knead, knead for 5 minutes after the last addition of the bread flour.
• Put about 1 tsp of oil in a large bowl. Add the dough and coat the bottom of it with the oil. Turn dough oil side up and cover with greased plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft-free place to rise until double in bulk--about 30-45 minutes. I use the "oven rise" method since my house is drafty. To do this, turn on your oven and run for one minute after the heat begins to come up. Turn the oven off. This is the perfect temp for yeast dough rising. You may also put a pan of hot water under the bowl with the dough.
• When dough is doubled in bulk, punch down and divide into 2 balls. Shape each ball into a loaf and place in a well-greased 9 x 5 x 4-inch or 8 x 4 x 3-inch loaf pans. Cover with greased plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in bulk in a warm, draft-free place for 30-45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap from the pans and bake loaves for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Loaves should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
• Remove from pans immediately and cool completely on a rack.
• Makes 2 loaves.

• In a large bowl, combine the warm water, the sugar and the yeast. Stir and let stand for about 10 minutes–this is “proofing” the yeast. If you get a bubbly foam on the top of the water, your yeast is active and you may proceed.
• Add the salt and vegetable oil. Stir to combine.
• Add the flour, one cup at a time until a soft dough forms. You may have to use more flour depending on weather conditions. For instance, today I needed close to 3 3/4 cups of all-purpose to get this right. The dough should be soft but NOT sticky.
• Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. If using a stand mixer with a dough hook, knead for about 3 minutes.
• Pour some oil (about 1 tsp) in a large bowl and place the kneaded dough in that bowl, coating the bottom of the dough with the oil. Turn oil-side up and cover the bowl with a greased piece of plastic wrap.
• Set the bowl in a warm draft-free place** and let rise until double in bulk–between 1-1 1/2 hours.
• Punch dough down. Turn out on lightly floured surface and shape into a loaf–this is done by pressing the dough into a sort of rectangle then rolling up tightly from the smaller end. Seal edges and place in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover with greased plastic wrap and place in a warm draft-free** place to rise until double in bulk–when loaf is about 1-inch higher than the side of the pan. This should take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on temperature/humidity conditions.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes.
• Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.