Cinnamon Raisin Bread

The other night I was hankering for something sweet and very yummy tasting. I wasn't sure what I wanted, I just knew I didn't have much on hand to make any kind of dessert. I had an apple pie filling, but I really didn't want to make any pie shells. I saw we had a bunch of raisins though and then the idea formed that I wanted cinnamon raisin bread. So close to midnight, I embarked on an insane late night baking frenzy. I found this recipe here.

This recipe makes a total of 3 loaves.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup milk

1 cup warm water (must be between 110-115 degrees)

2 (1/8 ounce) package active dry yeast

3 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup raisins

8 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp milk

1 cup white sugar

3 Tbsp ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter, melted (approx)

Directions

1. Warm the milk in a small sauce pan on the stove until it just starts to bubble, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from heat.

3. Let cool until lukewarm, about 120-125 degrees.

4. Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside until yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes or so (make sure your water is at the correct temperature or the yeast won't activate.) Then mix in egg, sugar, butter salt and raisins (stir in the cooled milk slowly so you don't cook the egg.) Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.

5. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth.

6. Place in a large, buttered, mixing bowl and turn to grease the surface of the dough.

7. Cover with a warm, damp cloth and let rise. Allow to rise until doubled, usually about 1 1/2 hours.
(It was at this point that I was wondering just how sane I was to embark on this baking expedition.)

8. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick.

9. Moisten the dough with 2 tablespoons milk and rub all over the dough with your hands.

10. Mix together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the moistened dough.

11. Roll up tightly (the long way)

12. The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter.

13. Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends and pinch bottom together.

14. Place loaves into well greased 9x5 inch pans and lightly grease tops of loaves.

15. Let rise in warm place, uncovered, again for about an hour.

(This is where I was starting to get loopy and had to reread the recipe three or four times to make sure I wasn't seeing things.)

16. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped. (I set my timer for 30 minutes and checked the bread. I ended up pulling it out at 35 minutes and it was done)

17. Remove from oven and let cool on rack.

18. Take melted butter and spread over tops of loaves.

19. After about 20 minutes, lay loaves on their sides and remove from pans.

20. Allow to cool before slicing. ( I didn't make it to the cutting part as it was nearly 330am and I was falling over exhausted. But when I tried it the next morning...yummy!)

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