Buttery Raisin Bread
This Raisin Bread recipe is rich in flavor, with the addition of butter and egg and the touch of cinnamon and sugar that clings to the raisins. It's great plain, or toasted with or without butter. If after a day or two you have any left over it also makes fabulous French Toast or even a bread pudding.
Equipment
- 2 1 pound loaf pans
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 cup King Arthur bread flour (500g)
- 1 full cup whole milk (240ml) - 8 oz.
- 2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (7g) - 2 1/4 tsp= 1 packet of yeast
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt (9g)
- 1 grade "A" large egg
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (114g)
- 1 cup plump dark raisins (145g)
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon mixed with 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 egg mixed with 2 tsp water for egg wash
Instructions
- Add about 1/4 cup of the bread flour and the packet of yeast to the bowl of your mixer and whisk to combine. Warm the milk to a temperature of 99° to 100° (checking with an instant thermometer is easiest). Stir the warm milk into the flour/yeast mixture. Place in a warm spot until the yeast becomes active and bubbles appear on the top. This generally takes 10 to 15 minutes.
- Combine the remaining flour, salt and sugar. Add this to the yeast mixture, along with the one beaten egg . Fit your mixer with the dough hook attachment and mix at low to medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Cut the room temperature butter into tablespoon size pieces, and with your mixer still running add these pieces, one at a time. Allow each piece to be completely absorbed before adding the next.
- While the mixer is kneading the dough, toss the raisins with the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat and separate them. When coated, and after the butter has been mixed into the bread dough, add the raisins and mix for another 5 minutes.
- Scoop the dough out onto a floured work surface, sprinkle a bit of flour over the top and gently knead for a minute or two. The dough will be moist and a bit sticky, but a dusting of flour and perhaps using a plastic dough scraper will help. Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly buttered bowl. The bowl should be large enough to hold the dough when doubled in size.
- Cover the bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap or a tea towel and place in a warm spot to rise. Depending on the temperature of your room, this first rise will take anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes.
- Lightly butter 2 one-pound loaf pans. When the dough have doubled in size, dump onto a floured work surface and cut the dough in half. Form each half into a loaf shape and place in each of the pans. The dough will loose some of its volume as you work to shape it, but don't worry, it will regain it on the second rise.
- Cover the pans with a sheet of plastic or a tea towel. Place in a warm spot and allow to once again double in size. This second rise generally takes less time than the initial rise.NOTE: If you are using regular plastic wrap to cover, lightly butter or oil the surface. On the second rise the dough is very soft and moist and regular plastic wrap can stick to the top when removed. This will cause the dough to deflate a bit and it won't be as light. A good trick it to cut a heavy plastic ziplock bag into a flat sheet. This heavier weight plastic with a bit of butter coating is less likely to stick.
- Once the loaves have risen, use a very soft pastry brush to brush the tops with a light coating of egg wash. Immediately place in a preheated 350° oven (Convection) 375° oven (Standard). Set timer for 15 minutes. After that, turn the oven down to 325° (Convection) and 350° (Standard)(DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN) and continue to bake for another 30 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and when tapped on the top, you get a slightly hallow sound.
- Remove the loaves from the oven. Allow to set about 5 minutes and then remove from the loaf pans and place on a cooling rack.