Delicious Raisin Bread
 

Delicious Raisin Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
1.5 teaspoons salt
4 Tablespoons of Splenda or Sugar
1 generous Tablespoon of cinnomon
1 cup of water
3 Tablespoons of oil (I use a very light olive oil)
Scant Tablespoon of Bread Machine Yeast (or a tiny bit less)
1 cup of raisins

Microwave water and oil for 1 minute.

Place flour, salt, sweetener and cinnamon in bread machine pan (remember to put the paddle in first (LOL). Make an indent on top of the flour heap with your thumb or spoon. Place the yeast in the indent.

Carefully pour the warm liquid around the edges of the flour mixture. Place your pan in the machine, set your machine on dough setting (mine is Number 8). And start your machine.

An hour and a half later (on my machine) after it has finished mixing and its first rising, remove the bread pan from the machine, punch the dough down and with oiled hands, remove the dough. Make sure to squeeze the air out if there are still air bubbles left.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bread loaf pan and squish it so it is distributed evenly and place in a warm place to rise for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Let cool about 20 minutes laying pan on its side on a cookie rack before loosening the edges and removing from pan. Enjoy!

PS
1.) for regular plain white bread I only use 3 T. of Splenda
2.) dried cranberries and orange zest can be added instead of the raisins
3.) I often replace milk for water.

Notes: I love my bread machine and have streamlined how much care I put into assembling it before turning on the machine.
I can pop this together and click the start button in about 10 minutes from the time I begin. The rest is just listening for the timer to move on to the next step.

My bread machine is a Sunbeam 2# Programmable Breadmaker. It costs $29 three years ago but is still worth the higher cost. Here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-5891-2...und+breadmaker

I am not affiliated with the company or with Amazon. I just love my bread maker! Ask around because I have found that lots of people have breadmakers stuffed in storage and don’t use them. I love the dough setting since DH and I don’t like the shape of the bread the machine makes. I guess I have sung my praises for bread machines enough to probably nauseate you… sorry.

We toast ours and have to limit ourselves to ourselves to 1 piece a day. :D

I don't care for raisins, but have dried crans and cherries on hand. Thank you for the recipe..I'm making a loaf today and adding a few sliced almonds. We like thick toast for morning meal, and that's our breakfast. Sounds perfect!

I have been wanting home made bread all winter. I never even thought of my bread maker....yes it is in the bottom of a cupboard, hidden away! Thank you.

Thanks for the recipe. I use my Bread Machine at least once a week!!

Last night I threw the ingredients in my bread maker, turned it on and didn't' hear the timer go off. So, at bedtime I punched the dough down, rolled it up in saran wrap, then into a ziplock bag and into the freezer. Later today I will take it out, put it into a loaf pan and see how long it takes to warm up and rise. Wonder how my 'unplanned' experiment will turn out? :D I will let you know.

Linda,
I see that you are in Washington...will you be going to sew expo in Puyallup?
Kirsten

SewExtremeSeams, at what point do you add the raisins? Are they kneaded in before rising, or maybe after the first rising when the dough is rolled out for shaping?

I love my bread machine too. When my old one quit working I got a 1 lb Zo. I can reduce your recipe to half and will be just right.

I tried this recipe and was not happy with it. I followed the directions exactly and it didn't raise very much. I put it in a bread pan and let it rise for a long time and then baked it. It looks like a brick. I have a feeling it will go into a cinnamon raisin bread pudding because that will disguise most any kind of bread. How did yours turn out??

Unfortunately DH and I are not attending this year. I have spent big buckos in years past. Enjoy! The part I enjoyed the most was sitting in the eating area and meeting people from all over the Western States.

I drop the raisins in just before I put the liquid in. I do try to loosen them from one another as best I can. They seem to mix just fine in the mixing process.

Sorry for the double post. My computer is misbehaving!:D

Hmmm... wonder what could have happened?

I have made over 10 loaves following these directions. A time or two I have somewhat killed the yeast by letting the water be too hot. I usually set my micro on the 1 minute quick start and pull it out 10 seconds before it's finished. It should be on the warm side of tepid. Also, due to the cold temps outside, our kitchen tends to be a bit cold. So, I turn on my oven to the warm setting; let it come up to heat and then turn it off. The oven then becomes my warm cocoon for the bread to rise.

Once my bread has risen I just turn the oven on to 375, leaving the bread in the oven and set my timer for it to bake.

Maybe there wasn't enough yeast. I measure with my tablespoon and shake a little off the top so it is sometimes 2.5 teaspoons... give or take a little.

I hope it will work for you because it is delicious.

I have trouble with my bread machine because the bread sticks to the sides and the paddle also seems to stick when I am tread to take it out after it finishes baking. Any suggestions to prevent this? Thanks, Stinker

I love to use my bread machine for mixing and the first rise. Will try this recipe as soon as I buy fresh yeast. Just looked and mine is out of code by a couple months.

Are you talking really stuck or sticky dough? Occasionally I have sticky dough which sticks to the sides and sticks to my hands. I just oil my hands and reach in and pull it away. I don't think oiling the pan prior to putting your ingredients in would work but maybe.

Side note: I am not shaping the dough as we have been taught to do. The first time the dough turned out to be somewhat sticky, just made sure all of the air was out and put it in the pan and poked it till it was evenly spread in the pan. It seems to fill out during the rising. Crazy or lazy me :D:D doesn't want to take the time to get a board and flour out to work it so I can shape the dough in the usual fashion. Anyway, I found it works itself out. wha..lah, a new way to shape bread! :D

OK, so you if you won't hold me responsible... I will share that I have used yeast that is further outdated than yours. However, if you don't want to risk it totally being flat bread you could look it up to find how you test yeast. I buy the little jar and keep it in the fridge. Have on occasion left it sitting on the counter and it still worked. But, most definitely have used the foil packets that are way past date and it was fine.

Yummy...Thanks for sharing...

Without heating my oven to warm it took all day to thaw the frozen raisin bread dough and for it to rise. Next time I will heat the oven to warm, turn it off and let it thaw and rise. I might have to turn that oven setting on for a few minutes now and then. My bread cooked up just fine and we had our 1 piece of toast for dessert tonight. Yummyyy!