Best Recipe for Whole-Wheat Cinnamon-Raisin Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for brushing
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2/3 cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
Instructions
- Make the dough.
- Measure out 1 1/4 cups very warm water and check the temperature; it should be 120 degrees F to 130 degrees F. Combine both flours, the dry milk, egg, canola oil, honey, salt, yeast and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix 3 minutes on the lowest setting, then increase to the next highest setting and mix 5 more minutes. The dough should be soft and sticky.
- Let it rise.
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough has nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour, 30 minutes.
- Soak the raisins.
- Dry raisins will rob moisture from the bread, so soak them first in boiling water until plump, about 30 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
- Fold the dough.
- Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Picture it as a loose square. Lift up one side of the dough and fold about one-third of it across; press down on the dough with spread fingers to remove any air bubbles. Repeat with the remaining 3 sides of the dough.
- Add the filling.
- Mist two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Divide the dough in half; roll out each half into an 8-inch square. Brush each square with canola oil, then sprinkle with the cinnamon (it's high in antioxidants!), brown sugar and raisins.
- Form the loaves.
- Roll up each square of dough into a tight cylinder; place seam-side down in the prepared pans. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough fills the pans and springs back when touched, about 1 hour, 30 minutes.
- Bake the bread.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush the loaves with canola oil and bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the pans and transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Photograph by David Land
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