Despite my past work in bread bakeries I rarely have bread success at home. I’m not sure what it is – atmosphere, yeast, lack of talent. My mom makes amazing bread and I’ve always strived to develop a similar skill at making it.Good news! I think I finally had a bread success.
I will admit it came after a few failures, though. I had a simple baguette recipe I found in a book a long while back that I play with occasionally. It has never turned out well. One reason is that it has too much salt. I never could get used to the flavor. I decided, however, that the recipe had potential if adjusted it enough and if I set my sites on more of a loaf as opposed to a baguette.
I had some golden raisins left from my scones and a bread from my past came to mind today – Cinnamon Raisin Walnut. It has been forever since I’ve had it so I decided to give my base recipe one last attempt at being successful.
I am so happy about the loaf I ended up with. It has a hard, crusty outside and a soft inside just the way I like my bread. The cinnamon and raisins add just a touch of sweetness without being too overwhelming. I had to wrap it up and push it to the corner of the kitchen after two pieces for fear it would be gone before the end of the day.
I will warn you in advance that this is an all-day kind of bread, or at least all morning. It might be a good idea to leave this one for a relaxing weekend. My next mission will be to increase the whole wheat flour (I was almost out) and incorporate some different grains.
Cinnamon Raisin Nut Bread
1 ¼ cups warm water
1 tsp instant dry yeast
1 ½ cups white flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
¾ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
½ cup golden raisins
1/3 cup walnuts
1 tsp instant dry yeast
1 ½ cups white flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
¾ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
½ cup golden raisins
1/3 cup walnuts
Mix the yeast with water and let it sit while you mix the other ingredients. Combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, raisins and walnuts in a mixing bowl. Pour in yeast and mix with a spoonula until combined. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead for five to eight minutes. Form the dough into a round loaf and place in a greased bowl. Let rise for about one hour or until it has doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and form it into a long loaf. Place it in a greased loaf pan. It will look something like this.
Let it rise for 2 more hours at which point it will look more like this.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes or until the loaf is nicely browned on the outside. Remove from oven and use a knife to loosen the sides and de-pan immediately. Let cool on a wire rack.
I love cinnamon raisin bread, it is so good for breakfast!! Glad you had success!
Great job with the bread! I have not made bread at home other than an Irish soda bread one time. Cinnamon raisin bread sounds very good!
That bread sounds delicious! Congrats on the success!! : )
great bread! could probably make incredible french toast or bread pudding with that too.
Congrats on your bread success. Looks yummy!
Oh, that bread looks so delicious! Congratulations!!
congrats on your bread success! i love CR bread 🙂
Well done you 🙂 – and think how good that would be toasted, that’s where I’d be going with it!
I love raisin bread! Sounds great!!
It turned out great! Nothing compares to home made bread, and the wonderful aroma when it’s cooking!
I love baking bread, though I learn a little bit more each time I bake. This bread looks not only perfect but so good! Love the recipe (any bread with raisins, nuts and cinnamon is a must-try!
Well done and congrats! I bought flour to try my loaf again…
Congratulations! And what an excellent choice for a bread baking success – I love Cinnamon Raisin bread. It’s an all-time favorite in our house, although I also haven’t made it in a while. Now I have visions of cinnamon raisin french toast . . . mmmmm!
Question: how were you able to stop after only 2 pieces?
Maria – It was a relief. I was about to give up. 🙂
5 Star Foodie – I find it quite challenging, but rewarding when it turns out okay!
lesley – Thanks!
lauren – Mmm..Both great ideas!
Happy Runner, Candice, Heather – Thanks!
Daily Spud – Oh, yes. I’m going there as well. 😉
Sarah – It used to not be one of my favorites, but I think that is changing. 🙂
Reeni – I totally agree, especially those with cinnamon.
Jamie – It is definitely a learning process. It seems to change each time for me.
Michelle – Well, that first time we tweeted about it, mine didn’t turn out well either. 🙁 Here’s to second tries!
Tangled Noodle – Well, I started calculating how much more I needed to run to burn it off and that helped. Ha, ha!
This looks great! I don’t have much luck with bread either — the last WW rolls I made could have been hockey pucks! 🙂 But you give me hope and this looks and sounds delicious!! Do you ever use oat flour?
Thanks for the recipe! Have a nice weekend!
Congrats! I made sourdough bread for the first time a couple weeks ago and clearly didn’t let it rise enough…the taste was there, but it was way too dense. I’m going to try again soon and am hoping for some of your new found luck!
congrats on the success!!!
looks amazing :0
Like you, I have the same problem making bread at home, yet my mom is expert at it. Glad to hear you’ve found sweet success at last! I think it’s true, especially when cooking or baking, that one typically finds success after failure. And there are degrees of failure, too, of course. For me, success often means little more than not setting off the fire alarm. That’s awesome that the golden raisins turned out well. The fact that you’re successfully making adjustments is a sign of even better things to come! Thanks for sharing this!
ChefBliss – You know I have seen oat four around, they even have it here in Brazil, I just haven’t gotten around to trying it. I should give it a whirl.
Mark – Thanks. Hope you had a great weekend!
Emily – Thanks. Sourdough is quite a challenge. You deserve credit for simply trying it. My bread attempts usually always fail in texture as well. So tricky!
cleanveggie – Thanks! Much appreciated!
Sapuche – Ha, ha! I agree there are definitely different levels of success. This time my first one was the fact that it raised well. The taste was a second bonus. 🙂
that looks amazing will be great with a hot cuppa
Dietitian – Thanks for stopping by with your comment. It was very tasty and i’m kind of sad it is gone now. 😉
This looks and sounds wonderful. There are few things better than hot cinnamon bread 🙂
Lori, what a lovely bread you have produced!! MMMMMM…. It looks really yummie :)!!
Well done!!