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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Old-fashioned Raisin Bread

When I saw this bread on Phyl's blog, I knew I had to make it. The loaves looked so wonderful and the crumb so perfect. When I read that the recipe was a preview from Nick Malgieri's new book "Bread" (to be published in the fall 2012), I had one more reason to try it.

Baking bread is fun, but it's even more fun when you can do it with someone else and turn it into a mini (virtual) baking project. Fellow ABC-er and baking buddy, Janis of The Kitchen Is My Shrink, had mentioned that she'd like to get back into bread baking. The timing of the Old-fashioned Raisin Bread couldn't have been better. We both took the challenge and baked the bread in our respective kitchens. Do check out Janis' post. She did an awesome experiment where she made the recipe as-is and then again with natural enhancers such as Vital Wheat Gluten. Check out her side-by-side comparison here.

I love the three colors from the raisin, golden raisins and craisins in this bread!



As you've come to know of me, I like to substitute some of the white flour with whole wheat flour and this recipe was no exception. I like raisins but I'm also a huge fan of dried cranberries so I added some of those too. You can find all the changes I made later in the post.

Once I gathered the ingredients, I added them to my bread machine except for the dried fruit. I added the dried fruit to the dough by hand. There's a very nice and helpful video made by Levine and Freerk to show you how to easily add dried fruit to any dough. So, since this recipe makes 2 loaves, I decided to only use the kneading cycle in the BM and to let it rise outside the BM.





The 6" boule only took 25 minutes to bake. The other two loaves took an additional 15 minutes.


This bread is so light and tender, you wouldn't guess it's 50% whole-grain. I sliced all the loaves and froze them. That way, you take however many slices you want and let them sit on the counter to thaw out for a few minutes. This bread makes wonderful toast.


I love the light and tender crumb of this bread.
 

Bon appetit!



Final thoughts/tips:
  • We both loved this bread. Hubby is a huge raisin bread fan and really enjoyed sandwiches made with this bread, both savory and sweet.
  • I loved this bread fresh, but when you toast it, it's even more amazing. This recipe definitely goes on the make-again list.
  • A big thanks to Nick Malgieri for giving us a preview to this wonderful recipe. I can't wait to see the other recipes in his new book. If you'd like to try the recipe, you can find it here
  • I'm submitting this post to Susan's weekly round-up of yeast recipes at YeastSpotting.

Old-fashioned Raisin Bread
(adapted from Nick Malgieri's recipe)
Yields: two 8"x4" loaves + a small 6" boule

1 cup/225 grams room temperature tap water, about 75°F
3 teaspoons/10 grams fine granulated active dry or instant yeast
1 cup/225 grams 1% milk, scalded and cooled
3-1/2 oz water, lukewarm
375 grams unbleached bread flour
300 grams King Arthur Flour white whole wheat flour
25 grams ground golden flax seeds
16 grams vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup/50 grams sugar
23 grams non-fat dry milk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons/10 grams fine sea salt
55 grams vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups/150 grams dark raisins or currants
1 cup/100 grams golden raisins
1 cup/100 grams dried cranberries

Combine all the ingredients, except the dried fruit, in the bowl of your stand mixer or bread machine. Knead the dough and add the dried fruit in the last couple minutes of kneading. Follow the remainder of the directions here.

17 comments:

  1. I just love raisin bread! Especially when its homemade!

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    1. Thanks Elpiniki. I hope you try it some time :o)

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  2. Wow! Hanaa...that looks really good! Your loaves are beautiful!

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  3. That looks great, Hanaa! I just pulled my second loaf out of the freezer and am enjoying it. When it's gone, I'll have to make this recipe again.

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    1. I'm glad this recipe makes 2 loaves because I couldn't get enough of it. Thanks again for blogging about this bread recipe. It's a winner!

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  4. I love the changes that you made Hanaa!! I will apply them the next time I make this bread. So much healthier and I agree, looking at the crumb, you wouldn't think that this bread is 50% whole grain! Did you brush anything on top of the crusts to make them shiny? Your loaves' crusts have a beautiful gloss to them :-)

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    1. Thank you, Janis. I was very happy with the results and the changes I made. After the loaves came out of the oven, I brushed them with butter (which immediately melts upon hitting the hot loaves) :o)

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  5. Fantastic looking bread! I love raisin bread..I'd probably eat one loaf right out of the oven!

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    1. Thanks Gloria. It's delicious any way you eat it: warm, room temp or toasted a day or two later :o)

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  6. Looks wonderful! I love raisins in bread! Looking forward to Nick Malgieri's new book. I just bought his book Bake! yesterday! :)
    On another note, the book The Weekend Baker which I ordered somehow never reached me after six weeks of waiting, they have promised to send me a replacement! I will have to wait all over again!!

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    1. I love Nick Malgieri's recipes and have several of his books. His upcoming book, Bread, sounds really interesting!!
      What a bummer that you didn't get the book yet. At least you can find next month's Choc Cupcake recipe on Abby's website :o)

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  7. I was just on his site this morning looking at this exact recipe and thinking how much I wanted to try it out! Glad to see how delicious your results were.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, CrumbsOfLove. I highly recommend this recipe. This bread was really tasty and will be made many many times.

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  8. What a beautiful looking loaf!!
    I'd loooooooooove a few slices with butter

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    1. Thanks Winnie. I hope you try this recipe sometime. It's delicious toasted and buttered :o)

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  9. Your raisin bread looks amazing! Maybe Joyce saw this recipe at your blog at first and pass on this recommendation to us. This is indeed a great recipe!

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