Recipe'n & Ruminatin': Cinnamon Raisin and Whole Wheat Bread

There are a lot of things out there that make baking and cooking easier and faster these days, from breadmakers to crockpots to take-and-bake options at supermarkets. I partake all the time, what with the whole three-small-kiddos thing, but one thing that I love to make myself is bread. Wonderful bread. You may throw carb-arrows at me all day, but you will never convince me to give it up. I moderate my intake (somewhat, see rounded edges) but there really is nothing like a freshly baked loaf of bread to feed you and your fambly. I will do two here, Whole Wheat and Cinnamon Raisin.

Here is everything I need to bake bread:

My three-year-old calls it the "sand Mommy uses to make cookies"

Whole Wheat Multi-grain Bread

3 c lukewarm water (85-105 degrees, no hotter. I like 95, because I'm balanced like that)
1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast (not instant - two of those extremely over-priced packets)
1/4 c honey
1 c dry milk
2 c whole wheat flour ( I also use Best for Bread flour from Rogers)
2 c multi-grain flour blend, Best for Bread - you can also just use all whole wheat

Cinnamon Raisin

3 c lukewarm water (still 85-105 degrees, no hotter)
1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast (not instant - buying in bulk is waaaaay cheaper)
1/4 c honey
1 c dry milk
2 c whole wheat flour ( I also use Best for Bread flour from Rogers)
2 c unbleached all-purpose white flour (or Best for Bread Homestyle White)

Warm an oven at it's lowest setting for one minute and TURN OFF.

Put the water in the bowl, add the yeast, then add everything else carefully. Stir all the ingredients until they are together, then give it a 100 good strokes. Cover it with saran wrap, but don't let it touch the surface. This is called the sponge, and it ain't pretty. If it touches the surface it will be impossible to get the wet dough off, so make sure you have a big enough bowl. Put the bowl in the warmed oven (TURNED OFF warm oven, right??) and let it rise for 45 minutes.

Sticky sponge - only sounds good.

Remove from the oven, and you will need:

Multi-Grain Whole Wheat Bread

1 Tbsp salt (not kosher)
1/3 c melted butter or vegetable oil
4 c whole wheat flour

Cinnamon raisin

1 Tbsp salt (still not kosher)
1/3 c melted butter or oil
2 Tbsp (or more-ish) cinnamon
1 c Thompson seedless raisins
4 c unbleached all-purpose white flour (or Best for Bread white, yadda yadda, you know)

Sprinkle the salt, then pour on the melted butter or oil. For the cinnamon raisin bread, here is where you add in the cinnamon and raisins, after the salt and butter, but before the flour.

Look! It's a heart!

I know, it doesn't look like much. Just wait!

This is when you add the flour. You will want to gird your loins, folding 3 cups of flour into this dough is going to require some strong-arm work. I have found that using the biggest bowl and spatula that you can handle comfortably makes it easier and faster. I have a huge spatula (I'm not a dude, so that's not a metaphor) and massive bowl (um, neither is that) so I add a cup of flour at a time. You probably want to stick to 1/2 c at a time. Anyway, fold in the first three cups, flour on top, bringing the dough over it:

New stuff on top, use the spoon or spatula to fold the dough over top of it

And keep doing it

And just when you think you are done, do some more.

After all three cups of flour are added, use part of the remaining cup of flour and empty the bowl onto a floured counter. Oil the bowl, but you don't need to wash it yet. The dough will be very sticky, so flour everything, your hands, the dough, the counter again, everything.

Stiiiicky

If you flour the spatula, like zo, you can salvage the dough stuck on it by rubbing it off

The artistic side view

Knead the dough for about 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour as you go along, until it is no longer sticky. Don't use too much flour, sticking to the one cup or less, because if the dough is too dry, it won't stick later when you want it to and that is not fixable. So, little bits! To knead dough, take the top part and fold it down towards the bottom. Then pick up each side and try to fold them over each other. The pick up the bottom and fold it towards the top. The basic theory is that you are adding a bunch of air by folding it into the dough, and all the working builds the gluten.

Once the dough is a nice and smooth ball, place it back in the oiled bowl, spray it with oil and cover with a damp cloth that is not terry cloth (holds moisture) like zo:

The approach

Folding top part down

Then bring the sides in together, folding over each other

Then the bottom part comes up

Eventually, it will look like this

Or this!

Ugly and green is okay, terry cloth is not

Place it back in the pre-warmed oven and let rise for 50 minutes, until almost doubled. Punch down carefully and let rise again for 40 minutes.

Hello beautiful

Squished

After the dough has almost doubled again, lightly flour the counter again (VERY lightly) and reshape into a ball. Using a dough cutter or large knife, cut into half and shape each half into a ball.

Cinnamon raisin!

Halving. Ish

Whole wheat in half

Cover with the damp cloth again and let rest for 5 minutes. Take each ball and do a half-knead in a circle. That means fold over the dough with your right hand and do a knead with the heel of your left hand. Do this 4 or 5 times until all the dough has been folded over, then fold it in half and pinch the edges together. If your dough is a little bit too wet for this, add a little flour. If it is too dry, you used too much flour earlier and that is not fixable. Dang. Anyway, pinch it all together and place it into an oiled loaf pan with the pinched seam side up. You are going to push that dough into the corners with your knuckles, as well as you can. Flip it over, do the same on the other side. It should be nice and greasy and somewhat loaf-pan-shaped.

Pinched seam

Knuckled somewhat into the corners

Let rise, covered, for 25 minutes. Make two slices across the top for venting (if you don't the sides blow oot) and brush with egg wash. To make egg wash, beat one egg with about a tablespoon of milk. I sprinkle the whole wheat loaves with raw sesame seeds, but you can do whatever. Let your freak flag fly!

Sliced

With egg wash and invisible sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees; bake the bread for 40-60 minutes, rotating half way through. That is a large time difference, but it really depends on your oven. Mine are super hot, so usually it takes about 40-45 minutes. Check it after 40, add time as needed.