Wheat Raisin Bread

This raisin bread is much easier to make than the cinnamon swirl bread recipes I've found and it has great flavor and a moist texture. You could make it less healthy by using all white flour instead, but I like the wholesome taste it has. You could also try adding 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans and decrease the raisins to 1/2 cup to make it more like a breakfast bread. It's great toasted and topped with butter and cinnamon sugar along with a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and a glass of OJ. This is making me hungry!

Wheat Raisin Bread
"Bread Machine version"

1 ½ pound loaf

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cup warm water (110 deg.)
1 1/2 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
3 tbs. sugar
3 tsp. wheat gluten
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

(Add raisins after the first five minutes of the second knead cycle so they don't turn to mush and get all chopped up, unless of course, you like it that way.)
1 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS

1) Place ingredients in the bread machine pan in order listed and select the Basic Light setting. When bread is done, let it sit in pan outside of bread machine for 10 minutes otherwise you'll squash the top of your loaf when taking it out. Let it cool on a baking rack and slice once completely cooled.

TIPS:

1) When the dough is mixing, if it seems too dry and isn't sticking together, slowly add more water until it comes to the right consistency. A slightly, sticky formed ball of dough. If it's too wet, slowly add more flour until it comes to the right consistency.

2) I find that adding wheat gluten to the all-purpose flour seems to help the bread have a better consistency and it's cheaper than bread flour. You coud use bread flour instead of the all-purpose flour and wheat gluten if you prefer. I also found that using warm ingredients (not hot and not cold) make the bread rise just right.

3) Another tip, if you don't want some of your slices to break apart from the hole left by the paddle, take the dough out right before it gets to the third rise cycle, take the paddle out, spray it with cooking spray, and form the dough neatly and put it back. Then, you only have a tiny hole instead of a large slice through your bread left by the paddle. This also helps you not have a lop-sided loaf which can happen sometimes by the machine not forming the dough evenly.


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