Golden Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread

There are few things in life that are truly better than fresh-baked bread and butter.

I mean, of course there are the obvious:  God, love, family, friends, health, happiness.  Those are all really good – nay, really awesome – things.

 

But fresh bread & butter?  Come on – if you don’t admit it’s awesome then I just don’t know if we can be friends anymore.

 

Kidding, I still love you, but there may be trust issues.  Just sayin’…

 

Sooooo…who’s ready for a back story on this loaf of goodness?!  I see you all raising your hands passionately, so here goes 😉  Nate likes to have breakfasty things on the go, and tends to lean more towards muffins since they’re individual-sized and sweet (my man loves sweet things – that’s why he married me!  har har har), but inevitably at the end of the week we’d have some muffins leftover that would end up being thrown away.  Come to find out he was expecting me to eat some too…even though I didn’t want muffins.  And SO I decided one day to make some cinnamon swirl bread that both of us could enjoy throughout the week, that would SURELY get eaten quickly enough to not throw it away.

 

Good story right?  Good thing the recipe is even better!

GOLDEN RAISIN CINNAMON SWIRL BREAD

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup 2% milk, at room temperature
• 1 package dry yeast
• 1 egg + 1 egg white
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature, + 2 Tbsp melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup golden raisins (regular raisins will work just fine, I just like the flavor/color/texture of golden ones better!)
• 5 cups bread flour
• 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

First things first, in the bowl of a stand mixer stir together the water, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and the yeast.  Let it sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is nice and bubbly (and your kitchen is smelling like heaven).  Meanwhile whisk together the milk, eggs, and salt and set aside.  Once the yeast is foamy stir in the milk mixture, and then mix in the raisins and 4 Tbsp of butter.  NOTE:  the butter is not melted, so it will appear sort of chunky.  Don’t worry – the flour will take care of it!

 

Once all of those ingredients are mixed together, turn the mixer on low and add 3 cups of the flour.  Continue adding in 1/4-cup increments until you have a stiff dough that doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl.  Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead for about 3-4 minutes until the dough is nice and smooth.  Coat the same mixing bowl in a little oil and add the dough back to it, turning to coat.  Cover with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm place (I put mine on top of my dryer while it was running) for about 60-90 minutes until doubled in size.

 

Once the dough has risen cut it in half and roll each half out into a 9×13-inch square.  Brush each square with 1 Tbsp of melted butter and sprinkle each one with 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp of cinnamon.  Roll very tightly; place each one in a well-greased 9×5 pan.  Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise for another 45-60 minutes until you have a nice rounded top.  Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until done – the best tip I’ve ever heard for this is to knock on the side of the pan; if it sounds hollow then it’s done!  Carefully remove immediately from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.  DEVOUR!

Bread and buttah y’all…it’s breakfast!