Cinnamon Raisin Bread...
My sourdough starter was begging me to use it. I have been experimenting with different recipes that use sourdough starter and this bread is a real winner. Better than cinnamon rolls...
I found that my starter seems much happier when I stir it every day. So I gave it a good stirring and got it ready to be used.
There, that looks better. Then I measured out 2 cups of starter and put it in a large mixing bowl.
I melted two tablespoons of butter and got the rest of the things I would need. 1/2 cup of raisins, salt and honey.
I really don't like to measure honey, so I just squeezed it into the butter until it looked like it was about 2 tablespoons.
Then I added 1 teaspoon of salt and stirred it all together.
Add the honey butter mixture to the sourdough starter.
Add the raisins and give it all a good stir. I love the smell of sourdough starter. When ever I read books about the Old West, they always have a crock of sourdough starter and the concensus seems to be that it smelled aweful. The smellier the better...
Add 3 cups of flour to the sourdough starter mixture and stir.
It takes a little work to get the flour all stirred it, but the end result is worth it. When I got to the point that I couldn't work in any more flour, I dumped it out on the counter and kneaded it.
I had some pictures of me kneading the dough, but my arms and hands looked a little too much like Popeye. Wow, I didn't know I had such meaty arms. It must be from all of the kneading.
Now it is time to let the dough rise in an oiled bowl for 2 hours. It will not rise as much as regular yeast bread.
I rolled out the dough until I had a fairly large rectrangle. I want to be able to get two loaves of bread out of this dough.
Brown sugar, oh yes, this is going to be a sweet bread. I spread out 1/4 cup of brown sugar all over the top.
Sprinkle cinnamon all over the top of the brown sugar. In order for the bread to taste as good as a cinnamon roll, I really lay it on thick. Justin says it is like frosting.
I divided the dough in half and started rolling them up to look like logs.
Pull the end of the dough over to the under side of the loaf on both ends.
Place both loaves of bread in to oiled bread pans. Really oil them well because the sugar leaks out and makes the baked bread stick to the pan.
Since we are in cold country, I have the stove on to create warmth for the bread. I placed a towel under the loaf pans and covered them to let them rise in a warm place. If you live in a warmer climate, you can probably just cover and rise in your back yard...
After the dough has risen to take up most of the space in the pan, bake it in an oven set at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and allow to cool on a baking rack before you slice it. Mmm, I can smell the cinnamon, it is calling my name...
