Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Delicious Cinnamon Raisin Bread

The Quest for Cinnamonny Gooey Goodness....

It used to be be a staple in our weekly breakfast, cinnamon raisin bread. In our home we vary cold and hot breakfasts, so one day we have cereal and the next a hot breakfast like toast with jam and scrambled eggs with turkey bacon, pancakes or waffles, french toast and hot cereals with fresh fruits. On the hot breakfast mornings, cinnamon raisin bread was a great go-to carbohydrate to throw in with a protein for a complete and nutritious meal. But once we went gluten-free our beloved cinnamon raisin bread became something of the past. 

I have been thinking of the delicious memory of the delectable slices of cinnamon raisin bread with gooey swirls of cinnamon and realized that yes, I can make cinnamon bread. So I set off with my basic White Bread recipe and started altering amounts and working on some spices to see what combination I could get. I did research a few conventional cinnamon raisin bread recipes online to get an idea of how people have pulled these loaves together (why reinvent the wheel) and got to some serious work. Inevitably I end up STARTING to bake at about 9pm so then the resulting loaf isn't done until about midnight... but as our home filled with the smell of warm cinnamon, it was the most tasty midnight snack I have had in a long time.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

2 C warm water
1 1/2 packet active dry yeast
4 Tbs. sugar
2 1/2 C Brown Rice Flour
3/4 C Potato Starch
1/2 C Tapioca Flour
2 Tbs. xanthum gum
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground allspice
3 Tbs Margarine (or non-dairy butter), melted
2 eggs
3/4 C raisins
Flour for dusting
Cooking Spray

     Filling

2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C raisins

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together water, yeast and sugar and let stand until foamy. 

While the yeast mixture sits, mix together the dry ingredients, brown rice flour through the allspice into a medium sized bowl. 

When yeast has foamed, add melted margarine and eggs to the mixture and blend until the eggs are thoroughly mixed in. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the yeast/egg mixture until it forms a sticky dough. Add raisins and mixture thoroughly. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, if its a little too sticky to handle, knead in just enough flour to be able to handle it. When the dough is manageable, roll it out to about 1/2 inch think and about 10 inches wide. 

Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice and spread evenly over the surface of the rolled out dough. Spread raisin over the brown sugar mixture. Roll the dough forming a doughy cylinder keeping it about 9-10 inches in length. Spray a 9" bread pan with cooking spray and place dough cylinder in the pan. 

Set the pan in a warm place to rise, about 1 1/2 hours. 
When the dough has nearly doubled in size, preheat oven to 375 degrees and place pan on the top of the stove to rise for another 15-20 minutes. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and when you knock on it it sounds hollow. 

Cool in the pan for 1 hour, allowing the filling to cool and set. 

Slice and enjoy! 

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