I make homemade bread all the time. My family loves it and I love the way it makes my house smell all delicious! Usually, I just make whole wheat bread (here is how on my old blog) but lately I have been experimenting with cinnamon raisin bread and this recipe is what I have come up with. It is a recipe for a bread machine, but I don’t actually bake it in the bread machine. I take it out and shape it into a loaf and bake it in a loaf pan in the oven. My bread machine is so inconsistent when it bakes that I don’t like to take a chance on it not turning out!

Another reason I like to use my bread maker is to mix all the ingredients, because quite frankly it is time consuming to go through all the steps for a good loaf and exhausting to knead for so long!! Not to mention I need to be able to just set it and forget it, because and soon as my attention goes into something all H-E double hockey sticks breaks out in this house!

Here is what you will need to make this deliciousness in your home.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread

1 cup warm water
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup honey
3 cups whole wheat four (I use King Arthur’s)
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, (or 1 package)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup raisins

in a bread machine add the first 6 ingredients together in order they are listed. Start your machine (If your bread machine has other settings put it on the whole wheat option). Allow the ingredients to mix up until the dough is a ball and kneading in the machine. My machine has a beeping timer to add additional ingredients that is when I add the cinnamon and raisins, if yours does not feel free to add them while the machine is kneading the bread. I usually use my hand to gently push down on the dough while it is rotating to help it pick up the cinnamon and raisins. This helps them to incorporate into the dough better.

Next I let it rise in the machine. My machine will deflate and let it rise again and will beep when it is on its final rise. I take it out of the machine at the beep (final rise before baking beep) and shape it into a loaf. I then place it in a butter loaf pan and cover it to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and put the loaf pan on the stove top to catch some warmth from the preheating oven, this helps it to rise. Once it has risen place it in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, depending on the darkness you prefer.

last remove the bread from the pan and allow it to cool on a cooling rack or up on the rim of the loaf pan. I like to rub butter on the top to make it chewy and delicious but if you like it crunchier leave the butter off. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool so you can finally eat it!

By the time you are finished making this bread the smell alone will make you want to eat the whole loaf! speaking of which mine is now cool so I better sneak some before the little people get up from nap!!

Enjoy and please comment if you have any questions