Raisin Bread

I have always enjoyed store bought raisin bread. I had no idea how incredibly addicting homemade raisin bread is. I had difficulty restraining myself from eating the entire loaf. If you have the time, you should absolutely make this bread. A KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook is also a great thing to have. I'm going to be making this again very soon.

Raisin Bread (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
2 cakes yeast (same as 2 packets active dry yeast)
1/4 C lukewarm water
1 C milk
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C shortening
3 eggs
5 C sifted flour
1 C (or more) raisins
6 T or so melted butter
1 C sugar mixed with 2 T cinnamon

Take the yeast and add it to the lukewarm water. Set it aside. Place the three eggs into a cup and beat them. Set this aside as well.

Sift plenty of flour, enough to give you more than 5 cups worth.

Place the milk into a small sauce pan. Heat the milk over medium heat. You will need to pay attention to the milk and stir it often. The milk is heated enough when it just starts to lightly boil. Small bubbles will appear  near the edge of the pan. Don't scorch the milk, just scald it. Remove from heat and add the salt, sugar, and shortening. Mix until blended.

Pour the milky mixture into a mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of sifted flour. Mix these together completely using low speed.

Add the yeast mixture and the eggs. Mix these in completely as well on low speed.

Add the remaining 3 cups of flour and mix until completely blended.

If you have a KitchenAid mixture (or a good mixture with a dough hook), replace the beater with the dough hook. (Optionally, spray the hook with cooking spray to prevent sticking). Mix/knead on low for 10 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to remove the dough from the hook. Otherwise, knead the dough until "satiny". Cover the dough with a clean dish towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk. This will take approximately 1 hour.

Punch down the dough (or mix with dough hook for a minute). Add the raisins and knead down. I used the mixer for another 4 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into two equal(ish) sections. Roll out the sections of dough to about 3/4 inch thickness. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Roll up the flattened dough. Place into greased loaf pan. Let rise until double in size. Again, this takes about an hour.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Check at 35 minutes. I forgot to check and the top burned. Cool thoroughly. After 10 minutes, the loafs can be removed from the bread pans and placed on a cooling rack.