Nice buns, Betty. Err, I mean, this post is about cinnamon-raisin bread.

Hello, world!

I've been busy.

On the one hand, I've been so busy preparing new units for my English students that I haven't had time to post.

On the other hand, I've found a wonderful distraction from preparing new units for my English students.

TaDa!
I have made my first foray in to the world of breadmaking, and it's been a success!

Ok, so I didn't knead the dough myself. But I did borrow the breadmaker that did it from Adrienne at Happenscraps, etc. (Thanks, Adrienne!) And that counts for something, right?

Ok, fine. So it's a lazy foray, but it's a foray nonetheless.

A lazy foray. That sounds like a really bad dance move, doesn't it? (Copyright Teri2010)

Ok, so anyway, I have made two loaves of white bread, whole-wheat cinnamon rolls, and a loaf of the best cinnamon-raisin bread I've ever had.
I'm even going to tell you how I did it, because I'm all generous like that.

First, I made a dough recipe I found on Food.com. (You can find the original post here - thank you to the talented baker who posted it!) Here's the recipe:

Put the following ingredients into your breadmaker on the "dough" setting.

• 1 1/4 c warm water
• 2 tsp butter
• 3 c white flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp powdered milk
• 2 tsp yeast
  

*****Editor's note: The breadmaker peeps insist that you have to add the ingredients in the order listed...but I may or may not have twice forgotten to add the little paddle that kneads the dough before I added the ingredients...and then I may or may not have had to dig down to the bottom of the bowl-thingy to put it in, thereby stirring up the ingredients and messing up the layers. May or may not. We can't be certain.

By the way, I didn't use breadmaker yeast - I was just guessing that you only knead that if you're baking the bread right in the breadmaker.

Get it? Knead?

Snort.

Anyway, I added all those ingredients, then turned that sucker on. Then I tried to find something else to do because I am oh-so-patient that way.

Oh look! A kitty!
Ok, so this is where it gets a little creative, because I've never done this before. After looking up some recipes for this stuff, I determined that I wanted to use the bread recipe I had tried and liked, and then just experiment with the raisin-cinnamon aspect.

This was truly an experiment, because everything I read said that add-ins make it rise more slowly, and that the sugar content, etc. causes all sorts of changes. I didn't have any issues, though.

Anyway, when it let out that if-you're-gonna-add-something-add-it-now beep, I added half a cup of raisins.

***Editor's note: Do not add "two scoops" unless your scoops are around a quarter cup. I'm just saying...if you want some bread with your raisins, do not let Kellog's clever marketing put you on auto-pilot.

Then, I let it go through its first rise in the breadmaker.

And then I waited again.

Oh look! A puppy!
Alright, so then it beeped, and I removed the dough and rolled it out to around 10" by 16".

Ok, so I actually froze the dough because I had to go out, then thawed it and rolled it out. Gosh, you're nosey.

I melted some butter (maybe 3 tablespoons) and slathered it all over the surface of the dough. Then, I used some leftover brown-sugar-and-cinnamon-concoction from the cinnamon buns of the other day, sprinkled that on, and rubbed it in a little for good measure. It was about 1/3 c of sugar with perhaps 1 tsp of cinnamon mixed in. Then, I took the cinnamon shaker and added a little more all over.

Next, I rolled up the loaf from the narrow side, pinched the ends closed, then tucked them under, and put the loaf in a greased loaf pan.

After letting it rise for 35 minutes, I baked it for another 35 at 350...

Et voila!
The most scrumptious cinnamon-raisin bread I've ever had!
Mmmmm.
"Noooo, don't eat me!"

Shut up, bread.