Buttermilk Raisin Bread
Submitted by honeybee
Soft, cinnamon-spiced buttermilk raisin bread studded with plump raisins and chopped nuts. A from-scratch yeast bread that makes two gorgeous loaves.
YIELD
2 loavesPREP
2 hrsCOOK
35 minREADY
3 hrsThe smell of this bread baking will have everyone in the house hovering near the oven.
Swollen raisins and chopped nuts get folded into a soft, cinnamon-laced buttermilk dough that rises into two golden loaves with a tender crumb.
The buttermilk adds a subtle tang and keeps the bread moist for days, while the baking soda reacts with the acidity to give the dough extra lift.
Slice it thick, toast it, and spread with salted butter. That’s breakfast sorted for the week.
Pro Tips
- Soak the raisins in hot water for 20 minutes before adding. Plumped raisins stay juicy inside the bread instead of turning into hard pebbles.
- Warm the buttermilk to 130F so the rapid-rise yeast activates properly. Too cool and the dough won’t rise; too hot and you’ll kill the yeast.
- Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, not just “mixed." This develops the gluten structure that gives the bread its chewy pull.
- Let the shaped loaves rise a full hour before baking. Patience here means a lighter, taller loaf.
Ingredients
Directions
Place sugar, salt, yeast, soda and cinnamon in large bowl.
Measure flour into a smaller bowl. Add 1½ cups flour to other dry ingredients. Blend to mix ingredients. Pour butter, eggs, and buttermilk into dry ingredients. Beat at high speed for two minutes. Add 1½ cups more flour. Continue beating two more minutes. Change to bread hooks. Add nuts, raisins, which have been soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, and about 2 cups more flour (total 5 cups flour so far). Mix with bread hooks, until dough is no longer sticky. Add balance of flour if necessary. Knead with hooks until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl, let rise one hour. Punch down, divide and let rest, covered with two bowls for 15 minutes. Shape into loaves. place in greased loaf pans. Let rise for one hour. Bake at 375℉ (190℃) for 35 to 40 minutes. Bakes two medium sized loaves.
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