Recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Whole Wheat Bread

I can't even begin to tell you how good this is (was!).  Whole wheat, cinnamon, walnuts, raisins, a touch of brown sugar all baked up and yummy together.  Then sliced and served with a small smear of butter.  Oh my.

I remain facinated with the simplicity of the "five minutes a day, no knead bread" method, by authors Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoë François.  It takes more than five minutes, but I get the concept they are trying to get across:  bread making isn't that difficult.  I love that there are only 5 ingredients in their basic recipe-flour, water, salt, yeast, and vital wheat gluten (necessary when using whole wheat flour).

For this bread I used a "double dose" of premade dough from the fridge (1/2 a full recipe).

Ingredients:

Premade dough

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

1/4 cup cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling

1/4 cup brown sugar

flour for shaping loaf

Method:

Remove dough from fridge with floured hands and shape into round.  Lay on floured surface or silicone mat.   Roll out to rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.

Mix nuts, raisins, sugar, and cinnamon together.  Spread over bread.  Pick up short side of bread and fold one third over the middle section.  Fold the other one third over and roll out again to rectangle.  Flour as needed to prevent sticking.  Do enough times to combine the ingredients into the loaf, but don't over work. 

Shape into round or oblong loaf and allow to sit on a piece of parchment paper for 90 minutes.  Thirty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees with pizza stone on middle rack and baking sheet on lower rack.

When ready to bake, brush top with water, sprinkle with cinnamon, and score five or six times. 

Place bread on parchment paper on to pizza stone.  Add 10-12 ounces of water to broiler pan and close door quickly.

Bake for 50 minutes or until dark brown.  Remove and peel off parchment paper.  Cool on a rack.  Try to resist cutting and eating until cooled.

Are you a savory or sweet bread person?  I thought I was savory, but this loaf may convert me!

Submitted to Yeast Spotting