I love baking bread, it makes me feel accomplished. Like I have an actual skill. I do many things with my hands but nothing beats the feeling I have after baking bread. The funny thing though is that I do not like eating bread that much. I only eat bread out of convenience. The good thing is my husband actually prefers the home-made bread I make compared to the store bought.
I have found that ingredients matter when it comes to the outcome of the bread. A couple of months ago I decided to buy a cheaper flour compared to the brand that I always buy and my bread was just not the same. The next day my bread started tasting stale. My advice is if you can, buy good quality flour and you will enjoy your bread more. I am not very good at kneading with my hands so I bought a bread machine at the thrift shop for $5 I think. I only use it to knead and proof my bread and then bake in the oven. If you bake in the bread machine, the crust is so hard and I do not like the shape.
These days I am enjoying this whole wheat raisin bread. I hope you enjoy making it too.
Whole-wheat raisin bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup raisins
- butter for smearing pan
- egg and milk mix
Instructions
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Melt butter in milk on the stovetop. Do not boil milk. Let the milk cool down for about 10 minutes.
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Sprinkle the yeast on top of the milk.
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Mix flour and sugar together.
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In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer or bread machine or just a bowl if working by hand, beat the eggs and sugar together.
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Add the yeast mixture to the eggs.
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Add the flour and salt mix to the wet ingredients and knead into a ball.
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Proof the dough for about an hour or until the dough is twice the size.
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Smear the loaf tin with some softened butter.
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Beat down the dough and add the raisins, making sure they are evenly distributed.
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Form the dough into a loaf by rolling it out flat on a floured surface and forming it into a log that will fit into your tin. Place in the buttered tin and cover with plastic wrap for about 2 hours.
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Preheat oven to 350F.
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Brush the top of the bread with the egg and milk mix and bake the bread for at least 35 minutes.
