Raisin Nut Bread
I wanted to make a raisin bread with high concentrations of raisin and nut flavor while still maintaining the structural strength of sliced bread. This is accomplished with densely packed swirls of raisins and nuts encased within a strong outer dough wrap.
Ingredients:
1c chopped walnuts
1c raisins
1c golden raisins
Honey (about 2tblsp)
2c whole wheat flour
2c white flour
1 tsp dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
2 tblsp vital wheat gluten
1.5c warm water
2 tblsp butter
Directions:
Mix flour, wheat flour, gluten, salt, yeast, ginger, cinnamon, eggs, butter, and water in a bread machine, standing mixer, or by hand (lots of work). Once the dough is mixed, cover it and let it proof rise for one hour.
Flour a large table or counter space. Divide the dough into two equal portions. Roll each portion out into a sheet of dough that is roughly 8″ wide x 24″ long. Brush half of the tops of dough sheet with water (half of the length). Then divide the raisins, golden raisins, and walnuts into two equal portions and spread them evenly onto the wetted dough. Drizzle some honey on top of the raisins and nuts. Then begin rolling the dough, starting from the end that is raisin covered. Stop rolling when all of the nuts and raisins have been rolled up. Brush water on to the remaining unrolled portions of the dough sheets. Carefully lift one of the half-rolled sheets, flip it over and place it on top of the other portion such that the roll fits next to the other roll, then wrap the remaining sheets around to securely encase both rolls.
Preheat an oven to 425 Degrees Fahrenheit. Place the formed loaf onto the center of a parchment covered baking sheet. Bake for 50 minutes.
Serving Suggestion:
I recommend cutting thick slices, smearing them with peanut butter, and sprinkling additional raisins on top of the peanut butter.
Note: The pictured variant also contains sunflower seeds and sliced almonds, both inside and sprinkled on top of the loaf.
