Raisin Cinnamon Swirl French Toast

Happy National Raisin Week!

What? You didn't know it was National Raisin Week? Well, from May 1st - May 7th there is a little extra raisin love going around. Jumping on that trend, I am here kicking of this sweet week with 10 other food bloggers. Be sure to check out all the links at the end of my post.

When trying to think of a great raisin recipe to share, I thought about my childhood. Sometimes growing up, but not often, a loaf of raisin cinnamon swirl bread would end up in our grocery bag. It was sweet, cinnamon-rich perfection. I loved to enjoy a slice toasted with lots of butter.

I was never one to just snack on raisins, but in certain dishes, I loved them! Besides the sweet bread, I also thought they were amazing in the bottom of my Mom's rice pudding. And my Mom's giant oatmeal raisin cookies? I couldn't get enough of them.

As I was making this bread I realized that my son, almost 2, hadn't tried raisins before. I wasn't sure what he was going to think of them - he is currently in that picky toddler phase. But, since he loves all breads right now, I hoped he would at least give it a taste test.

This bread was simple to make, in fact, I let my bread machine do all the hard work for me. I added all the ingredients to my dough pan, set it on dough cycle and went off to do other things (you can find the recipe below)

After the dough has been kneaded and goes through an initial rise in the bread machine, it is ready to come out and to be filled and rolled.

 Instead of the usual brown sugar and butter paste, I used King Arthur's Baker's Cinnamon Filling since it is much thicker. I was trying to cut down on excess moisture that might cause my roll to have gaps. Then I plumped up my raisins in a little warm water and drained off the excess before adding them to the top of my rolled out dough.

Little excess moisture and a tight roll really help this bread to form a nice solid loaf.

Then I placed my roll into a baking pan sprayed with non-stick spray to rise for a final hour.

The finished loaf came out with a nice swirl of cinnamon and raisins.

Now, I could have stopped there. I could have sliced up my loaf and had it toasted and buttered like the good 'ole days. But, no. I wanted to really have some fun with it. I sliced my loaf and then let them dry slightly on a sheet pan at 200 degrees.

I mixed up a simple French Toast batter with eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla, then dipped my slices and pan seared them to a nice golden brown. Topped with a little pure maple syrup... and a few more raisins, my Raisin Cinnamon Swirl French Toast was a big hit with the family.

Yes, even the picky toddler enjoyed a big plate of this French Toast. And you know, he picked out every raisin to eat first!

Raisin Cinnamon Swirl French Toast

Bread machine Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread

(2 lb. loaf) You will Need:

• 1/3 c. water, room temp.
• 1 c. buttermilk, room temp.
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 4 1/2 c. bread flour
• 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. gluten
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 tsp. SAF yeast
• 1/4 c. baker's cinnamon filling
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1/4 c. raisins + more for serving
• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 c. milk
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. butter for brushing the top of the loaf

Place the first 8 ingredients in your bread machine, in the order suggested by your machine's manual. Set the machine for the dough cycle and let the dough rise once inside the machine.

When the dough is nearing the end of the cycle, place the raisins in a cup with hot water and allow them to plump up for at least 5 minutes. Prepare the cinnamon filling by mixing the Baker's Cinnamon Filling with 1 tablespoon water to create a thick paste.

Flour your work space sparingly, or use a rolling mat and rolling pin. Roll the dough out to a 12" by 24" rectangle. Smear the cinnamon filling evenly over the top and sprinkle with the plumped raisins. Starting at one end, tightly roll up the dough into a log. Pinch the seam and place the roll seam side down in a greased loaf pan. Cover with kitchen wrap and a tea towel and let the loaf rise till it is almost to the top of the loaf pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brush the top of the loaf with 1 teaspoon butter. Bake the bread for 30 - 35 minutes, tent lightly with foil if the top starts to brown too quickly. Let the loaf cool completely before slicing

For French Toast

Slice the loaf of bread and allow the pieces to dry overnight or for about 45 minutes to an hour in a 200 degree oven

Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet to medium heat with a little bit of butter.

Whisk together the egg, milk, nutmeg and sugar to form the batter. Let each slice soak up a little of the egg mixture before cooking in a pan till golden brown. Flip and brown on the opposite side.

Serve with pure maple syrup and a handful of raisins.

Enjoy!

For more delicious recipes featuring raisins for National Raisin Week, visit a few of my favorite blogs:

• Arroz con Leche (Mexican Rice Pudding) from Confessions of an Overworked Mom
• Raisin Cinnamon Swirl French Toast by Adventures in All Things Food
• Chewy, Delicious Oatmeal Raisin Coconut Cookies by Our Family World
• Oatmeal Raisin Muffins by Wife Mom Geek
• Carrot Raisin Salad by Thrifty Jinxy
• Make a Simple Cinnamon Raisin Bread by Day by Day in Our World
• Orange Raisin Muffins with Orange Glaze by Mom Does it All
• Chai Raisin Donuts by Upstate Ramblings
• Baby Kale and Raisin Salad by Better in Bulk
• Oatmeal Raisin Apple Muffins by My Sweet Sanity
• Carrot Cake Cookie Recipe - Sneak Fruits & Veggies in for Your Kids! by Frugal Novice

St. Patrick's Day - Naturally Green Spinach Bagels

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In my quest to have a little extra green fun to my day today, I decided to make something naturally green. I know more and more people are concerned about adding dyes to their food. But, there are lovely options for bright greens in nature, like spinach!

I know, green food isn't for everyone. These homemade Spinach Bagels get their color from spinach leaves, but do not taste overpoweringly of spinach.

So, how did I create these? First I started by boiling some baby spinach. Just wilt it, you don't want to loose the bright green color.

Then I strained out the leaves and put it into my blender. This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of water, so I blended up the spinach and added just enough of the reserved spinach water to make 1 1/2 cups.

I made the dough for these bagels in my bread machine on the dough setting. It is my favorite bread cheat.

My machine calls for wet ingredients first, then flour and then the yeast last. You can make this recipe by hand, or use the order as instructed by your own bread machine.

The finished dough came out this lovely green color. My kids were very impressed at my food coloring skills.

Then I separated out 8 balls of dough and covered them to rise for another hour or so.

Forming the bagel is always the best part!  Just stick your index finger through the middle and give it a twirl. I like to exaggerate the middles a little... the elastic dough will start to come back together as they sit and wait to boil.

Heat up a big pot of water and add non-diastatic malt powder, or you can add molasses to the water instead. At a simmer, boil the bagels for 2 minutes on one side, flip and cook for another minute on the other side.

After they have been boiled. Place them on a baking sheet in the oven for about 20 minutes until they start to turn golden brown on top.

Okay, ready to dive right in and start baking?

Spinach Bagels

You Will Need:

• 1 c. baby spinach
• reserved water, enough to make 1 1/2 c. water
• 4 c. high gluten flour (or bread flour)
• 1 Tbsp. non-diastatic malt powder (or barley malt syrup, or brown sugar)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast

Fill your bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle and let the machine run. Check the dough after 10 minutes. The dough should be stiff, and all the flour should be incorporated.

Remove the dough from the bread machine and divide into 8 balls. Let these rest for 30 minutes, covered. 

Bring a 2 quarts of water to boil. Put in 2 tablespoons non-diastatic malt powder (brown sugar or barley malt syrup). Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Working in batches, work with 2 - 3 bagels at a time. Simmer on one side for 2 minutes, then flip and simmer for another minute. Remove the bagel and place on a sheet tray. When all the bagels are done, put them in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn over and bake for an additional 10 - 15 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and then enjoy! 

And how do I like to enjoy my freshly made bagels? With just a smear of plain cream cheese... and a handful of fresh sprouts on top. Perfect for today and my little obsession with green.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Matcha Milk Bread Recipe + Make Ahead Bread Pre-Order Offer

 I am part of the Good Cook Kitchen Experts and received their products in the past. All opinions and experiences are my own. #goodcookcom, #goodcookkitchenexprt #makeaheadbread

I really enjoy making bread and have even baked some for a past Good Cook post. Did you catch my Meatloaf Sliders and Brioche Mini Buns using the Good Cook Whoopie Pie Pan?

Well, when I heard fellow Good Cook Kitchen Expert, blogger and bread baker, Donna Currie was publishing a bread book this year I wanted to help spread the word. When I heard I would need to bakes some bread to get the word out, well, you could say that I was happy to "rise to the occaision".  I'll get to her book and the pre-order offer in a moment, but first the bread.
This lady sure can bake!

Some of you know that I lived in Japan for 4 years and have a love of matcha. I am sure the appreciation comes from those weekly tea ceremony lessons, a cold room, a hard floor and a deep love of the hot bowl of frothy green tea. Also known as the only way to keep warm in the winter.

Now though I choose to seek out confections and other treats with the distinct matcha flavor. A green and earthy flavor that seems to have grown on me.

Given the chance to browse through Donna's blog and bread creations the Honey Matcha Bread caught my attention. Since this post is in honor of the baker herself, I thought I would share a Matcha Milk Bread recipe that reminds me of the kind of breads I used to buy at the bakeries in Japan. It uses a Tangzhong or "water roux" as the base. If you have traveled to Asia, you know that is what sets their bread apart.

Amazingly soft and delicate bread stays that way for several days. No hard crust, it toasts up well and is also lovely for sandwiches. I plan on enjoying my loaf with some butter and maybe drizzle of honey. It won't last long. The Tangzhong has to be made up ahead of time, but it super easy to do.

I made this recipe even easier by using the dough cycle on my beloved bread machine then hand forming it and letting it do a final rise in my Good Cook Loaf Pan before baking. I prefer the loaf shape and how the crust turns out in the pan.

Matcha Milk Bread

You Will Need:

• 120 g. Tangzhong
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 3 Tbsp. butter, cubed
• 2 1/2 c. bread flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 Tbsp. matcha powder

Make the Tangzhong - Take 1/3 c. bread flour and 1 c. water and whisk to dissolve. Heat in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly till it reaches about 150 degrees and thickens. Cool and refrigerate overnight.

The next day add all the ingredients except the matcha powder to your bread machine as directed by your machine's instructions. Put the machine on dough cycle and add the matcha powder and any additional flour needed at the point when you machine is ready for mix-ins. This is usually in the second knead cycle. The dough is very soft, but not sticky. 

After the dough cycle has ended, shape your loaf and let it rise once more in a pre-greased loaf pan. 

Brush the top of the loaf with a little egg wash. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Let the loaf cool completely before slicing.

Enjoy!

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Now, if this bread recipe looks good, I am sure you are going to love fellow Good Cook blogger, Donna Currie's upcoming book - Make Ahead Bread - 100 Recipes for Bake-It-When-You-Want-It Yeast Breads. Pre-order now and recieve the Amazon Price Guarantee.

From the simplest dinner rolls to traditional croissants and all types of yeast breads in between, home cooks—even those short on time and skill–CAN bake fresh bread from scratch. How is this possible? By breaking the process into two separate steps, with the mixing and kneading done the day before and the baking done when the next day. And the best part? Not only does this make bread baking much easier to fit into a busy schedule, but it also results in a better finished bread product.

Good Cook wants to help spread the word and is offering a fun promo. Good Cook has a Free loaf pan offer with any pre-order purchase on Amazon (1 per book). Promo is good through February 28, 2014.  Just fill out this form to get your pan. 

You can also take advantage of the  25% off discount right now for any goodcook.com purchase by using coupon code BakeBread.

Now I hope that inspires you to get baking! What kind of bread do you want to try first?

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe - Ground Fresh

One of the things I wanted to accomplish in 2014 was to get over my fear of whole wheat.

Okay, it may not really be a fear, but I do hesitate to use whole wheat in my everyday baking because I worry about how dry the bread, rolls, etc. will turn out. Whole wheat = dry and tough, right?

I tried brand after brand of whole wheat flours and was never really happy with the results. I did pick up a few tricks along the way... add potato flour or flakes to make the loaf more moist, etc. Sadly, whole wheat just didn't blow my skirt up. In fact, it sent me running straight for the butter knife to make up for the crumb texture.

There had to be more to my baking repertoire than just white, bleached flour.

So I headed back to the basics. All the way back to the wheat berries!

Believe it or not, this tub of wheat came from our local Walmart. This year there will be some wheat grown on the farm, so I am really looking forward to getting my hands on some really fresh stuff. But, this will do for now.

Last year I introduced my WonderMill electric grinder. I am starting to think that he needs a name.

I am excited to announce that I will be posting some of my new recipes on the WonderMill blog over the next two months. I am trying to convert some of my favorite recipes to using freshly ground whole wheat. Now, I know you are thinking, "Aren't there tons of 'whole wheat' recipes already?" Sure. But, the shelf stable whole wheat from the store is not the same as freshly ground. This flour still has the germ, the oils and will go rancid if not refrigerated after grinding.

Of course you want to use freshly ground wheat shortly after grinding. I try to grind enough for a few days and store it in the fridge till I am ready to bake.

Swapping fresh whole wheat works best when swapping for the AP flour (all-purpose) measurement. So far this has worked for me, but I still add in the potato flakes and milk powder to keep it moist.

For this recipe I went ahead and used another gadget to help - my bread machine.

Using the dough cycle is such a smart use of my time. If you have a breadmachine, use it! Of course, I am going to roll this out and bake it in the oven, but I don't need to knead. I have a Zojirushi bread machine and I can't say enough good things about it.

My biggest tip is to check in on it when it is kneading. Make sure it all pulls away from the sides and paddles. If it is sticking then add a little more flour. I also make sure to push any stuck clumps of yeast or flour down into the dough so it all gets incorporated evenly.

After the dough cycle has ended, roll out the dough and prepare the filling. Usuaully I create a butter, brown sugar and cinnamon paste to fill my bread with but this time I tried out King Arthur's cinnamon filling. After adding one egg it became a thicker paste that did a great job of staying put as I rolled the dough.

See how thick that is?

Then I rolled up the dough as usual. Cut in half, it was enough for two of my loaf pans.

I let the bread rise one last time and then gave it a quick egg wash before popping these loaves in the oven. Don't be alarmed by the bright yellow egg wash. It isn't a photoshop blunder, it is actually how vividly yellow my backyard chicken eggs really are. It is amazing how different the color is from store-bought eggs.

My egg wash is just one egg yolk and a splash of water whisked together.

Then off to the oven they went. I added a pan while preheating the oven and then poured in a cup of hot water when the loaves went in to increase the steam and help the bread rise.

So what do you think of the results? Both loaves were gone in under 2 days.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Swirl Bread

You Will Need:

• 3 c. fresh milled whole wheat flour + more if needed
• 2 tsp. yeast
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. lecithin
• 3 Tbsp. nonfat dry milk powder
• 3 Tbsp. instant potato flakes
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. cinnamon chips

For the Filling:

• 1/2 c. Baker's Cinnamon Filling (available through King Arthur Flour)
• 1 egg

Add the bread ingredients to your bread machine as directed by the owner's manual. My Zojirushi calls for wet ingredients first, then dry and the yeast last. Set your machine for the dough cycle.

When the cycle has completed, mix the filling and set aside. Spray two loaf pans with non-stick spray.

Roll out the dough into a 10 x 20 inch rectangle. Spread the filling in the middle of the dough, leaving a 1/2 of dough around the edges. Roll the dough into a long log, cut in half and place each half in one of the loaf pans. Cover and set aside to rise for at least an hour, up to two hours or until the loaves have expanded and have expanded to the lip of the pans.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees as the bread rises. Place a shallow pie pan in the bottom of the oven.

Pour a cup of warm water into the pie pan when you put the loaves into the oven. Close the door quickly to benefit from the added steam. Bake the loaves for about 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Place the loaf on a cooling rack to cool completely once it is cool enough to handle.

This recipe toasts up wonderfully in the toaster!

Enjoy.