It was a cool Monday afternoon when I suddenly felt the craving for a hot cup of tea and fresh out of the oven raisin bread delicately basted with delicious creamy butter. I decided to look up a bread recipe. I found a Honey Wheat Bread recipe on http://allrecipes.com/recipe/honey-wheat-bread-i/detail.aspx by Kristin Zaharias and I decided to try it of course improvising as usual. Although I did not use as much honey as the recipe required, this bread was sooo delicious I do not think more was necessary. Instead of using wheat flour I used only all purpose flour and instead of using 1/4 cup of honey I only used a 1/8 cup (or you don’t have to use any at all) and I added raisins. I ate the bread fresh out of the oven with a slice of cheese that melted right through. It was oh sooo good with a hot cup of tea to wash it all down.
Ingredients
- 1 (.25 ounce) package rapid rise yeast
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup melted shortening
- 1/8 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
Directions
- Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water.
- Combine milk, 1/4 cup water, shortening, honey, salt and flour in food processor or bowl. Mix in yeast mixture, and let rest 15 minutes. Mix and knead by hand 10 minutes. Place the dough in a buttered bowl, and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise for 45 minutes, or until almost doubled.
- Punch down, and divide dough in half. Roll out each half, and pound out the bubbles. Form into loaves, and place in buttered 9×5 inch bread pans. Butter the tops of the dough, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm area until doubled; second rise should take about 30 minutes.
- Place a small pan of water on the bottom shelf of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until tops are dark golden brown. Butter crusts while warm. Slice when cool.
Enjoy! MN