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Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

February 22, 2012 by 1 Comment

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 I am still on a major kick of baking, and specifically loaf breads. I have found myself with a lot of time in the afternoons and on weekends, and it’s been best for me to stay around the house. I get my exercise in the mornings on the weekends or chasing Lily during the week. I’m too tired to run errands, and don’t really have many left, so I bake. I also don’t have any home chores left–we’re just waiting to move. Baking and cooking it is.

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My latest creation is also something I saw on Pinterest recently. It’s a banana bread with a chocolate marbled layer. I’m not sure I “marbled” it enough, but it’s still pretty cool to have a big chocolate spot in the middle and on top. It turned out super dense and yummy inside, and really tall too. That just means bigger pieces.

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And when is chocolate not ok for a breakfast food? Ok by me. But you can call it a snack bread if you aren’t into the chocolate for breakfast.

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Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
  • 1/2 cup egg substitute (I used two eggs)
  • 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt (I used Vanilla Greek yogurt instead)
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • Cooking spray
 Instructions:
  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
  • Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.
  • Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave about 1.5 minutes or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined.
  • Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
  • Swirl batters together using a knife.
  • Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
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This one is really good! I recommend it for sure.

 

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Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup butter, softened
  • 1½ cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
  • ½ cup egg substitute (I used two eggs)
  • ⅓ cup plain low-fat yogurt (I used Vanilla Greek yogurt instead)
  • ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • Cooking spray

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
  3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.
  4. Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave about 1.5 minutes or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined.
  5. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
  6. Swirl batters together using a knife.
  7. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Filed Under: Breakfast · Tagged With: ,

Back to Basics: Overnight Oats

February 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Back with another basic recipe that I eat all the time, at least twice a week for breakfast. It’s overnight oats!

It is very hard to get a good and appetizing picture of this, but just go with it…

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Overnight oats are basically cold oatmeal made with milk and yogurt instead of water. I write often how I don’t like to prep my breakfast in the morning and much prefer to “grab and go” of something I prepped the night before. Overnight oats are also eaten cold, which is perfect because it’s too hot for a hot breakfast most days!

I like this better than hot oatmeal because it has more protein from the milk and yogurt. The texture is kind of like mush, but I like it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if you’re expecting it to be like oatmeal. Adding something crunchy helps.

Here is the basic recipe of how I like my overnight oats, and below I list some ways to change it up.

Basic Overnight Oatmeal

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 C old fashioned Quaker oats
  • 1/3 C vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 C milk
  • 1/2 sliced banana
  • 1-2 T gold or black raisins
  • dash cinnamon
  • ~1T peanut butter
Instructions:
  • In a tupperware or the bowl you’re going to eat breakfast in, mix everything together.
  • In the morning, top with something crunchy, more fruit, or leave as-is. Eat and enjoy!
Other mix-ins or toppings could be any kind of nut butter, a jam, a cereal on top, chia seeds mixed in, nuts on top, coconut, other dried fruit, etc. I really keep it as simple as in the picture all the time! The peanut butter mixed in is my favorite part.

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For more of the Back to Basics series, see the How To page.

Filed Under: Breakfast, How To · Tagged With: ,

Strawberry Blood Orange Bread

February 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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One thing that hasn’t slowed at the end of pregnancy is my urge to bake. I guess why not while I can, right? Last week, Chobani Greek yogurt sent me 12 of their three new flavors to sample and tell you about. They came out with Apple Cinnamon, Blood Orange, and Passion Fruit. I have been raving about Chobani for a few years now, and am glad they are expanding their flavors and becoming so popular.

I actually like the Vanilla flavor best and rarely buy the other flavors. But since they sent me some…I’ll try them. With 12 yogurts to eat, I used one of them to bake something.

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I reviewed their site and Pinterest, my new favorite place to find recipes, and decided to adapt one of their recipes to use the new flavor (Blood Orange) and a more seasonal fruit (strawberries in place of cranberries).

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This is quality control from the back end of the loaf. No one will know…

I loved so many things about this bread. Let me tell you:

  • It was so easy to cook–just two bowls and a spatula and measuring tools. No fancy mixers.
  • I had all the ingredients in the house already (Thanks Cho).
  • It was so soft on the inside, thanks to the yogurt.
  • No butter or oils.
  • Has a great gooeyness from the strawberries and yogurt and a nice bite from the nuts.
Now obviously, you can trade out the Blood Orange for the Plain or Vanilla yogurt flavor, but since I had it, I wanted to bake with it.

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Strawberry Blood Orange Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 t baking powder
  • 1/2 t each baking soda and salt
  • 3/4 C (6 oz) Chobani Greek Yogurt Blood Orange flavor
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 C orange juice
  • 1 T grated orange zest
  • 1 1/2 C fresh strawberries, sliced
  • 1/2 C pecans, chopped coarsely

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
  • In medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, mix together Chobani Greek Yogurt and sugar. Add egg and combine. Stir in orange juice.
  • Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir with spatula.
  • Fold in orange zest, strawberries, and pecans.
  • Pour into prepared pan.
  • Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully invert pan to remove, and finish cooling on rack.

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Strawberry Blood Orange Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Strawberry Blood Orange Bread
  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1½ t baking powder
  • ½ t each baking soda and salt
  • ¾ C (6 oz) Chobani Greek Yogurt Blood Orange flavor
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ¾ C orange juice
  • 1 T grated orange zest
  • 1½ C fresh strawberries, sliced
  • ½ C pecans, chopped coarsely

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
  2. In medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together Chobani Greek Yogurt and sugar. Add egg and combine. Stir in orange juice.
  4. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir with spatula.
  5. Fold in orange zest, strawberries, and pecans.
  6. Pour into prepared pan.
  7. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully invert pan to remove, and finish cooling on rack.

Filed Under: Breakfast · Tagged With: , , ,

Back to Basics: Hot Oatmeal

February 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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While hot oatmeal is nothing new and special, I have finally figured out the proportions that I like to make a good bowl of thick oatmeal. I don’t like it too soupy, and I don’t like it when I still want more at the end of the bowl. What I also don’t like about making hot oatmeal is that it’s hot (so I don’t eat it most months of the year), and that it takes time to cook. One pot to cook and one bowl to eat=more mess. I promise it has redeeming qualities too.

However, I do think it’s filling, and a good way to get some important nutrients. It is also a good alternative to a dairy breakfast, which I eat most days. I want to learn to like oatmeal because some babies don’t tolerate mom’s dairy well. This Winter, I have made hot oatmeal maybe a dozen times total, and I’m liking it more and getting faster.

Here is my recipe for my best hot oatmeal, made in one small pot and ready in under 10 minutes.

Basic Hot Oatmeal

  • 1/3 C old fashioned Quaker Oats
  • 1/3 C milk (or milk substitute)
  • 1/3 C water
  • dash cinnamon
  • 1 T gold or black raisins
  • spoonful peanut butter stirred in at end
  • 1/2 banana, thinly sliced

Instructions:

  • In a small sauce pan, I bring the water to a simmer, then add oats and whisk. Then I add the milk, cinnamon, raisins and banana and stir. Let thicken until bubbly, stirring often.
  • While still on the heat, I stir in peanut butter to get it nice and melty. This is the best part.
  • I top it with a variety of things, usually granola and berries like in the picture.

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Filed Under: Breakfast, How To · Tagged With: , ,

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

February 6, 2012 by 3 Comments

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Many recipes I see on Pinterest don’t seem user friendly or look a little too outrageous to actually try at home. Do you find that? I created a new pinning board called “recipes I might actually try,” and this was one. It’s a banana bread with very few ingredients, and it has a cinnamon sugar layer in the middle and on top. Delish, right? I thought so.

Easy to make with few dishes and no mixer required, I whipped this up last Friday morning. The bananas made it extra moist without needing oils or too much butter (1/3 C won’t hurt), and it was crisp outside and soft inside. Even Jeffrey ate a little and he doesn’t like banana!

We had family in town for the weekend, and the loaf slowly got nibbled away. Guess you know when it’s good!

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Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Ingredients:

  • 3 ripe bananas, smashed up
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • dash of salt
  • 1 1/2 cups flour

For the swirl:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 T cinnamon

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350. Spray cooking spray on a 9×5 loaf pan. and four a loaf pan.
  • Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together.
  • In a separate bowl, mix baking soda and salt with flour.
  • In a small dish, mix together the 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbs cinnamon and set aside.
  • Combine flour with wet mixture and stir to combine.
  • Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle half, or a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.
  • Bake for 50-60 minutes, checking after 45 for done-ness.

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes, Snacks · Tagged With: , ,

Back to Basics: Granola

January 27, 2012 by 1 Comment

I have a new idea for the blog–a series on basics. Not all recipes can be creative, take a half a day to make, or use lots of ingredients. And not all weeks have original content all the time! We like repeats too, especially when they are awesome. It also takes a lot of time to continuously find new things to try and write about!

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This week, we’re talking about granola! If you were reading about a year ago, I was on a granola kick. There were bars, sticky bites, loose granola. It was crunchy, sticky, one burnt batch from not watching close enough, and some were fruity or full of good spices. We went through a lot of Quaker Oats!

Recently, I’d been thinking about granola again. I like it with breakfast, on top of yogurt for a snack, and I had a lot of raisins in my pantry.

I referred to my favorite recipe from last year and made some modifications based on what I had in the pantry. From the original recipe, I accidentally left out the brown sugar and didn’t notice in the taste. I don’t have flax meal in the pantry anymore, and I used more raisins instead of craisins. I also didn’t have almonds so I used more pecans and peanuts. Use what you have!

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Oatmeal Raisin Granola

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 C old-fashioned oats
  • 3/4 C pecans, chopped
  • 1/4 C unsalted peanuts
  • 1/4 C sweetened coconut
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C gold rainsins
  • 1/2 C black raisins
  • 1/4 C maple syrup
  • 3 T applesauce
  • 2 T smooth peanut butter

Instructions:

  • Mix maple syrup, applesauce and peanut butter in a small pan on the stovetop and let simmer for 8-10 minutes over low heat. It will get thick and caramel-like. Don’t let it burn.
  • Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and add the wet to the dry once thickened.
  • Pour on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Bake at 300* for 45 minutes, stirring every 12-15.**
  • Cool for 20 minutes before eating.

For this batch, I actually had to take Lily for a walk while the granola was baking. She insisted. I turned the oven off at about 20 minutes and left the tray in. It was perfectly done when I got back. Just watch your batch so it doesn’t burn!

 

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Oatmeal Raisin Granola
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Oatmeal Raisin Granola
  • 2.5 C old-fashioned oats
  • ¾ C pecans, chopped
  • ¼ C unsalted peanuts
  • ¼ C sweetened coconut
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch nutmeg
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • ½ C gold rainsins
  • ½ C black raisins
  • ¼ C maple syrup
  • 3 T applesauce
  • 2 T smooth peanut butter

Instructions
  1. Mix maple syrup, applesauce and peanut butter in a small pan on the stovetop and let simmer for 8-10 minutes over low heat. It will get thick and caramel-like. Don’t let it burn.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and add the wet to the dry once thickened.
  3. Pour on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
  4. Bake at 300* for 45 minutes, stirring every 12-15.**
  5. Cool for 20 minutes before eating.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Snacks · Tagged With: , , ,

Pumpkin Loaf with Apricots

December 5, 2011 by 1 Comment

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You may be wondering why I am still baking with pumpkin, but it makes for a great breakfast bread all year round. And December is still a seasonal month so I think I can get away with it while pumpkin is still on the shelves.

I also want to show one last healthy-ish recipe before we get deep into holiday cookies.

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I still enjoy baking a whole loaf on the weekend and freezing it by the slice. Makes for easy breakfasts to take to work with a little fruit and yogurt. One of my favorite go-to breakfasts all year long.

You could also sub out the apricots in the recipe for dried cranberries, raisins, or even fresh blueberries for an extra pop.

This recipe was not sweet enough, and next time I would add more brown sugar or add some white sugar too. Otherwise, it was a nice, dense loaf.

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Pumpkin Breakfast Loaf

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 C whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 C oats
  • 1/3 C ground flaxseed
  • 1/3 C pecans
  • 1/4 C brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 C canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 C dried apricots (could sub dried cranberries)
  • 3/4 C skim milk (or dairy substitute)
  • 1/3 C pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  •  In two separate bowls, mix dry, then wet, and then combine, adding wet to dry and stirring gently until the mixture is combined.
  • Spray cooking spray on a non-stick loaf pan. Spoon in the mixture.
  • Bake for about 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before slicing. Freezes well.

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Pumpkin Loaf with Apricots
 

Ingredients
  • 1.5 C whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 C oats
  • ⅓ C ground flaxseed
  • ⅓ C pecans
  • ¼ C brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 C canned pumpkin
  • ½ C dried apricots (could sub dried cranberries)
  • ¾ C skim milk (or dairy substitute)
  • ⅓ C pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In two separate bowls, mix dry, then wet, and then combine, adding wet to dry and stirring gently until the mixture is combined.
  3. Spray cooking spray on a non-stick loaf pan. Spoon in the mixture.
  4. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before slicing. Freezes well.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes · Tagged With: , , , ,

Hukuna Frittata

October 24, 2011 by 3 Comments

For a recent Sunday night dinner, eggs were on the menu. Instead of scrambling like we usually do, we made our first frittata. Last December, we bought a Le Creuset cast iron skillet at an outlet store in Florida. The thing probably weighs ten pounds, but we wanted to try the cast iron method of cooking meat, and on sale was a good way to try it.

Only special pans can go from the stovetop to oven, and Le Creuset makes their products special for that. Eggs are also a great food to start on the stove and finish in the oven.

The frittata turned out to be a fun way to eat vegetables and eggs in a pie shape. We loved it! So many ideas of how to alter the ingredients to make this again. I had mine with a little salad of lettuce and tomato and a bagel on the side. And we shared some bacon.

The best part was the leftovers for lunch! I ate it cold twice for lunch during the week with a salad.

We loved the potatoes and egg together, and bacon would have been great in the frittata too. Can’t wait to make more frittatas!

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Vegetable Frittata

Makes 8 wedges

Ingredients:

  • 3 baby yellow potatoes, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt {divided}
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 C grated Pepperjack cheese, plus more for sprinkling
  • 2 scallions, chopped

Instructions:

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • In a cast-iron skillet (important), drizzle with 2 T EVOO and let heat up. Cook diced potatoes and garlic for about 8 minutes until tender.
  • Add chopped bell pepper for last 3 minutes.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs with salt, pepper, milk and cheese.
  • In the skillet, spread vegetables evenly so they don’t overlap. Pour eggs on and don’t stir.
  • Let sit for about 3 minutes, until sides are getting geled and inside is still wet.
  • Transfer skillet to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top is firm and starting to brown.
  • Remove from oven and add scallions and more cheese for melting.
  • Cut into wedges, and it should remove easily.

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Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes, Vegetarian · Tagged With: , , , ,

Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf

October 17, 2011 by 1 Comment

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If you haven’t had you first bite of something pumpkin flavored this season, it’s about time! The first thing I made this year with pumpkin was my favorite loaf from last year. It’s a gingerbread loaf with pumpkin in the mix and pumpkin in the middle. I don’t think Jeffrey realized the amount of pumpkin in it because it tastes like gingerbread. He liked it too.

(pardon the lighting in some of these photos. I made it on a super rainy Sunday, and took a few inside photos on Sunday and then ate some, and then took more the next day on the patio, but a few slices got eaten!)

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A very easy recipe to make, the time comes from the baking. I love the gingerbread flavors (just spices like nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and others), and I like the secret layer of pumpkin butter in the middle and on top.

This is a great loaf for breakfast or dessert. It’s got great spices and a strong Fall feeling flavor. Also cuts well to be frozen so I can enjoy it for a long time. Now what to do with the rest of the can of pumpkin?

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Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)

Wet ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup apple sauce
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin butter (or a different type of jam might be ok, or leave out)
  • 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped and toasted if desired
Instructions: 
  • Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.
  • In a medium sized bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.
  • Add wet to dry and stir well until fully incorporated. Fold in the nuts.
  • Pour half the batter into the pan and spread out with a spatula.
  • Take half of your pumpkin butter and scoop out onto the middle of the pan. Now grab a spoon and swirl the pumpkin butter all around. Now take the rest of the batter and pour over top. Spread around with spatula to smooth out. Now take the rest of your pumpkin butter and scoop onto top and swirl throughout the batter.
  • Place the pan into the oven preheated to 350F. Bake for approx. 50-55 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from pan for about 30 mins. Makes enough for 8-10 slices.

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Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf
 

Ingredients
  • Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf
  • 1⅔ cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¾ teaspoon ginger
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ⅛-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
  • Wet ingredients:
  • ½ cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • ¼ cup apple sauce
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • ¾ cup pumpkin butter (or a different type of jam might be ok, or leave out)
  • ½ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped and toasted if desired

Instructions
  1. Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan with parchment and then lightly grease with oil. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and stir well until fully incorporated. Be careful not to over mix. You want to stop stirring just when it comes together. Fold in the nuts.
  2. Pour half the batter into the pan and spread out with a spatula. Take half of your pumpkin butter and scoop out onto the middle of the pan (see below). Now grab a spoon and swirl the pumpkin butter all around (see below). Now take the rest of the batter and pour over top. Spread around with spatula to smooth out. Now take the rest of your pumpkin butter and scoop onto top and swirl throughout the batter.
  3. Place the pan into the oven preheated to 350F. Bake for approx. 50-55 minutes. The bread will very slowly bounce back when pressed with your finger. Allow to cool before removing from pan for about 30 mins. Makes enough for 8-10 slices.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Dessert, Recipes · Tagged With: , , ,

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

September 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

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I know I have said this once or twice before, but dishes taste so.much.better knowing they came from a home kitchen and it took someone a long time to create from scratch.

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This Cinnamon Raisin Bread is probably one of my top 3 ultimate comfort foods. Another would be Mom’s Noodle Kugel, and probably a third is something desserty. This bread isn’t too sweet like a dessert bread, but it’s so soft and chewy that it’s really delicious. Like saying “mmm” in your head as you eat it.

The funny thing about early pregnancy cravings for me is that I wanted kid food. I did not indulge in many of them, but I wanted mac and cheese (pulled a recipe, haven’t made it), a hot dog (waiting for the right time), and PB&J sandwiches (like 2-4/week for a month).

One thing I remembered when I saw this recipe is the classic Sun Maid Cinnamon Raisin Bread in the red bag at the store. Yum and yum. I wanted.

This version puts a grocery store version to shame! You must try. Don’t be scared of the yeast. Really, it’s not that bad. And what an accomplishment!

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I bookmarked this over the last few weeks when I had no energy to spend six hours baking a bread at home. I altered the recipe a bit, one on purpose and one accidental. I’ll explain.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Adapted from Eat Live Run

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup warm milk
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1 (1/4th oz) package yeast
  • 1/3 cup sugar + 1 tbsp
  • 6 Tbsp softened butter, divided
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/3 C black raisins
  • 1.5 Tbsp cinnamon, divided
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg + 2 Tbsp warm water

Instructions:

  • Combine your warm milk, water, yeast and 2 tsp sugar in a measuring cup and let sit for 10 minutes until foamy. The temperature of the milk/water should be about 100 degrees. (I combined the milk and water and microwaved for about 45 seconds, then inserted a meat thermometer. When I made challah, I used “warm” tap water and didn’t measure the temperature, but I wanted to get the milk temp right.)
  • While the yeast is resting, combine the flours, sugar, 3 tbsp softened butter, salt and 1 tbsp cinnamon in a large bowl. If you’re using a kitchen aid, use a paddle attachment and start to mix on slow. Then, drizzle in the water mixture while the machine is running. Add raisins after a couple minutes. Increase speed to high and mix for about 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
  • If you mix by hand without a mixer, knead well for about 10 minutes. If using mixer, no kneading is necessary.
  • Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough ball in. Cover with a cloth and let rise for 1.5 hours in a warm spot. (I put mine in the pantry covered with a damp cloth. I let it go about 2.5 hours because it wasn’t rising as tall as I expected, but it turned out fine. You could place it on a dryer or near running dishwasher, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be in sunlight.)
  • While the dough is rising, mix together the remaining 3 T butter with the extra 1.5 tsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp sugar in a small bowl until smooth.
  • After the dough has risen to double it’s size, roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface to a long rectangle. (Make sure your rectangle is about the size of your loaf pan. This was where I started to goof.)
  • Smear the butter mixture all over the top and roll up tightly.
  • Place dough in a greased loaf pan, cover with cloth and let rise for another hour in a warm spot.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the egg and warm water then brush all over loaf. (I only used about half this mixture).
  • Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool and slice.

The part I goofed was when I rolled up my loaf. It was way too long and skinny and about 50% too long for the loaf pan. First I thought I would leave it and bake it on a sheet pan like the challah, but then I decided to wad it back into a ball and re-roll it. However, I did not re-smear with more butter mixture. I just rolled it out and rolled it up. It ended up with less visible swirl, but the cinnamon flavors were there.

Here are the step by step pictures:

Ball before doubling.

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Rolled out on floured surface after first rising.

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Smeared with butter and sugar.

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Rolled up all cute. Make sure it’s the same size as your loaf pan.

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This picture is misleading, it fit in.

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Rubbed with a little egg/water mixture.

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I pulled mine out of the oven at about the 36 minute mark, but my oven tends to cook faster on all things.

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Invite people over to smell the great smell you just created. Is there anything as good as fresh baked bread?!

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Slice into pretty pieces.

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Spread with butter, enjoy a simple bread and butter snack.

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All in all, I started the process around 11:30 a.m. on a Saturday and it came out of the oven around 5 p.m. It’s a half day project! But well worth it.

 

Print
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
 

Ingredients
  • ½ cup warm milk
  • ½ cup warm water
  • 1 (1/4th oz) package yeast
  • ⅓ cup sugar + 1 tbsp
  • 6 Tbsp softened butter, divided
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ⅓ C black raisins
  • 1.5 Tbsp cinnamon, divided
  • 1¼ tsp salt
  • 1 egg + 2 Tbsp warm water

Instructions
  1. Directions:
  2. Combine your warm milk, water, yeast and 2 tsp sugar in a measuring cup and let sit for 10 minutes until foamy. The temperature of the milk/water should be about 100 degrees.
  3. (I combined the milk and water and microwaved for about 45 seconds, then inserted a meat thermometer. When I made challah, I used used “warm” water and didn’t measure the temperature, but I wanted to get the milk temp right.)
  4. While the yeast is resting, combine the flours, sugar, 3 tbsp softened butter, salt and 1 tbsp cinnamon in a large bowl. If you’re using a kitchen aid, use a paddle attachment and start to mix on slow. Then, drizzle in the water mixture while the machine is running. Add raisins after a couple minutes. Increase speed to high and mix for about 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
  5. If you mix by hand without a mixer, knead well for about 10 minutes. If using mixer, no kneading is necessary.
  6. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough ball in. Cover with a cloth and let rise for 1.5 hours in a warm spot.
  7. (I put mine in the pantry covered with a damp cloth. I let it go about 2.5 hours because it wasn’t rising as tall as I expected, but it turned out fine. You could place it on a dryer or near running dishwasher.)
  8. While the dough is rising, mix together the remaining 3 T butter with the extra 1.5 tsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp sugar in a small bowl until smooth.
  9. After the dough has risen to double it’s size, roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface to a long rectangle.
  10. (Make sure your rectangle is about the size of your loaf pan. This was where I started to goof.)
  11. Smear the butter mixture all over the top and roll up tightly.
  12. Place dough in a greased loaf pan, cover with cloth and let rise for another hour in a warm spot.
  13. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the egg and warm water then brush all over loaf.
  14. Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool and slice.
  15. The part I goofed was when I rolled up my loaf. It was way too long and skinny and about 50% too long for the loaf pan. First I thought I would leave it and bake it on a sheet pan like the challah, but then I decided to wad it back into a ball and re-roll it. However, I did not re-smear with more butter mixture. I just rolled it out and rolled it up. It ended up with less visible swirl, but the cinnamon flavors were there.

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