Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread
This beautifully swirled sourdough cinnamon raisin bread offers a perfect balance of tanginess and sweetness. It's tender enough to make yummy buttered toast for breakfast, yet will stand up to being grilled into a panini with, say, crunchy peanut butter and soft, cinnamon-scent apples. Make it with your fed sourdough starter or use sourdough discard straight from the refrigerator for a tangier cinnamon raisin loaf.
Ingredients
- •½ cup (113 g.) sourdough starter - ripe (fed) or discard
- •3 cups (360 g.) All-Purpose Flour
- •2½ tsp. (8 g.) instant yeast
- •1 tsp. granulated sugar
- •1¼ T. table salt
- •1 large egg (large egg)
- •softened butter (5 T. (71 g.))
- •lukewarm water (2/3 cup (152 g.))
- •FILLING
- •¼ cup (50 g.) granulated sugar
- •1½ tsp. cinnamon
- •2 tsp. All-Purpose Flour
- •1 large egg (beaten with 1 T. water)
- •½ cup (74 g.) raisins
Instructions
- To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Combine all of the dough ingredients, and mix and knead — using your hands, a stand mixer, or a bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, smooth dough.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased container, and allow it to rise for 1½ to 2 hours, until it's just about doubled in bulk.
- To make the filling: While the dough is rising, make the filling by stirring together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.
- Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.
- Roll and pat the dough into a rough rectangle approximately 6" x 20".
- Brush the dough with the egg/water mixture and sprinkle it evenly with the filling and raisins, leaving a bare strip about 1" wide along one short edge; this will make the log you're about to roll easier to seal.
- Starting with the short end that's covered with filling, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the ends to seal, and pinch the long seam closed.
- Transfer the log, seam-side down, to a lightly greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. Cover and allow the bread to rise until it's crested about 1" over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the bread for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after the first 15 to 20 minutes. The bread's crust will be golden brown, and the interior of the finished loaf should measure 190°F on a digital thermometer.
- Remove the bread from the oven, and gently loosen the edges. Turn it out of the pan, and brush the top surface with butter, if desired; this will give it a soft, satiny crust. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing.
- Store the sourdough cinnamon raisin bread at room temperature, well wrapped, for several days; freeze for longer storage.
