Recipe: Italian Raisin and Pecan Bread

recipelink.com Chat Room Recipe Swap - 2001-07-01
From: recipelink.com

Italian Raisin and Pecan Bread
(Using a bread machine to make the dough, and a standard oven for baking.)
From: GaryL19379
Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes
Date: 8-23-98

Is this the tastiest bread recipe or what?

I developed this bread recipe after one I found in an old Italian cookbook. It
is, in my opinion, the most delicious and healthy bread I've made. Between the
two of us, we've eaten 3 loaves of it in the past two days!

Put all the ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order listed below:

3/4 cup tepid water
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
2 3/4 cup unbleached bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon yeast
1/2 cup ground pecans
1 cup raisins

- Set the machine in the dough-making cycle and push Start if necessary.
- Spray a cookie sheet with cooking oil.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. for at least 12 minutes with a rack positioned in the middle.
- After the dough cycle completes, remove the dough from the bread machine, spray the dough with cooking oil, shape it into a round load, and put it on the cookie sheet.
- Put the cookie sheet in the middle of the middle rack and bake for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 375 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the oven and brush it with melted margarine or butter and cool on a rack.

Particulars:
I found most of this recipe in an Italian cookbook and adapted it for the making of the dough in a bread machine and then following the original recipe for baking the bread in a regular oven. The original was made with chopped walnuts. My tastebuds think most walnuts I get taste rancid, so I use pecans instead. Over the years, I have found that grinding nuts enhances the flavor of whatever recipe I put them in more than if I put them in a rough-chopped size, so that’s how I grind them for this bread. I use the newish Smart Balance margarine, which can be used in baking, and is relatively free of some oils that seem to be dangerous for our cardiac systems. Finally, I use Gold Medal Unbleached Flour for bread machines in this recipe. As it is, the bread comes out darker than most whole wheat flours I make. The loaf comes out of the oven with a rather dark crust, and is surprisingly sweet, due no doubt to the raisins and nuts.