Recipe: Raisin Cinnamon Bread (bread machine)

Raisin Cinnamon Bread (bread machine)
rec.food.cooking/aem

Our favorite breakfast bread is this Raisin Cinammon mixture:

3 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinammon
2 tsp. yeast
scant 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup raisins

For the buttermilk, we use Saco cultured buttermilk blend, a powder you can keep a long time in the 'fridge. Check your machine's instructions for when to put in the raisins -- usually just before the last mix. A variant is to plump the raisins in a little brandy for an hour or so before you use them, but this softens them quite a bit. Some machines then mash them up too much.

We make this the evening before, rather than using the timer. First, we don't want to put the raisins in at the beginning (though you can, and see what happens with your machine). But second, because it slices and toasts better if you let it cool for an hour or more after you remove it from the machine, before you start slicing it. If it's just out of the machine when we get up, we can't resist temptation that long.