Cinnamon Raisin Bread and Rolls: HBinFive

For the May 15th HBinFive Bread Braid, I made Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread and Cinnamon Rolls using the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes Milk and Honey dough.

For the dough, I used a mixture of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour as the recipe suggested, but I added more raisins than the recipe called for and I also added some cinnamon powder.  I let the raisins soak in the warm water a little bit to soften.  The raisins tasted much better that way.


Fermenting the Dough

After the dough had rested on the counter for 2 hours, I put it in the refrigerator to ferment for a couple of days.  Then I took it out and divided it into 3 equal pieces.

Making the Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I used two of the pieces for the cinnamon raisin swirl bread.



Shaping the Loaves

To shape the loaves, sprinkle flour on the counter and use your fingers to flatten and spread each piece of dough into a 5” x 8” rectangle.  Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the top.

And roll the dough up jelly roll style

to form the loaf

Pinch the seams together and roll the loaf until the seam is on the bottom.

Proofing the Loaves

Place each loaf in a 4 1/2 x 8 1/2-inch loaf pan and sprayed them with spray oil and covered them with plastic.

I let the loaves proof for about 90 minutes.

Bake the loaves for about 25 to 35 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack. Brush the loaves with butter and sprinkle more cinnamon sugar over the tops.

This made for an over-the-top flavor.  Yummy!  This bread tastes really good toasted with butter.  It also tasted really good plain.

I still had one more ball of dough left…


So I decided to make Cinnamon Rolls.



Making Cinnamon Rolls

Spread out the dough the same way as for the loaves, but make the rectangle a little bit bigger.  Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top.

And roll it up into a very tight jelly roll.  Then cover it with plastic and place it in the refrigerator for a little while to make it easier to cut.  I ended up keeping mine in the refrigerator overnight because I ran out of time (well mostly energy).

When you're ready to bake the rolls, take the jelly roll out of the refrigerator and cut it into 1-inch pieces.

Place the rolls on a greased baking sheet and cover them with plastic. Let them rise for about 90 minutes or so until they are doubled in size.

Bake them in a 350 degrees oven for about 25 minutes.

Then dribble white fondant (glaze) over the tops.  This is the best part!  I made the fondant with about 2 cups of powered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of warm milk.  Delicious!

These cinnamon rolls were really good.  They taste like cinnamon raisin bread with a delicious glaze on top.

I really liked this dough.  It’s very versatile and tastes great!  I especially like the addition of the cinnamon powder and the extra raisins.  I think walnuts or pecans would enhance it so maybe I’ll try that next time.

Thanks for joining me in the bread-baking blog.  Check out the blog BigBlackDog to see the May 15th Bread Braid roundup.

Happy Baking!
Cathy

About the HBinFive Baking Group

The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. For more information on the new HBinFive baking group, check out Michelle's blog.