Fruit sweet and sugar free - whole wheat cinnamon bread

2 loaves

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 cups Raisins
⅞ cup Hot raisin water
⅞ cup Cool water
¼ cup Fruit sweetener
¼ cup Oil
¼ cup Fruit sweetener
Softened butter
2 tablespoons Dry baker's yeast
3 Eggs
1 tablespoon Salt
5 cups Whole wheat flour
1½ tablespoon Cinnamon

Directions

DOUGH

CINNAMON SWIRL

GARNISH

Begin by plumping the raisins and preparing the raisin water. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small pan. Add 2 cups of raisins and turn off the heat, letting the raisins sit in the water for at least 10 minutes. Drain the raisins, saving the raisin water.

To prepare the dough by machine: ******************************** Measure the hot raisin water and combine it with the cool water so that the mixture is lukewarm. Pour it into the bowl of your electric mixer. Add the fruit sweetener, oil, yeast, eggs, and salt. Stir in 5 cups of the whole wheat flour. On the lowest speed, use the dough hook to form a medium soft dough. Once the flour is incorporated, increase the mixer speed to medium and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes, adding only enough additional flour to form a medium stiff dough that comes off both the sides and bottom of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low, and gently knead in the plumped raisins.

To prepare the dough by hand: ***************************** Combine ¼ cup of the hot raisin water with 1 tablespoon fo the fruit sweetener in a small bowl. When the mixture is lukewarm, stir in the yeast. Set the bowl aside until the yeast is bubbly, about five minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the remaining 10 tablespoons of raisin water, the cool water, the remaining 1 tablespoon fruit sweetener, oil, eggs and salt. Stir in the activated yeast and 5 cups of the whole wheat flour to form a medium soft dough. Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface. Knad the dough, adding only enough additional flour to keep the dough from sticking. After 10 minutes of kneading, gently knead in the plumped raisins. Continue to knead the dough for another 5 minutes until it becomes smooth and quite elastic.

Raising the dough and forming the loaves: ***************************************** Place the well kneaded dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in size.

Remove the plastic from the bowl and using your fist, gently deflat the dough by punching it down. Knead the dough in the bowl about 10 times. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and again let the dough rise until doubled. Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a very lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into the number and size of loaves you want to make. Using a rolling pin to roll each portion of dough into a square ⅓ inch thick. Combine the cinnamon swirl ingredients in a small bowl or cup, stirring with a fork until the cinnamon is totally mixed with the fruit sweetener. Use a pastry brush to spread the cinnamon mixture thickly onto each square of dough. Roll each square up tightly, jelly roll fashion, pinching the bottom seam and side edges well to seal each loaf. Place the finished loaves in lightly oiled bread pans. Cover the pans lightly with a piece of oiled plastic, and let the loaves rise until they are about 1-½ inches above the top of the pans.

To Bake the loaves: ******************* Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the loaves on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake the large loaves for 45-60 minutes, and the smaller loaves for 30-45 minutes. The tops will be a rich brown, and the bread will slide easily from the baking pan when the loaves are done. Give the bottom of the loaf a tap. It should sound hollow. When the loaves have finished baking, rub their tops with softened butter to tenderize the crust and add shine and flavour. Place the finished loaves on a wire rack to cool. Submitted By JANE KNOX On 09-30-94

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