Whole Wheat Raisin-Walnut Bread

I'm really enjoying breads with inclusions these days. I've also been finding myself craving sweets quite a bit. I've been eyeing up the recipe for "health nut bread" in the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, but then TF spotted this recipe for "deluxe raisin bread" and suggested giving it a try. This is, indeed, a very nice raisin bread! I was a bit pressed for time, so I ended up cutting the kneading a little short, but I still got a lovely rise and not bad oven spring from it and the flavour is excellent so, all-in-all, I'm pretty pleased.

Deluxe Raisin Bread

Slightly adapted from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 1 c. raisins
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 c. oil
• 1 large egg
• 790g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. (~10g) coarse sea salt
• 3/4 c. chopped walnuts, toasted¹
• ~1 Tbsp. butter (optional)

Directions

1. Heat raisins and water over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer² for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add yeast to warm water and set aside for ~10 minutes.
3. Once the raisins are done simmering, drain them, reserving the liquid. Set the raisins aside.
4. Add cold water to the raisin water to bring the volume back up to 1 1/2 c.
5. Dissolve honey into the raisin water.
6. Stir in oil and -- when it is cool enough not to cook it -- the egg and mix well. If egg mixture is still very warm, transfer it to the fridge or freezer for a few minutes or set it in a bowl of ice to cool further.
7. Combine flour and salt and mix thoroughly.
8. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture and the egg mixture. (Make sure the egg mixture isn't too hot!)
9. Working from the centre outward, gradually incorporate the flour into the wet ingredients.
10. Once most of the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto the work surface (along with any residual flour) and begin kneading.
11. Knead for at least 20 minutes. (I find I usually need 30-40.) Add small amounts of extra flour or water as needed to achieve a good consistency.
12. Knead raisins and walnuts into dough.
13. Form the dough into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise. Rise is done when dough does not spring back/fill in when a wet finger is poked ~1cm deep. (Check after ~1 hour, but it could take 2 if your kitchen is on the cooler side.)
14. Knock the dough back. Knead it a few strokes if you like. Return to covered bowl to rise again. Use the same test to determine when rise is done.
15. Knock the dough back. Press out as much accumulated gas as possible. Divide into two equal portions.
16. Form each portion into a round ball and smooth the top as best you can. Cover and set aside for ~10 minutes.
17. For each ball: Flip smooth side down, press into a wide flat disc, fold the bottom edge up and the top edge down and press flat again to form a long rectangle, grab a narrow edge and roll up the rectangle to make a cylinder.
18. Place each cylinder seam side down into a greased loaf pan.
19. Cover and set aside to rise for at least half an hour. Rise is done when 1cm fingerprint fills in very slowly.
20. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 160°C (325°F) and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Loaf is done when it sounds hollow.
21. If desired, brush crust with butter while loaf is still warm.

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¹ Toasting the walnuts will make them taste "nuttier" and less bitter. It will also keep them crunchy. If you forget to toast them (like I did), not to worry! This loaf is sweet enough to balance the bitterness of untoasted walnuts. And, the while untoasted walnuts aren't as crunchy and assertive as their toasted counterparts, I still find them firm enough to add a pleasant textural contrast to the loaf. ^Back
2 I simmered my raisins covered. Next time I would simmer them uncovered to allow for more evaporation. ^Back