Cinnamon-Raisin Bread (Food Processor Method)

My kids love to "help" cook; raisin bread provides a terrific opportunity. They can help brush the butter, sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar, and spread the raisins out. Sometimes, the recipe gets lost in translation. My daughter just announced that she was making "cimmanon raisin rolls" and need 4 cups of cimmanon and 4 cups of butter...". This bread isn't quite that over the top, but it is tasty and beats anything storebought hands down. There are lots of steps, but they're not hard and this bread is easy to double. If you like your bread sweet, add some extra honey to the bread dough.

Recipe is a combination of recipes from Joy of Cooking, 1997 edition and How to Cook Everything, 10th anniversary edition

If you have a sandwich bread recipe you love, simply make that, and follow the steps below for rolling out the dough and adding the filling. Let rise and bake as directed in your original recipe. If you don't have a food processor, just follow basic bread mixing directions in any basic sandwich loaf recipe. (or follow a bread-machine recipe for the dough and make it that way). Double or triple or quadruple the filling according to how many loaves your recipe makes!

• 3 1/2 c. white flour
• 3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 t. yeast
• 2 t. salt
• 2 T. oil
• 2 T. honey
• ~1 c. room temp water
• 1/2 c. raisins
• water
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 2 T. melted butter

1. Combine flours, salt, yeast in bowl of food processor (use a dough blade if you have one). With machine running, pour in oil and honey. Pour about a cup of water in (while machine is running) and let machine run a few seconds until a nice dough ball is formed. If the dough is slightly sticky, that's fine. If it feels dry, add more water. You'll be adding extra flour when you roll it out, so err on the sticky side.
2. Turn dough into bowl and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise 1-2 hours, until doubled.
3. Start here if you used your own sandwich loaf recipe: Put raisins in a small saucepan and cover with water by 1/2-inch. Bring to a boil, turn off heat, and let stand until cool. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together.
   
4. When dough has risen, punch down (if you made extra, divide now into correct number of pieces). Let rest while you drain the raisins. If they're still hot, run some cool water over them. Grease loaf pans and melt butter.
5. Roll dough out into a rectangle the same width as your bread pan (8 inches, 9 inches, etc.). Use enough flour to make it manageable.
6. Brush with melted butter.
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
8. Spread raisins over.
9. Roll up, starting with a short side. You want a fat roll that's as long as your pan.
10. Place gently into pan, seam side down. Press down firmly, but gently, with your hand until bread makes full contact with bottom of pan--especially in the corners. This will help your bread rise more evenly.
11. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until double (may take up to 2 hours).
12. Bake at 350 until done! (top is nicely browned, sounds hollow when tapped--usually close to an hour)
13. Let cool before slicing.

Makes GREAT toast!