Raisin Bread for One

I don't know about you, but I love raisin bread. I don't need it to be ooey and gooey, just succulent and sweet with a bright swirl of cinnamon. Try this quick bread and see what you think!

1/2 cup whole wheat bread flour, plus a little more for shaping (you can also use all purpose)

1 teaspoon of sugar

Generous pinch of salt

1 teaspoon active dried yeast (Rapid Rise is best, but Bread-Machine Yeast works fine, too)

3 to 4 TBSP warm water (hot water from the tap is fine)

1 ½ TBLSP raisins

For the swirl:

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Place a piece of parchment on a baking pan. If you don’t have parchment, grease the pan or a piece of aluminum foil heavily, as it will STICK.

1.      In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Stir in 3 TBSP of water. If the dough is SUPER dry, then add a little more water and mix again. Go easy. 

2.      Dump the contents of the bowl out onto a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle with flour. You may need to add more flour to make the dough kneadable if it’s too wet or sticky. 

3.      Knead gently until the dough comes together into a ball. It'll be very soft and a bit sticky. You only need to knead for 1 or 2 minutes.

4.      Add the raisins, and knead a tiny bit more to incorporate them.

5.      On a floured board, roll the dough out as flat as you can. The shape doesn’t matter much, as you’re going to be rolling the whole thing up. Just get it as flat as the raisins will let you.

6.      Combine the sugar and cinnamon to make the swirl and sprinkle evenly over the surface of the square. You’ll want a thick layer to make the swirl conspicuous.  

7.      Beginning at one end, roll up the dough, trapping the cinnamon-sugar inside. Flatten and shape the roll back into a squashed square or rectangle, or fold it and push it around until it makes a nice bread-slice shape.

8.      Place it on the parchment or heavily greased aluminum foil, and leave the dough in a nice warm place to rise while you preheat the oven to 425 degrees F for about 15 minutes.

9.      Bake for 20-25 minutes until darkly golden.

Let it cool a bit, and then slice lengthwise to see the pretty swirl of cinnamon and raisins (and so you can have two slices of toast).