Ever since I first posted about No-Knead Bread I’ve been thinking about what kinds of variations I could try. Cinnamon raisin was first on my list. I love raisin bread, but I hate that you can just about never get it on whole wheat bread. So I gave it a go and it is awesome. Seriously I just want to eat this all day. Gordie loves all the bread I’ve made so more. He asks for Mommy’s bread all the time.
This recipe and directions are almost identical to my Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread Recipe. There is the obvious additions of raisins and cinnamon, a slight increase in the amount of yeast because cinnamon inhibits yeast production and a little extra water.
Note: you will need an oven proof dish with a heavy lid to make this – Dutch ovens are perfect for this but other oven proof dishes like casserole dishes can work too.
(Adapted from Calgarian Julie Van Rosendaal’s take on Jim Lahey’s no knead bread method on babble.com)
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup raisins
- ½ tsp yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2½ cups water (this is more than the standard recipe because whole wheat flour is thirstier than refined flour and it’s even more than my regular whole wheat flour recipe because the raisins soak up some of the water)
- wheat bran, cornmeal or additional flour for dusting (wheat bran worked really well)(I use Robin Hood – Best for Bread Flour which works well as it is high in protein as most Canadian flours are which is necessary for making good bread)
- In a large mixing bowl stir the flour, yeast, salt and cinnamon together with your hands. Then add the raisins.
- Add 2 cups of the water. Mix the dough and water together with your hands until you can no longer see dry flour. You can run your hands under the tap to wet them if you are worried about the dough sticking to them, but it’s not really necessary.
- Check your dough, it should look wet but the flour shoimageuld absorb all the water. You couldn’t knead this dough if you wanted too. If your dough still looks dry add a little at a time and mix until it looks wet. I found 2½ cups of water to be perfect. Don’t stress out too much about it though, I’ve made it both too dry and too wet and the bread still turned out fine. It was just a little dense when it was too dry and it was harder to move when it was too wet.
- Cover the bowl with saran wrap and leave it on the counter for 12-24 hours. Whenever it is convenient for you. The dough should have risen noticeably and you’ll probably see some little bubbles at the top. image
- When you are ready sprinkle wheat bran, flour or corn meal on the top of the dough as well as on a large tea towel.
- Use a spatula to loosen the dough from the bowl and drop it onto one side of the tea towel. Fold the dough over on itself a few times and then sprinkle the flour (or whatever) on the top.
- Roll the dough onto the other side of the tea towel and coat the other side with flour (or whatever) again. Fold the tea towel over the top of the dough ball and leave it out for 1-2 hours. (Don’t leave it on the stove it will get all sticky and attach itself to the tea towel when you are preheating the stove – trust me).
- In the last half hour preheat the stove to 450F with your oven safe heavy lidded pot inside to make sure it’s nice and hot.
- Take the pot out of the oven and dust the inside with flour, this will help keep the raisins from sticking and burning to the bottom (or whatever). Roll the dough into the hot pot, place the lid on and stick it in the oven for 30 minutes. Then, take the lid off and bake for 15 more minutes.
- For best results, let the loaf cool before eating, but if you really want warm bread, you can cut it right away and it’s still really good.
I’m sure this would be lovely with some butter or cinnamon cream cheese, but I eat it straight up.
