Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Mix sugar, oil, salt, starter, and warm water together in a large bowl. Then add in the flour and mix to form a stiff dough.

Grease a separate bowl, put the dough into the bowl and turn the dough over. Cover with foil, wax paper, or damp towel and let rise overnight or 8-12 hours. Do not refrigerate.

Divide dough into three equal parts and knead each part a few times on a floured surface.

Roll out to a rectangular shape with a rolling pin. The dough takes some work to get rolled out but keep at it. You want it to be about 8-9 inches long. Spread with the butter and sprinkle with the mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle on raisins if you wish. (I actually don’t measure the cinnamon, sugar, and raisins out. I just put it on there until it looks like the amount I want.)

Starting at the narrow end, roll the dough to make a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan (9×5 size or thereabouts) seam side down. Brush with oil or melted butter.

Let rise 4-5 hours or more. A cold kitchen can slow this down; try rising in an oven warmed to 90ºF or in a cool oven with a pan of hot water at the bottom. All day is fine, though too much rising leads to large holes and a rougher texture. Bake at 350ºF for 30-45 minutes or until an instant read thermomter registers 200ºF- 205ºF.

Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter or margarine. Cool completely on a rack. Wrap well to store. Freezes well.

For the starter:

I was given the starter, but I’m pretty sure you can make your own. Mix together:

¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons of instant dry potatoes
1 cup plain all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water

Let it sit out (do not refrigerate) 24 hours. Feed again with the same ingredients. Do this every day until you get bubbles throughout the starter. I think it generally takes about 3 days.

After that, feed it once a week with those same four ingredients. After you feed it, let it stand out of refrigerator 8-12 hours (all day or overnight); it will not rise, only bubble.

After this time, if you want to make bread, withdraw the amount needed according to the recipe. If you do not want to make bread, withdraw one cup and throw or give away. Then return the remainder to the refrigerator in a storage container.

Keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container. I use a very tall plastic jar with a lid that I think peanut butter came in. But you can use almost anything with a tight-fitting lid. Take out every 3-7 days to feed. I have gone as long as 2 weeks, but anything over a week is a risk.