cinnamon raisin milk bread

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I’ve been exploring working with milk powder in my recipes and also learning more about enriched doughs. There were the milk and pistachio cookies earlier and now this enriched cinnamon raisin bread. This particular bread in itself is not very sweet and has the soft texture that comes from milk proteins and fat. 

I like to eat it this cinnamon raisin bread with a little bit of butter and jam/honey for breakfast.

Here are some of my kitchen tips when preparing this bread

• I went with a more dinner roll/bun approach when styling the bread but you can definitely shape it anyway you want, loaves, etc.  
• Make sure your yeast is still good and hasn’t expired and your milk is fresh. 
• The prewarmed oven trick always works for me especially when the weather is unpredictable. The yeast ferments the sugars in the dough much more reliably this way and you end up with a nicely risen piece of dough.
• I plan to remake this bread and flavor it with a few more spices to explore the flavor profile.

cinnamon raisin milk bread

yields: 12 rolls

ingredients 

1 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed to 

1/4 cup ( 1 ounce) sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast

3 1/2 cups (1 lb 1 1/4 ounces) all purpose flour 

1/4 cup non-fat milk powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher sea salt, fine grain

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder, freshly ground 

1 1/2 cups golden raisins 

2 teaspoons gelatin

4 tablespoons boiling water

1 tablespoons sugar

1. Mix the milk, sugar, butter and yeast in a jar or bowl with a fork. Allow to sit for 5 minutes in a warm spot until the mixture turns foamy and frothy. If it doesn’t, your yeast dead and you will need to repeat this step with fresh ingredients. 

2. Preheat the oven to 200F for 5 minutes and then shut it off, keep the door shut. Dry whisk the flour, milk powder, salt and cinnamon to combine in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. When the dough is almost formed, toss in the raisins. Using your hands, bring the dough together to form one large ball. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer to mix the ingredients and form the dough using the dough blade attachment. Mix for about 5 minutes on low-speed until the dough is just formed. Fold in the raisins. Place the dough in a large lightly greased bowl and cover the bowl with cling film. Place the dough in the prewarmed oven and allow to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. 

3. Once the dough has doubled in size. Transfer it to a lightly floured clean surface and divide it into 12 equals parts. Shape each part into a ball and place it in a 9X5 baking pan lined with parchment paper. The balls should touch each other. Cover the surface with cling film and allow to rise for another 20 minutes in the prewarmed oven. 

4. Remove the pan from the oven and preheat to 400F. Bake the pan with the bread on the middle rack for 20 minutes rotating the pan halfway through baking. 

5. While the bread is baking, mix the gelatin, sugar and water in bowl to form the glaze.. Once the bread is baked remove the pan from the oven and immediately brush the surface of the hot bread lightly with the gelatin glaze. Allow the surface to dry and serve the bread immediately.