I know that I am going to step into the land of controversy with this week’s bread. There are camps on both sides, with strong, heartfelt opinions. Very few foods elicit such strong opinions (maybe Brussels Sprouts) as much as this: raisins in cinnamon swirl bread (well, raisins in anything, really). I love raisin, and as such, yes, this Cinnamon Raisin Squirrely Bread does indeed have raisins in it. Lots of them, in fact. Don’t like raisins, leave ’em out. No harm done. 🙂
PS: auto-spell check “corrected” swirl to squirrel so I went with Squirrely Bread instead of Swirly Bread. Seemed funny enough.
Ingredients
for the dough
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) ripe sourdough starter
3/4 cup milk, warmed to between 100-110F
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
for the filling
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon corn starch
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup raisins
for baking
2 tablespoons milk, for milk wash
This recipe makes one 9×5-inch loaf pan or two 8×4-inch loaf pans.
Directions
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle. Heat milk and butter, combine with your sourdough starter, and pour into the well. Add egg and mix until fully combined. Turn out onto a well-floured counter and knead until you have cohesive dough. It should be fairly soft and supple. Set aside in a warm, draft free place for a couple of hours in a greased bowl until it has doubled in size. Alternatively, you can place in the refrigerator overnight, but let come back to room temperature before continuing.
Preheat oven to 400F. Line your loaf pan(s) with parchment paper sling.
In a small work bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, corn starch and melted butter. Mix to combine. It should have the texture of coarse sand.
Once the dough has risen / come back to room temperature, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Spread the filling mixture and the raisins evenly over the dough and roll it up jellyroll style. Place in loaf pan, seam side down. Cover loosely with a clean dishtowel and let rise for an additional 20-30 minutes. Just before baking, using a pastry brush, brush loaf with the milk wash. Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown. Check often and remove from oven once the top is crispy and the inside is cooked all the way through (the inside temperature should be around 180F).
Let cool completely before removing from the pan with the sling and cutting.
