Dave has recently encountered an enviable problem. After starting to exercise a few months ago for the first time in years, he started losing weight too fast.
Losing weight. Too fast.
So now we’re trying to come up with ways to get him more healthy calories that don’t create much more work. Hard-boiled eggs, peanut butter, protein shakes, and bread. Making a loaf of bread every couple of weeks for him to eat at work does require more effort, but it isn’t work, because I like making bread.
I haven’t bought bread since moving to New Mexico last winter, and I haven’t made pure white bread since discovering I could adapt any recipe to be at least partially whole wheat with no detriment to flavor or texture. It worked just as well with this bread as it has in the past, giving me a light, tender loaf of bread made a little more special with a spiral of raisins and sugar and cocoa. Not that I got to eat more than a slice, since most of this loaf went to He Who is Super Annoying Because He Gets to Eat Twice as Much Food as Me.
Susan chose this bread for Tuesdays with Dorie, and she has the recipe posted. I mixed 2 cups (9.6 ounces) of whole wheat flour with ¾ cup of the milk and ½ teaspoon of the salt and let it sit overnight before combining it with the rest of the ingredients. And for whatever reason, 1 cup of raisins was way too much for me and they all fell out when I cut into the bread. But no one else had this problem, so apparently I’m just a weirdo. Still, next time, ½ cup of raisins.
One year ago: Honey Peach Ice Cream
Two years ago: Cappuccino Cream Puff Rings
Amazing. I love the last photo especially! The slices look delectable 😀
Wei-Wei
I hate how guys lose weight so fast! That bread looks amazing, and I hope he eats most of it 🙂
funny that the raisins fell out. maybe they were too dry to stick? still looks yummy, though! oh, and i have a super skinny husband as well, i hear ya!
losing wt too fast? is there such a thing? lol.
your picturs are fabulous!
He Who is Super Annoying Because He Gets to Eat Twice as Much Food as Me – LOVE IT!!! My SIL is like that. He can eat ANYTHING and not gain an ounce. Me, I look at ice cream and gain 5 lbs. 🙂
Your bread rose so beautifully. And the golden color is enviable. I only used a few raisins and only in 1/2 of the loaf. They all stayed in, but I did put lots of buttern and cinnamon/sugar. will try with wwf mix next time.
I love the tower of bread! If you have not tried the french toast do so. It’s the best EVER!! I love your pictures. I did not use raisins(they give me some digestive issues) but I used cinnamon chips instead!
Gosh sure wish I had that problem 😉
These pictures are amazing!!
I’m gaining weight too fast…does that count? 🙂
Bread looks delicious.
Thank you for the recipe….i am going to make it this summer for my kids and let them make some homemade cinnamon sugar butter for it.
Wow, that looks so warm and delicious! For some reason, I’ve never considered making this kind of bread, but you’ve inspired me to try. Great photos (Especially the leaning tower of bread, haha)!
Looks delicious. Just curious why do you soak the flour salt & milk before hand?
hahaha at the raisins falling out :))
Nic – It’s explained in more detail in the post dedicated to discussing the method for adapting recipes to be whole wheat, but basically, soaking the whole wheat flour breaks down the long bran fibers into shorter fibers, similar to those in white flour, making the final bread more tender, light, and sweet.
this looks gorgeous! And I’m so impressed that you haven’t bought bread since moving, one of my big goals is to become more of a bread baker. But since I also don’t have a weight loss problem (I wish!), I don’t finish the loaves very quickly – how do you store them, and how long do you usually find that they keep?
Did you soak your raisins before adding them into the bread? If the raisins are very dry (as raisins tend to be), they won’t stay in the loaf properly. Also, they’ll absorb moisture from your bread that would otherwise add tenderness to the loaf. Looks delicious though- I’m going to make a cinnamon raisin loaf this weekend!
Laura – I slice it and store it in the freezer, only defrosting what I need. It works great.
Laura – I didn’t soak them, but they weren’t dry. There were just too many raisins, forming a barrier between the dough in the spiral, which you can see in the second photo down.
What a beautiful bread! This looks like something our kids would love for breakfast for sure and I am thrilled that you use whole wheat! We love Kamut Wheat and try to always avoid AP/white/enriched flour whenever possible. Thanks for sharing it.
This looks wonderful! My husband has the same issue- he needs higher calorie/healthy snacks because he looses weight walking across the room! I plan to make this for him this week.