Dk's Raisin Bread

Total Time: 3 hrs 5 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 1 cup milk, scalded
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup melted margarine
• 1 cup raisins (plump in 1 c hot water then drain)
• 2 eggs
• 5 1/2-6 cups flour

Recipe

• 1 in a 1 cup measure, pour 1/2 cup warm water. add 1 tsp sugar, but do not , stir. slowly sprinkle 2 tbsp yeast into the water, making sure each particle gets wet. again, do not stir. wait 10 minutes until the yeast is thick and foamy.
• 2 meanwhile, using a whisk, mix the following ingredients in your bread bowl: 1 c lukewarm milk, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 c sugar, 2 eggs and 1 c flour. whisk in the yeast, then the 1/2 c cooled margarine. add 1 c raisins and stir with your wooden spoon.
• 3 add the remaining flour 1 cup at at time (reserving the last cup to knead into the dough) to make a soft dough. coat the dough with flour before turning it out the kneading surface.
• 4 dust the kneading surface with flour and turn the dough out it. then, dust your hands with flour and knead the dough for 10 minutes. whenever the dough feels too stick dust it and your hands with flour.
• 5 after kneading, place the dough into a greased bowl, turn to grease the top, set in a warm, draft free spot and allow to double(about 2 hours).
• 6 when dough has doubled, punch it down, knead it briefly and let it rest so that it will be easier to shape. cut in half, shape into loaves by rolling the dough and tucking the ends under. place each loaf into a greased 8" x 4" x 3" pan. remove all exposed raisins as they will burn. set in a warm, draft free spot and allow to double (about 45 minutes).
• 7 bake in a 400* oven for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 375* for another 20-25 minutes.
• 8 (before baking you can brush the tops with a mixture of melted margarine and sugar.).