Bread

I hadn't made much bread since before Thanksgiving and it was time to get back to it.

 First up was Canadian Maritime brown bread.  This has been such a favorite for years and now it happens to be one of Willie's favorites too.  Everything is Willie's favorite.  That boy sure can eat! You can find this recipe by typing the name into my search bar.

 Next, I made Maritime raisin bread.  I guess I am in a Canadian mood.

This is a wonderful bread and especially good for ham and cheddar sandwiches.

 Here's the recipe:

1/4 cup white sugar

1-1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

2-1/2 tsp. rapid rise yeast

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup raisins

1 cup slightly chopped walnuts

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

4 cups flour

Mix the sugar, milk and butter together in the bowl of your mixer.

Add the yeast.

Beat the eggs and stir into the yeast mixture and then the raisins and walnuts.  Then stir in the salt and cinnamon.

Finally add the flour. Start with 3-3/4 cup and mix in. Add only enough to bring the ball together.

Knead the dough, adding just enough to make a very slightly sticky dough.

The dough might take the additional 1/4 cup of flour, or not, or maybe even a little more. It depends on the weather the day you make bread, which determines how much moisture is held in the flour itself.

Place the dough in a buttered bowl, butter the top, cover and let rise until doubled. It can take up to 2 hours.

Once risen, punch the dough down and knead briefly, about 20 seconds. Shape into a loaf.

Grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan with butter. Place the loaf in the pan. Cover the pan loosely with plastic so the dough has room to expand.

Let the bread rise until doubled again, about another hour. 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Once the bread has risen, bake for 30-40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and rub with butter and then cool on a rack.

 I also made pizza.  The W's love crust so we now all eat crustless pizza since it gets cut off as puppy treats.

 My daughter stopped by and pulled leftover pizza out of the fridge and asked...'what happened to the crust?'  I told her to ask the pups.