| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 6 hr 43 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 5 hr 40 min |
| Cook: | 33 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups bread flour
- 1 cup brown rice flour*
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F)
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 1/4 cups raisins
- Butter, for greasing the loaf pan
- Flour, for dusting the loaf pan
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the bread flour, rice flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the warm water and yeast. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes until foamy.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in the yeast mixture. With the machine running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until a ball of dough forms. Remove the paddle attachment and attach a dough hook. (If a dough hook attachment isn’t available, the dough can also be kneaded by hand for 15 minutes on a lightly floured work surface.) Mix on medium-low speed for 10 minutes (scraping the sides of the bowl, if necessary). Add the walnuts and raisins and continue to mix until the dough is smooth and springs back when pushed with a finger, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a draft-free area at room temperature (about 85 degrees F) until the dough has puffed slightly, about 2 hours.
- Butter and flour the inside and outer rim of an 8 1/4 by 4 1/2-inch nonstick loaf pan. Punch the center of the dough to deflate it. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead for 3 minutes. Form the dough into an 8 by 4-inch rectangle and place in the prepared loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a draft-free area at room temperature until the dough rises about 2 inches above the top of the pan, about 2 hours.
- Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove the plastic wrap and bake the loaf until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Wrap well in plastic and store at room temperature for 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 553 |
| Total Fat | 23 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 79 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 27 g |
| Protein | 12 g |
| Cholesterol | 87 mg |
| Sodium | 322 mg |
Reviews
Great taste but needed to bake a lot longer than recipe noted to get to safe be read temp
Swapped raisins for dried peaches. Loved it!!!
Love this recipe! Made it three times, and it always turned out delicious. Only thing I did differently is that I only used bread flour, which contains more gluten, to make sure it rose. I don’t know if that is why so many people gave this recipe a poor recipe, but with just bread flour it turned out great.
If you make it correctly, the bread is delicious. The cinnamon and dried fruit seem to slow the yeast down, so looking at the other reviews helped me to make sure my second attempt was better than the first. The bread flour is essential, and once I put the dough over a warming oven on the second rise, it rose enough while baking so it was not raw in the middle. I would suggest putting some foil over the top partly through baking so the crust doesn’t get too dark. Overall a challenging, but rewarding bread! It even makes a delicious french toast if you’re not able to eat the entire loaf in the first day or two.
Remember that bread recipes may need to be altered for temp and baking time and that elevation can also change things for recipes. We change the amount of flour we use per our elevation where we live. Did you use active fresh yeast? It can make a huge difference when making bread. Sometimes moms advice works. I was glad my mom was right. Bread turned out great. May need longer cooking time or changes for your elevation.
I read many of the reviews before I made this bread. And to be honest, I was shocked that the recipe didn’t work for so many people. I make bread every week, so I thought this recipe would be a snap. WRONG. My version turned out like so many other’s did – the dough did NOT rise (and I let it rise overnight just to see if that would help) and when it baked, it burned on the bottom before it was done in the middle. I’m super bummed. I’ve been looking for an excellent raisin walnut bread recipe and this is definitely not it. I like the idea of it though, so I’m giving it 2 stars.
I have made this bread at least 3-4 times over the last couple years and it always turns out PERFECT. I have had zero problems with rising or with the baking time. Those who have given a bad review were absolutely doing something wrong for it to not turn out perfect.
The bread didn’t rise at all. i followed the instructions exactly and left it to rise in a warm environment for 4 hours. should you put the yeast in the water with sugar? i wonder if it wasn’t activated properly?
not sure where i went wrong… was highly disappointing. still a giada fan, most of her recipes turn out great.
This was my first time baking bread. In fact, I am not a great baker. This turned out perfectly! I followed the directions exactly except for the brown rice flour. Instead I substituted with bread flour. My family loved it! Thanks Giada.
Turned out great, with a few side notes. I read through several of the numerous reviews before making this bread. I love to bake and cook, but do not always measure carefully, time steps accurately, etc. After reading the reviews I thought I should follow the steps carefully.
I did soak the raisins for a few hours in warm water to plump them up a little. I used a combination of dark and golden raisins.
I bought “fresh” yeast. I also purchased bread flour. I did not use rice flour, but substituted the 1 cup with bread flour. (I especially thought it was important to use bread flour when I found out it is more likely to produce a good rise than all purpose flour.)
I measured carefully and timed each step. The bread rose nicely for the first rise.
I decided to divide the dough in two and put each half into 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ commercial grade non-stick pans. Both loaves rose nicely to fill the pans about 1/2″ to 1″ above the sides.
I baked the loaves for 30 minutes and they turned out great.
I did soak the raisins for a few hours in warm water to plump them up a little. I used a combination of dark and golden raisins.
I bought “fresh” yeast. I also purchased bread flour. I did not use rice flour, but substituted the 1 cup with bread flour. (I especially thought it was important to use bread flour when I found out it is more likely to produce a good rise than all purpose flour.)
I measured carefully and timed each step. The bread rose nicely for the first rise.
I decided to divide the dough in two and put each half into 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ commercial grade non-stick pans. Both loaves rose nicely to fill the pans about 1/2″ to 1″ above the sides.
I baked the loaves for 30 minutes and they turned out great.