Cinnamon Raisin Bread for the Bread Machine

After reading all the reviews I've decided to change the recipe just a bit as follows:

1 cup water
2 tablespoons margarine
2 cups All Purpose Flour; 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
3 tablespoons BROWN Sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons yeast
1 cup SOAKED raisins (I like the suggestion to soak them in RUM)

Yes these are minor changes but most of the reviews seem to recommend them, and I will follow the majority.

Twice now I've made this in the actual breadmaker and it has come out a brick, but I've made it probably a dozen other times taking the dough from the machine and baking it in the oven. When I do that it comes out the softest, fluffiest, most delicious raisin bread I've ever made. We've determined that this amazing bread rises too high in the machine and hits the top, causing it to deflate while it cooks. I always mix my yeast/sugar/hot water before adding it to the machine, so I may be aggravating the problem. But this recipe is so good, and my kids will eat almost an entire loaf in one sitting. I've also left out the cinnamon and raisins and made some very yummy sandwich bread too. I guess what I'm saying is that this is my new recipe for everything!!

The whole family liked this bread, I thought it made good toast too. Heeded many of the suggestions: plumped up the raisins in hot water, doubled the cinnamon, used 2 C white flour and 1 C whole wheat, and put all the ingredients in at once (incl raisins) and voila. And yes it does smell terrific when it's baking!

I made mine in my bread machine and after the dough was done... I took it out reshaped it into a bread pan and put in my warming drawer for the second rise... after the bread doubles in size I baked it in a 350 oven for about 30 - 40 minutes ... (How I know my bread is ready is I check it with a thermometer making sure it is at 190 degrees.. and its ready....) I just like the look of the bread more from the bread pan and it doesn't give such hard crusts with a hole in the middle from the bread maker paddle... and much easier to cut... Anyways this recipe is a keeper! We enjoyed it very much!

I'm going to try this using fresh strawberries rather than raisins. I can't seem to find any breadmaker recipes that utilize fresh strawberries. For recipes with raisins, I find they mix much better if separated well and added directly after liquid ingredients. The first time, I added them during the "add ingredients" beep, as the recipe indicated. But, they did not mix throughout the dough and were only on the outer crust, most remaining in the bottom of the pan.