Mom Hill’s Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c milk
• 1 c old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
• 1 c raisins or currants
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/4 c butter
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 c warm water
• 2 pkg yeast (not instant)
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 4 1/2 c flour (maybe a little more)

Butter two 9″x5″ loaf pans well.

Scald the milk, then pour it over the rolled oats, raisins, sugar, butter, and salt. Stir and cool.

Soften the yeast in the warm water, then add it to the milk and oat mixture.  Add the beaten egg and stir.  Then add the flour.  You should have a soft dough.  If not, add a touch more flour.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes, either by hand or with a mixer.  Place the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise until doubled in bulk.  Punch the dough down, divide into 2 pieces, form the pieces into a ball,  and let rest for 10 minutes.

While the dough is resting, combine 1/2 c sugar with 2 T of cinnamon.

Roll the balls of dough into rectangles, about 9″ wide and 18″ long. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture over each rectangle, then roll the dough up, starting on the narrow end, to form loaves. Pull at the dough while you roll, so that you get as many rolls as possible. Seal the edges by pinching (hard) together.  Put in the loaf pans.

Let rise again until double; then bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.  Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, then take the loaves out of the pans and continue cooling on a rack.  The bread will be fabulous eaten while slightly warm (with lots of butter, of course) – and, once cool, will be best toasted.  It will keep for several days in a plastic bag – not refrigerated – and will freeze well.