Christmas Morning Spiced Bread Recipes

Steps:

• Sift the flour, salt and cinnamon into a bowl. Stir in the sugar and yeast, then make a well in the centre. Pour the milk into a small pan, add the butter and warm gently until the butter has melted. Pour into the well, then add the beaten eggs. Gradually mix to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.
• Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead vigorously for 5 minutes until smooth. Put the dough into a clean bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave somewhere warm for 11⁄2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. Lightly butter a 900g loaf tin.
• Punch the air out of the dough and turn it out on to a lightly floured surface again. Knead once more until smooth, then knead in the walnuts and raisins. Divide the dough into three and shape each piece into an oval ball. Drop each ball side by side into the prepared tin and cover loosely with oiled cling film. Leave somewhere warm for 30 minutes until the dough has reached the top of the tin. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6.
• Mix the egg yolk with 1 tbsp of water and brush over the top of the risen loaf. Bake for 20 minutes, covering loosely with a double sheet of foil once it's nicely browned. Then, lower the temperature to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4 and bake for a further 20 minutes. Turn the loaf out of its tin and tap the base - it will sound hollow if the loaf is done. If it doesn't, return it to the oven out of its tin and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Cool the loaf on a wire rack. (The loaf can be sealed in a plastic bag and frozen for up to 1 month. If you slice it before freezing you can toast the slices straight from the freezer, otherwise you need to remove the whole loaf from the freezer the night before.) Serve lightly toasted, with butter and jam.

Steps:

• Add all ingredients except pecans to bread machine, and start machine.
• Use wheat bread cycle for 1-pound loaf.
• Add pecans at the end of the first knead, or when your bread machine "beeps" to add fruit or nuts.
• Baking time is however long your machine takes.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F Butter and flour one 8 ½ x 4 ½" loaf pan.
• Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs and beat until combined. Beat in the bananas.
• Combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in another bowl, then fold in the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture just until combined; do not over mix.
• Pour into the pan and bake until a tester stuck in the middle of the banana bread comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.
• Let cool on a rack before removing from the pan.