Golden Raisin-Cinnamon Bread

1 cup milk ⅔ cup warm water (110-115°) ⅓ white sugar 1 tablespoon active dry yeast 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons butter, softened ⅔ - 1 cup golden raisins 5 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour 4 teaspoons milk ⅔ cup white sugar 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 1 tablespoons melted butter

Warm the milk in a small sauce pan on the stove until it just starts to bubble, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm, about 120-125 degrees. Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside until yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes or so (make sure your water is at the correct temperature or the yeast won't activate.) Then mix in eggs, sugar, butter salt and raisins (stir in the cooled milk slowly so you don't cook the eggs.) Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth. Place in a large, buttered, mixing bowl and turn to grease the surface of the dough. over with a warm, damp cloth and let rise in a warm place. Allow to rise until doubled, about 1 ½ hours. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle ½ inch thick. Moisten the dough with 1 tablespoon milk and rub all over the dough with your hands. Mix together ⅔ cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the moistened dough. Roll up tightly (the long way). The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter. (Or, mix sugar and cinnamon into all of the dough before rolling out.) Cut in half, and tuck under ends and pinch bottom together. Place loaves into well greased 9 x 5 inch pans and lightly grease tops of loaves. Let rise in warm place, uncovered for an hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on cooling racks. Take melted butter and spread over tops of loaves. After about 10 minutes, remove loaves from pans. Allow to cool 15 minutes before slicing.