Irish Freckle Bread

My mom and I have been making this recipe for decades. It's from a magazine but it doesn't say which. From the size of the page I'd say it was LIFE but... who knows! It does say "Another great recipe from the STANDARD BRANDS KITCHENS." (SBK) in the lower right hand corner. Anyway... my family has enjoyed it forever and now you can too. I used to substitute honey for the sugar with great success. Also, SBK's recipe calls for margarine but it's MUCH better with butter.

• Ready In: 3 hrs 15 mins
• Yields: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 2 (1/4ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1  cup  potato water (105 to 115 degrees) or 1  cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
• 1⁄4 cup mashed potatoes, lukewarm
• 8  tablespoons sugar
• 5 1⁄4 cups flour
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 2  eggs
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1  cup raisins

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in water.
2. Add mashed potatoes, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup flour.
3. Beat until smooth.
4. Cover and let rise until bubbly (about 1 hour).
5. Stir down.
6. Add remaining sugar, salt and 1 cup flour.
7. Beat until smooth.
8. Stir in beaten eggs, then melted and cooled butter.
9. Add raisins.
10. Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.
11. Turn out onto lightly floured board. Kneed until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).
12. Place in buttered bowl (I use the butter wrapper with a little extra butter).
13. Turn once to butter the top.
14. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).
15. Punch down.
16. Divide into 4 equal parts.
17. Let rest 5 minutes. Shape each part into a slender loaf about 8 inches long.
18. Put 2 loaves side by side in each of two buttered loaf pans.
19. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled (about 40 minutes).
20. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until done.
21. Loaves should be golden brown and sound hollow when turned out and tapped on the bottom.