Crusty Cranberry Nut No Knead Bread

August 28, 2024

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Yeasted bread has by no means been simpler. This straightforward technique produces essentially the most stunning and crusty cranberry nut no-knead bread with little or no hands-on work! When you’re new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Information for solutions to frequent yeast FAQs.

I initially printed this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photographs and some extra success ideas.

cranberry nut bread slices with butter on plate and marble tray.

“Selfmade bread” and “straightforward” are phrases that don’t usually go hand-in-hand. While you consider do-it-yourself bread, you suppose troublesome, proper? This recipe, nevertheless, will fully change that thought. I notice that’s a fairly large promise, however I’m assured your notion of do-it-yourself bread will swap from “nope! an excessive amount of work” to “wow, I CAN do that.”

One reader, Kris, commented: “This is a superb recipe—bread made straightforward. Scrumptious bites stuffed with taste from the cranberries and walnuts. Will maintain this endlessly. ★★★★★”

One other reader, Linda, commented: “This recipe is incredible. The bread had an exquisite crust and nice taste. The directions have been tremendous thorough at explaining all the pieces for a novice bread maker. ★★★★★”

Why You’ll Love This Cranberry Nut No-Knead Bread:

Simply 7 easy components
Hardly any hands-on time
Number of textures: crispy crusty exterior, delicate and chewy inside, and loads of dried cranberries and nuts in each slice
An egg-free baking recipe and dairy-free recipe
Tastes unbelievable heat with a swipe of honey butter.

slices and round boule loaf of cranberry nut bread with honey butter on marble serving tray.

This bread, like my do-it-yourself artisan bread, seeded oat bread, and olive bread, has all of the bells and whistles of a fresh-from-the-bakery cranberry nut bread, and takes little or no effort. In case you are new to working with yeast, or just feeling a little bit lazy, this recipe is for you.

Making this loaf will depart you loads of time to hang around. 😉

Simply 7 Components for This Cranberry Nut Bread

You don’t want lots of components to make do-it-yourself bread, and also you would possibly already know that should you’ve tried this sandwich bread recipe. You solely want 7 components to make this bread:

Flour: Flour provides the bread its construction. You need to use all-purpose or bread flour. I usually attain for bread flour as a result of it yields a barely chewier bread.
Salt: Choose up some coarse sea salt; I discover the flavour is missing with common desk salt.
Yeast: You need to use instantaneous or energetic dry yeast, however I extremely advocate an instantaneous (aka “speedy rise” or “fast rise” yeast). I all the time use Platinum Yeast by Pink Star, which is an instantaneous yeast with dough improvers. You don’t want a lot right here—just one/2 teaspoon—due to the lengthy rise time.
Nuts: Walnuts or pecans—baker’s selection!
Dried Cranberries: I really like the chewy texture of dried cranberries right here. Don’t use contemporary or frozen cranberries, as a result of this dough is simply too moist. Raisins would work too, or attempt chopping up dried apricots or dates.
Water: I usually encourage you to make use of heat liquid with yeast as a result of it helps the yeast work sooner. For this recipe, you need the water to be about 95ºF (35ºC), as a result of we’re encouraging a pleasant gradual rise to construct taste. An instant-read thermometer takes the guesswork out of this.
Honey: Honey provides taste and helps give the bread its springy, sponge-like texture.

ingredients on wooden surface including flour, water, honey, salt, walnuts, and yeast.

By the best way, should you get pleasure from honey in your do-it-yourself bread, you’ll love this no-knead honey oat bread as a result of the flavour actually stands out. The method can also be similar to at this time’s straightforward bread recipe. And each breads are scrumptious heat or toasted and topped with this straightforward do-it-yourself honey butter.

Overview: 5 Steps to Make No-Knead Bread

This no-work, no-knead, professional-bread-at-home idea originated with Jim Lahey of Sullivan Avenue Bakery in NYC. It’s all very primary components, however his technique is exclusive, which incorporates an 18-hour rise time. 18 hours?! Sure! Don’t be nervous, this 18 hours provides the dough an opportunity to ferment. And the fermentation time requires completely nothing from you. Simply set it in your counter and overlook about it till the subsequent day. We use this identical technique for do-it-yourself English muffins. In each recipes, the magic occurs whenever you’re not wanting!

Step 1: Stir components collectively. Don’t even get away your mixer.

This will probably be an excellent sticky dough. Bear in mind, do NOT be tempted so as to add extra flour. It can persist with your palms. That’s nothing a fast wash can’t repair!

dry ingredients in bowl and shown again pouring honey and water in.

mixing flour and dough in glass bowl with blue spatula.

Step 2: Cowl the dough and ignore it.

Let the dough rise at room temperature for 12–18 hours. This recipe may be very forgiving. Any normal-ish room temperature is okay. You’ll know that the dough is completed rising when it has about doubled in dimension and air bubbles have shaped on high. Like this:

bubbly cranberry nut dough in glass bowl.

Step 3: The dough will nonetheless be tremendous sticky after rising. That’s okay! Utilizing evenly floured palms, kind the sticky dough right into a ball and place on a big piece of parchment paper. Rating the highest with a pointy knife, kitchen shears, or bread lame, then enable to relaxation for half-hour.

hands shaping cranberry walnut bread dough.

Step 4: Preheat a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven. You’ll bake the bread in a pre-heated (super-hot!) Dutch oven, which helps kind a crusty exterior. When you don’t have a Dutch oven, you should utilize any oven-safe heavy-duty pot with a lid.

Step 5: Bake for about 35 minutes. For an correct doneness check, the bread is finished when an instant-read thermometer reads the middle of the loaf as 195°F (90°C).

cranberry nut bread in a dutch oven after baking

FAQ: Why Bake No-Knead Bread in a Dutch Oven?

Baking the bread with the lid on traps steam contained in the pot, creating that completely crisp crust. A lid is the key to this bread recipe’s success! You gained’t remorse selecting up a Dutch oven.

No Dutch oven? No drawback.

Whereas baking the bread in a Dutch oven is vital to this bread’s texture, you may get round it. As a substitute, place the rounded dough on a parchment paper-lined or generously floured nonstick baking pan. No must pre-heat the pan such as you do the Dutch oven. Whereas the oven preheats and the scored loaf is resting, boil a kettle of water. After the oven is preheated, place scored dough/baking pan on the middle rack. Then place a shallow steel baking/roasting pan or cast-iron skillet (I often use a steel 9×13-inch baking pan; don’t use glass) on the underside oven rack. Rigorously and shortly pour 3–4 cups of boiling water into it, after which shortly shut the oven door to lure the steam inside. The steam helps create a crispier crust. That is precisely how I bake 4-ingredient artisan bread.

Step 6: Take pleasure in a slice of heat, contemporary bread you gained’t consider you comprised of scratch.

round boule loaf of cranberry nut bread on marble serving tray.

This evenly honey-sweetened cranberry nut bread is fabulous for breakfast, toasted with butter or honey butter. Or serve it alongside a charcuterie board with a delicate cheese like brie or goat cheese, or this white cheddar cranberry pecan cheese ball (yum!).

This recipe is delivered to you in partnership with Pink Star Yeast.

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