Hearty bread with a lightly floured crust, and sweet cranberries and walnuts in every bite. Perfect for fall dinners and breakfast toast!
This Cranberry Walnut Bread has become a new staple for Sunday breakfast with my sister! It uses a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour to give it a deep, hearty flavor but not so much that it tastes heavy and dense. It has the perfect ratio of cranberries and walnuts too so there are some in every bite. And the crust is perfectly crusty so that you get that beautifully crisp edge with a light dusting of flour for a little texture.
This bread would be an awesome addition to your Thanksgiving feast! I usually have a slice as toast in the morning, but it would be a phenomenal bread to add to your bread basket. It is a no knead bread so it doesn’t take much hands on time and would be an easy thing to make a day or two ahead instead of having another item in the oven on Thanksgiving day. To make sure it’s still fresh for the holiday, be sure to put it in a ziplock and don’t cut into it until the day of.
You will need a dutch oven that is around 5 qts for this bread. I invested in a Le Creuset one when it was on sale at Sur La Table a few weeks ago. The price tag can take your breath away, but I decided to make the investment because friends have told me they last forever. I’ve already used it to make this bread 5 times as well as chicken noodle soup, and I have plans for Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon at some point this holiday season!
When making the dough, be sure that the water is at 105ºF. If the water is too cold, the yeast won’t activate and if it is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Other than getting the temperature of the water correct, the dough could not be any simpler. It’s no knead so stir the ingredients together, and let it rest overnight in a non drafty place so that it can rise. It should double in size and be puffy yet quite sticky. 
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. I like to use a mixture of flour and cornmeal for dusting because the cornmeal gives the crust of the bread a really nice texture but you can use all flour too if you don’t want another ingredient in your pantry.
Lightly flour all the sides of the dough and shape it into a ball-like shape. You’ll then score the top of the dough with an “X,” cover it lightly with plastic wrap, and leave it to rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile you’ll preheat the oven and your dutch oven. Make sure to put the dutch oven in the oven and let it preheat with the oven. If you put a cold dutch oven into a hot oven, you may crack the pot from the heat shock.
After the dough has rested and the oven is preheated, drop the bread down into the hot dutch oven. If you have parchment paper that is heat safe up to 475ºF, you can transfer the dough to the parchment paper and lower it and the parchment paper into the pot. The parchment paper will save you a few minutes on clean up of the dutch oven, but I haven’t been able to find a parchment paper that is oven safe up to 475ºF at my grocery store.
Bake with the lid on for 25 minutes and then remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes.
Carefully pull the bread out of the pot when it comes out of the oven using 2 wooden spoons to lift it out onto a cooling rack.
Once cool, cut into slices using a serrated knife.
Enjoy! And Happy Thanksgiving!
- 1½ cups +2 Tablespoons (215g) all purpose flour
- 1½ cups (195g) whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons course sea salt or kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1½ cups (360g) warm water at 105ºF*
- ¾ cup (95g) chopped walnuts
- ¾ cup (105g) dried cranberries
- 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon yellow cornmeal (optional**)
- Oven-safe dutch oven with a capacity of 5 qts or larger and has a handle that is oven safe to 475ºF
- Serrated knife
- In a large bowl, mix the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, cinnamon, and yeast together.
- Check that your water is at 105ºF.*
- Add the water to the dry ingredients and stir until consistent. The dough will be wet and sticky.
- Add in the walnuts and dried cranberries.
- Cover the bowl and sit it in a room temperature, draft free spot to rise for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.
- After the rise time, it should double in size, be bubbly looking, and still be sticky.
- Dust a cutting board with the 1 Tablespoon of all-purpose flour and 1 Tablespoon cornmeal.
- Turn the dough out onto the cutting board. Form it into a round ball shape flouring all the sides as you go.
- Using a paring knife, score a shallow "X" into the top.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, set an oven safe dutch oven with the lid in the oven and preheat your oven to 475ºF.
- Remove the dutch oven from the preheated oven. Be very careful to use oven mitts as you move the pot around your counter because it will be extremely hot.
- Drop the dough down into the preheated dutch oven. If you need to adjust the position of the dough, shift it into place using a wooden spoon. Cover with the lid.
- Bake for 25 minutes with the lid and then remove the lid and bake for 10 minutes more. The bread will be golden brown and have a solid crust.
- Carefully remove the bread from the dutch oven using 2 wooden spoons and leave it to cool on a wire rack.
- Once cool, use a serrated knife to slice.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container or ziplock.
** You could also just use 2 Tablespoons of all-purpose flour if you don't want to buy another ingredient. I like using the cornmeal because it adds a really nice texture to the crust.
Adapted from The Bread Collection by Brian Hart Hoffman and Sally’s Baking Addiction
SaveSave
This recipe is fantastic and made an unbelievably delicious bread even when I made a gluten free version! I am making my second loaf in 2 weeks because it is so popular at my house, I substituted “Cup4Cup Multipurpose Gluten Free Flour” when this recipe called for all purpose flour or wheat flour. The results were a hearty, warm slice of bread with a normal texture that no one would suspect is gluten free!
Hi Debra! I’m so glad that this recipe works with gluten free flour! Gluten free bread can be tricky!
Loved it at our Friendsgiving! Such a fun time and this bread was unlike anything I’ve ever tried before, which was exciting for me. The bread was so moist and the addition of the cranberries made it so that you didn’t need butter or another spread to enjoy it :) I’ll have to try this at home!
Thanks Lisa! Friendsgiving was so much fun! The roasted broccoli you made was delicious!
This was the most amazing recipe. The flavor, texture and outside crust was fantastic. We have made it two times so far and it has become a staple. We will be making it on a regular basis. Thank you Kaitlyn!
Hi Anne! My mom told me that y’all made it! I’m so glad that you like the recipe! Have a good holiday … hopefully with lots of Cranberry Walnut Bread!