Description
This Thanksgiving Cranberry Walnut Bread is a flavorful no-knead bread perfect for the holiday season. Infused with dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and bright orange zest, this artisan-style loaf has a crisp crust and a tender, moist crumb. Made using a simple yeast fermentation and baked in a Dutch oven to lock in steam, it delivers bakery-quality bread with minimal hands-on effort. The bread is perfect sliced for breakfast, sandwiches, or alongside your Thanksgiving feast.
Ingredients
Scale
Wet Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 ½ cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
Dry Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 3 cups bread flour, plus 2 tablespoons (plus more for surface)
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup dried walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Prep the yeast mixture: Dissolve the active dry yeast and granulated sugar in the warm water (110-115°F). Let it sit for 10 minutes until foamy. If it doesn’t foam, discard and restart to ensure the yeast is active.
- Mix the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together bread flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture and honey, combining until no flour pockets remain. Stir in dried cranberries, walnuts, and orange zest gently to incorporate. The dough will be sticky and wet.
- First rise: Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, ensuring the wrap does not touch the dough. Leave at room temperature to rise for 18 hours to develop flavor and texture.
- Shape the dough: After rising, transfer the dough to a generously floured surface. Sprinkle extra flour as needed on dough and hands. Gently fold dough from edges to center forming a ball while preserving air bubbles. Place dough seam side down on lightly floured parchment paper, smoothing top. Cover with plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat Dutch oven: Place a 5-6 quart Dutch oven with its lid inside your oven. Preheat oven to 450°F and heat the Dutch oven for 30 minutes.
- Score and bake: Just before baking, score the dough with an X or desired pattern. Carefully remove hot Dutch oven from oven and lift the parchment paper with dough directly into it. Cover with lid tightly and bake for 30 minutes without opening the lid to trap steam.
- Finish baking: Remove lid and continue to bake an additional 8-10 minutes until crust turns golden brown and crisp.
- Cool and serve: Remove bread from the Dutch oven using the parchment paper. Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing to maintain crumb structure. Enjoy fresh or store as instructed.
Notes
- Allow the dough to rise for a full 18 hours for optimal flavor and texture development. You may shorten to 16 hours but avoid less than 12 hours to prevent dense bread.
- The dough is intentionally very wet and sticky to create steam inside the Dutch oven, forming a beautiful crust. Use plenty of flour when handling to prevent sticking.
- A Dutch oven is essential for trapping steam during baking, which gives the bread a crispy, artisan crust similar to professional bakeries.
- Store leftover bread in a semi-open paper bag to maintain crustiness, mimicking bakery storage.
- For freezing, wrap the cooled bread tightly in aluminum foil and place inside a resealable freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before slicing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (about 1/12th of loaf)
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 370mg
- Fat: 4.5g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
