Easy Cranberry Walnut Bread

A delicious homemade no knead cranberry walnut bread that looks and tastes like it came from a fancy bakery but actually takes very little effort. It is made with just 7 ingredients and requires only 10 minutes of prep time!

For more dutch oven bread recipe that doesn’t require any kneading, try this No knead olive bread or this No knead cinnamon raisin bread.

Ingredients

These are the ingredients needed to bake this cranberry walnut bread recipe.

• Luke warm water, the water should be warm, but not hot to the touch or it will kill the yeast. Around 40C or 110F is a good temperature. Just a little warmer than the body temperature. 
• Active dry yeast, make sure it is fresh and not expired or the bread will not rise. 
• Sugar, helps activate the yeast.
• Bread flour, use a good quality flour. I prefer to weigh the flour when I am baking, that will give the most accurate amount.
• Salt, this bread needs salt to bring out the flavours, regular table salt works great.
• Walnuts, natural nous, not salted and roughly chopped
• Cranberries, dried cranberries that are lightly sweetened

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, add the luke warm water, sugar and yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes until it gets foamy.
2. Stir in the flour, salt, walnuts and cranberries with a spoon. The dough will be loose and sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for about an hour.
3. After an hour, turn on your oven to 230 C (450F). Place a Dutch oven with the lid in the oven to heat for about 30 minutes.
4. Scrape out the dough unto a well floured pice of parchment paper. The dough will still be sticky so sprinkle with flour so it wont stick to your fingers.
5. Gently fold the outer edges of the dough to the center to form a ball. Flip it around and cover with a kitchen towel until the Duch oven in hot. 
6. Carefully take out the Dutch oven, it will be very hot! Remove the lid and gently lift the bread with the parchment paper and place inside. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for 10 more minutes.
7. Let the bread cool down for about 30 minutes before you slice it.

Substitutions and Variations

• No duch oven pot? – You can still bake this no knead cranberry walnut bread, if you have a cast iron pan, use that in the same way. You can also use a cast iron pan, preheat it and then place the bread on it. Cover the bread with an oven safe pyrex bowl, enamel, or ceramic bowl. 
• Nuts – Instead of walnuts, pecans also tastes great.
• Cranberries – the dried cranberries can be replaced with other dried fruit like raisins, dried cherries or some chopped apricots.
• Flour – For the fluffiest bread, I recommended using bread flour and weighing it with a kitchen scale.

For another great dutch oven bread recipe, try this No knead olive bread or this No knead cinnamon raisin bread.

Storrage

This cranberry walnut bread tastes best when eaten the same day it is baked. It can also be stored for up to 4 days in an airtight container or plastic bag.

This walnut cranberry bread also freezes well. Use a plastic bag that’s freezer friendly, try to remove as much air as possible before sealing the bag well. I like to slice the bread before placing it in the bag for freezing. that way it is easy to take out one slice as a time and pop it in the toaster. Freeze for up to 3 months.

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Easy Dutch Oven Cranberry Walnut Bread

Easy Dutch Oven Cranberry Walnut Bread that looks and tastes like it came from a fancy bakery, but actually takes very little effort and only 7 ingredients!

Servings: 1 loaf

Author: Helena

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups (340g) of warm water
• 450 g bread flour and more for dusting
• 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup (100g) chopped walnuts
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, add the finger warm water, sugar and yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes until foamy. Then stir in the flour, salt, walnuts and cranberries with a spoon. The dough will be loose and sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.

2. After an hour, turn on your oven to 230C (450F). Place a Dutch oven with the lid in the oven to heat for 30 minutes.

3. Scrape out the dough unto a well floured pice of parchment paper. The dough will still be sticky so sprinkle with flour so it wont stick to your fingers.

4. Gently fold the outer edges of the dough to the center to form a ball. Flip it around and cover with a kitchen towel for 30 min, until the Duch oven is hot.

5. Carefully take out the Dutch oven, it will be very hot!

   Remove the lid and gently lift the bread with the parchment paper and place inside. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for 10 more minutes.

6. Let the bread cool down for about 30 minutes before you slice it.

   Enjoy!