A little fruit & nut flavour combo to make this delicious loaf a little more festive. Cranberries and walnuts are a great duo and work so well in this bread.
For those who have mastered sourdough, feel free to include these flavours in your favourite sourdough recipe. For the rest, below is a less fussy version. This rustic loaf is a no-knead, overnight loaf. It takes quite a bit of time to rise, but involves very little hands on work so is super convenient to prepare the night before and bake in the morning. In perfect time for breakfast or brunch.
Cranberry & Walnut Loaf
A little fruit & nut flavour combo to make this delicious loaf a little more festive. Cranberries and walnuts are a great duo and work so well in this bread. For those who have mastered sourdough, feel free to include these flavours in your favourite sourdough recipe. For the rest, below is a less time consuming version.
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Ingredients
- 3 Cups Bread Flour I prefer unbleached stoneground flour
- 1½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Instant dry yeast
- ¾ Cup Dried Cranberries
- ½ Cup Roasted Walnuts Roughly chopped
- 1½ Cups Warm water Not too hot or boiling as it will kill the yeast
- 4 Tbsp Honey
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, then add the salt and yeast to opposite sides of the bowl
- Next, add the cranberries and walnuts and stir through the flour mixture
- Add the honey to the warm water and give it a stir to help the honey dissolve
- Pour the liquid into the flour mixture and mix through until well combined and the fruit and nuts are evenly distributed. A sticky, rough dough will form
- Cover the mixing bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap (or both as I do) and let it rise overnight (around 12 – 18 hours) at room temperature, until it has doubled in size
- In the morning, gently scrape the dough from the bowl and knead a few times on a floured surface
- Place on a floured baking paper lined board and form into a round or loaf shape. Sift a light coating of flour over the top, to help keep the dough moist. Loosely cover and let rise for another 45 minutes to an hour
- Place your baking sheet or baking/pizza stone in the middle of the oven and preheat to 200°C while the dough rests. Also place a deeper baking sheet/tray in the bottom of the oven to heat*
- When the oven is hot, you may wish to slash the top of your dough with a very sharp blade or knife to help it expand while baking. Do not push to hard as this will deflate your dough
- Carefully slide the bread along with the baking paper onto the middle baking sheet or stone. Take care not to burn yourself**
- Then pour a cup of water into the bottom tray and quickly shut the door. The steam will help to create a lovely crust but work quickly not to let the steam escape. Just take care not to burn yourself***
- Bake for 25 – 35 minutes, or until golden brown
- Ensure that the bottom of the loaf is well baked then remove and let cool on a wire rack
Notes
*I like the method of preheating the baking sheet or baking/pizza stone as it helps to cook the bottom of the bread. I find with most breads, if I use a cold baking sheet then the bottom of the loaf is often very soft and pale. This method helps it to dry/crust on the bottom too. When checking if the loaf is baked, this, as well as the golden brown top crust, are your indicators. If the bottom is still moist it needs to bake a little longer.
You can also use a casserole pot/dutch oven with a lid. If using a pot, place it, lid on, in the oven to warm up with the oven as it’s preheating
**If using a pot/dutch oven, place the loaf, still on the baking paper, into the pot and bake with the lid on for 30 minutes. Do not remove/open the lid during this time. After the 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for a further 15 minutes uncovered
***If using a pot/dutch oven there is no need for the water in the lower baking tray as the lid on the pot will create its own steam
Tried this recipe?Post your pics and tag us at @my_homemade_kitchen_za or #myhomemadekitchen!
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