Cranberry Walnut Braid Recipes

CRANBERRY-WALNUT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until combined. Add egg, and beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until combined (dough will appear very dry). Reduce speed to low; beat in orange zest and juice. Fold in cranberries and walnuts.
• Spread batter in prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour (tent with foil if top is browning too quickly). Cool in pan 10 minutes; run a knife around edges of loaf, and invert onto a wire rack. Turn top side up; cool completely before slicing.

NO-KNEAD CRANBERRY WALNUT BREAD WITH HONEY

Steps:

• Start with a large bowl and a wooden spoon, and add your flour to the bowl. Measure the yeast and add it to one side of the bowl. Measure the salt and add it to the other side.
• Using a wooden spoon, stir the yeast into the flour on its side of the bowl first and then stir the salt into the flour on its side of the bowl. This will prevent the salt mixing directly with the yeast. Give the whole mixture a few good stirs to make sure everything is combined.
• Add the cranberries and walnuts to the flour mixture and toss well to coat, and to make sure they're distributed evenly throughout.
• Measure the water. Make sure the water is at room temperature; water that is too warm or too cold can kill the yeast and prevent the bread from rising at all. Add the honey to the water and stir with a fork to combine.
• Pour the water in and stir with a wooden spoon. The dough will be rough and a bit sticky, but that's normal.
• Stir until all the flour is combined. This is not normal bread dough (there's no kneading involved in this recipe), so you don't need to be too concerned about the appearance of the dough at this point. Just make sure the ingredients are combined well.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. It's a good idea to ensure there's adequate space left in the bowl for the dough to at least double in size. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place and let it rise for 12-18 hours.
• After the dough has risen for 12-18 hours, preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (if you're using convection, 410 degrees. If your oven runs hot, 400 degrees). Place your Dutch oven with the lid on in the cold oven and let it heat up with the oven. If your dutch oven is black or dark-coloured on the inside, set your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 425. I recommend a 6 or 7-quart dutch oven for this recipe.
• Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter and dust it with flour so the dough doesn't stick to the paper. Rub flour on your hands and scrape the dough away from the sides of the bowl, gathering it in your hands as best you can (it may feel kind of fluid and not at all like regular bread dough) and forming it into a circular loaf on the parchment paper. Don't worry if it still looks a little rough in places - this lends to the rustic look of this loaf. If your dough is very fluid, simply add an extra 1/4 to 1/3 cup of flour to the dough as you shape it.
• Once you have it shaped, the dough needs to undergo a second rise (much shorter than the first). The goal is to handle the dough as little as possible at this stage because any amount of tugging at the rough can cause it to deflate after it has undergone its second rise. The next few steps will help prevent this. But don't worry if it deflates a bit. This bread dough is pretty forgiving.
• Sprinkle flour over the top of the loaf and loosely cover it with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming over the dough. The flour also prevents the plastic wrap from sticking to the dough so when you take it off at the end of the rise, it doesn't disturb the dough and wreck the rustic shape you've created. Let the dough rise for about 45 minutes. Your oven will also be preheating during this time (and so will your pot).
• Once 45 minutes have passed remove the plastic wrap from the dough and trim the parchment paper into a circle closely around the dough. If it doesn't look like the dough has risen that much, don't worry about it. The loaf will puff up a bit when it hits the heat of the oven.
• Remove the preheated pot from the oven and transfer the dough into the pot as carefully as possible by handling only the parchment paper. Place the lid on the pot and return it to the oven for 30 minutes. Don't open the oven during this time, and certainly don't take the lid off the pot; the crispness of the crust develops because of the steam that builds up in the pot during this 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes have passed, remove the lid from the pot and continue baking for another 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes have passed, remove the pot with bread from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. You'll probably hear it crackling as it cools - this is normal. Brush a little extra honey on the top of the bread now, if desired.
• If you can, resist the urge to cut into the bread until it has pretty much cooled completely. The bread continues to bake on the inside even after it has been removed from the oven and cutting it too early could result in the inside becoming gummy or rubbery.

CRANBERRY WALNUT BREAD

Steps:

• Place all of the ingredients (except the cranberries and the walnuts) in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Light Crust and Sweet Cycle and press Start.
• If your machine has a Fruit setting, add the cranberries and walnuts at the signal, or around 5 minutes before the kneading cycle has finished.

CRUSTY CRANBERRY WALNUT BREAD

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, combine the instant yeast and water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Add the flour, salt, sugar, and melted butter. Mix until the dough comes together, then knead for about 10 minutes by hand on a lightly floured surface or with the dough hook of the stand mixer. If needed, add more flour, in small amounts, to keep the dough from sticking to the bowl or your hands.
• Add the walnuts and cranberries and knead them in until they are distributed throughout the dough. This is best done by hand unless you feel your mixer can handle the task.
• Oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl and roll over to coat all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.
• Punch down and transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide into 2 portions and form each into tight rounds. Place on the prepared baking sheets. Cover the loaves with a lightweight kitchen towel and let rest for 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F. Position the oven rack in the center of the oven.
• Bake the loaves for 30 to 40 minutes, until they are nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped on the bottoms. The internal temperature will be around 195 F when done.

CRANBERRY-WALNUT BRAID

Steps:

• Stir 3 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt in large bowl to blend. Add buttermilk, 2 eggs, melted butter and orange extract and stir vigorously until well blended. Gradually stir in enough hot water to form soft, slightly sticky dough. Transfer dough to floured work surface. Knead dough until smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky, adding more flour if necessary, about 7 minutes. Knead in dried cranberries 1/3 cup at a time; then knead in walnuts. Form dough into ball.
• Oil large bowl. Add dough to bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Lightly oil heavy large baking sheet. Punch down dough. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; then divide 1 dough piece into 3 equal pieces and reserve. Using palms of hands, roll out each of remaining 3 large pieces on work surface to 13-inch-long ropes. Braid ropes together. Tuck ends under and pinch together. Transfer braid to prepared baking sheet. Roll out each of reserved 3 small dough pieces to 10-inch-long ropes. Braid ropes together. Tuck ends under and pinch together. Brush large braid with some of egg glaze. Place small braid atop center of large braid. Brush small braid with some of egg glaze. Let rise uncovered in warm area until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Brush loaf again with egg glaze. Bake until loaf is deep golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 45 minutes. Transfer loaf to rack and cool at least 45 minutes before slicing. (Can be prepared ahead. Cool completely. Wrap tightly in foil and freeze up to 2 weeks. Uncover and thaw at room temperature.)

CRANBERRY NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, orange juice and zest; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries and walnuts. , Spoon batter into a greased and floured 8x4-in. loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 65-70 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

CRANBERRY NUT BREAD I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the cranberries and walnuts, and stir to coat with flour. Mix together the egg, oil, orange juice, and orange zest. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack, and cool completely.

CRANBERRY WALNUT BREAD

Steps:

• In bread machine pan, place the first seven ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color and loaf size if available. Bake according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed)., Just before the final kneading (your machine may audibly signal this), add walnuts and cranberries.

CRANBERRY WALNUT BREAD RECIPE -- NO KNEAD & CAST IRON COOKED

Steps:

• Combine all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
• Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir with rubber spatula. Add remaining water (and more) as needed until you have a thoroughly mixed, wet, sticky mass of dough. (The dough will be wet and will not form a ball.).
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for 12 to 18 hours.
• After 12 to 18 hours have passed, your dough should be dotted with bubbles and more than doubled in size. (It may also have a strong alcohol smell to it, but don't mind that, it will burn off in the baking.) Dust wooden cutting board with bread flour and, using your plastic dough scrapers, scrape dough loose from sides of bowl and turn out onto board in one piece. Dough will be loose and sticky, but do not add more flour. Dust top lightly with flour and cover with clean cotton or linen tea towel (terry cloth will stick and leave lint on dough). Let dough rise for another 1 to 2 hours.
• About 30 minutes before second rise is complete, place your cast-iron pot (without lid) on rack positioned in lower third of oven (not at the very bottom). Heat oven to 475°F.
• Once oven has reached 475°, remove pot using heavy-duty potholders (be very careful at this stage - the pot and oven are extremely hot). Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon coarse cornmeal evenly over bottom of pot.
• Uncover dough and, using two plastic dough scrapers, shape dough into a ball by folding it over onto itself a few times. With scrapers, lift dough carefully and let it fall into preheated pot by slowly separating the scrapers. Dust top of dough with rolled oats. Cover pot and bake for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, remove cover from pot and continue baking for additional 15 minutes, or until loaf is browned, but not burned.
• Remove pot from oven. With sturdy wooden or metal spatula, pry loaf from pot and transfer to cooling rack. Do not slice bread for minimum of 1 hour - this cooling time completes the process and shouldn't be overlooked!