Easy No Knead Walnut Cranberry Bread: Artisan cranberry walnut bread

Easy No Knead walnut and cranberry Bread is the perfect bread recipe if you want to bake some homemade bread which is rustic and flavorful! It’s a no knead dutch oven bread that tastes like a loaf of artisan bread made from a high end bakery.

This dutch oven bread is incredibly moist and the crumb is so soft ,light, airy and studded with juicy tangy cranberries and nutty walnuts .The bread is super delicious that we can have them with some plain butter or we can have it with any of our favorite soups or stews.

 If you are looking for making bread from scratch, you will love this easy walnut cranberry bread recipe!

What you will love about this No knead Artisan cranberry walnut bread recipe

• It is super easy to make in four simple steps
• The texture of this homemade bread is so wonderful..soft and moist, light and airy in the center with fine crispy crust on top.
• This rustic bread recipe is a comparatively faster bread recipe to make.
• The addition of walnuts and cranberries takes this homemade artisan bread to the next level.
• This walnut cranberry bread is a simple bread recipe that we can use to make super delicious artisan bread at home.

Ingredients for making artisan cranberry walnut bread

1. Flour:350g
2. Water:280ml
3. Salt:1 tsp
4. Honey:1 tbsp
5. Yeast:1 tsp
6. Chopped Walnuts:50g +15 g for topping
7. Cranberries:50 g

How to make no knead artisan cranberry and walnut bread in Dutch oven

1.Prepare the walnut cranberry bread dough

Into a bowl, add in the lukewarm water.

The water should not be hot nor cold.It should be slightly warm; we should be able to comfortably feel the warmth of water with our hands.

The ideal temperature should be around 95 F.

Then add in the honey or sugar ,salt and yeast.

Mix until the ingredients get dissolved in water.

Now add the flour.

Combine everything together to form a shaggy mass of dough.Make sure there are no dry patches left behind.

In this recipe,I would suggest you to stick on with, measuring your ingredients than by following cup measurements; as cup measurements may vary.We are not touching and feeling the dough, so we may not be able to understand the right consistency of our dough.

Add in the cranberries and chopped walnuts and combine everything together.

Our bread dough is now ready.

Cover the bowl with a plastic film and let the dough sit and proof for 2 hours.

2.Proof and fold the dough

While the dough is proofing ,we are going to do a magic which will transform this dough into a well structured dough.

If your house is cold, I recommend turning your oven on for a few seconds, turning it off, and placing the bowl in the warm oven with the door closed to trap the heat in.

Or you can turn on the oven light and keep the dough inside the oven which will create a comfortable warm environment for the dough to rise.

After one hour of proofing,We will fold the dough from all the sides ,three times in every half an hour

So, after one hour of proofing, let’s fold the dough and do our first round of folding.

Repeat the same in every thirty minutes until it reach two hours of proofing.

After the third or the final folding, let’s transfer the dough onto another bowl lined with parchment paper.

Optionally sprinkle the top with some chopped walnuts.

3.Final Rising

Cover the bowl with a plastic film and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.

Now we can place our dough oven in the oven and start preheating the oven to 450 F.

After 30 minutes ,our dutch oven is pretty hot and the oven is preheated to 450F

Place the risen dough into the hot dutch oven.Close the pot with lid and place it in the oven.

4.Bake the artisan cranberry walnut bread

Bake the bread “with lid” for 25 minutes @ 450 F.

Then remove the lid and reduce the temperature to 350 F and bake the walnut cranberry bread for another 10 more minutes.

The more you bake at this point,the more crispy the crust become.

This extra baking will give that outer crust of the bread to get a more crisp and caramelized golden brown color and a nutty flavor.

When baking these last few minutes, heat is directly acting only on the surface of the bread.So reducing the temperature by 50 F will help not to overburn the crust and at the same time will make it more crunchy.

You will be rewarded with a Rustic artisan cranberry walnut Bread, with a thin, crunchy brown crust and airy, soft and tender crumb inside. The bread is slightly chewy, flavorful and perfect texture.

This walnut cranberry bread is best when eaten fresh, when they are cooled but still slightly warm.

It is chewy,so flavorful and has the perfect airy, soft texture.

What is No knead Bread

No knead bread is, as the name suggests, bread that can be made without kneading the dough.

In this recipe we use “three round of folding” which will help to get a super structured dough very similar to a well kneaded dough.

How to handle a sticky dough while making bread in dutch oven

As this no knead bread dough is very sticky to handle, we are using a very simple technique to handle the dough.

I know its silly.. but I found it so helpful and I hope this will help you too 🙂

Just wet your hands with water and the dough will not stick to your hands.

This will definitely help us to handle these kind of loose and sticky dough.

Another advantage I found using this technique is that we can avoid adding more flour while shaping ,which will create thick crust on top of bread.And the result is we will get fine crispy crusted dutch oven bread.

Can I store the dough in fridge to make bread later

Yes,You can store the dough in fridge after the “2 hour proofing and folding”.

When you want to make the bread, take the dough out,bring it to room temperature,and then shape the dough,proof them(35 minutes) and then bake the bread.

How long can I store the walnut cranberry dough in fridge

You can store the dough covered in fridge for upto 5 days.

The dough will develop a pleasant flavor more similar to a sourdough bread as days go by.

You may see the dough get collapsed when we store for long time;which is normal.

How can store any leftover cranberry and walnut bread

The bread can be stored at room temperature in a cool dry place for up to 2-3 days.Wrap it with plastic film or keep it in paper bag.

Heat and humidity causes bread to mold. So if you want to store it for longer, wrap it well and keep it in refrigerator.

The bread will stay good for up to seven days in refrigerator.But the chance of bread getting dry is more if we keep it in refrigerator.

Can I freeze this no knead artisan cranberry walnut bread ?

Yes you can freeze this bread.Simply wrap the bread in plastic or aluminum foil to protect it from freezer burn and keep frozen for up to one month.

Take it out whenever you need and just put it in a toaster or in the 350F preheated oven for 10 minutes, and you’ll get fresh bread ready to eat.

Is it necessary to preheat the dutch oven before baking

Yes it is necessary to preheat the dutch oven.

About 30 minutes(this time may vary for different oven) before you want to bake the bread, place the Dutch Oven, with the lid on, on the center rack of your oven and turn your oven on to 450 degrees F. 

When heated,we need to be very careful when handling the hot Dutch oven, as it’s very heavy and really hot.

Why do you need a dutch oven to make this walnut cranberry bread

 Introducing steam inside the oven is one of the important component in bread baking .Though we can use “spraying method” or “pouring hot water method” to achieve steam inside the oven; a sealed pot makes this process simple and easy.

During the initial stages of baking, steam is released from the dough itself into the sealed container which keeps the dough moist, this allows the bread to develop a crispy, shiny crust and attain maximal volume.

Yeast activity accelerates as soon as the bread enters the hot oven. If you put the dough in a dry oven, the crust sets immediately, preventing the yeast from expanding the bread.

By using a covered Dutch oven with this wet dough, the steam is trapped inside, surrounding the loaf; giving a good “oven spring” and super crispy and shiny crust.

How can I use this no knead rustic cranberry walnut bread recipe without a dutch oven.

The key to get crispy crust for bread is to supply enough steam inside the oven during the initial few minutes of baking.

So spraying the inside of oven with water just before closing the oven door for baking will help to create a steamy environment.

The second part of this video ( from 8:32 ) will show you how to make no knead bread without dutch oven.

What is scoring a bread means

Scoring is slashing the shaped bread dough with a sharp knife or razor blade to allow it to expand during baking.

Why do we need to score the bread

The purpose of scoring is primarly to control the direction in which the bread will expand during “oven spring”

By scoring a bread,we are intentionally creating a weak spot on the surface of the loaf preventing the loaf from bursting at any other weak spots created during shaping.

Thus scoring the bread dough will help the bread to expand beautifully and helps the bread to not to crack open at undesirable spots.

When should you score the bread.

Scoring is generally performed just before loading the loaves in the oven

How to score bread effectively

• Use a very sharp knife or razor blade or bread lame to quickly score the surface of the loaf.
• I found smearing some oil on the knife will prevent the dough from sticking into the knife
• Use a firm,smooth and rapid motion while scoring bread.Make deep and slightly angled slash(The depth of the cut should be shallow-about 1/4inch)

Why does my bread collapse when I slash it

If the bread dough is over proofed(if the second proofing took longer time than the recipe states),then the bread can collapse.

HOW TO FIX THIS:

• Next time when you proof,reduce the proofing time(10-15 minutes). 
• Shape the dough,once again and watch the rising.The dough will get doubled in size in around 35 minutes.And then slash it with a sharp knife.

My dough didn’t double in size. What went wrong?

If the dough doesn’t double in size after the rising time, it means the yeast is old and it didn’t get activated.

Too hot water will kill the yeast buds and very cold water will diminish the action of yeast.

So make sure to use lukewarm water which is around 95 F while preparing the dough.

My Dutch oven : Ikea Senior Casserole With Lid

I love my Dutch oven.I was a bit confused when i bought this two years before.(This cast iron pot is less expensive than many other cast iron Dutch ovens.)But so far,I am so impressed by its performance and efficiency.

My main objective about having a Dutch oven was to make beautiful crusty no knead bread .This Dutch oven has enough height for the bread to rise and the lid works in such a way to create high steam inside the pot to make crusty breads.The knob on the lid is oven safe.

What I love about this dutch oven

• Made from cast iron, which spreads heat evenly through the pan and retains the heat for a long time.This makes it ideal, for example, for slower cooking such as roasts and casseroles.
• Steam collects on the inside of the lid and drips down from the knobs. In this way the food bastes itself, which gives a succulent and tasty result.
• Suitable for all types of cooktops, including induction cooktops.
• The pan doesn’t have to be oiled and is easy to maintain thanks to the matt enameled interior.
• Shiny enamelled exterior makes the pan easy to clean.
• Oven safe :Can also be used in the oven since it is made entirely of metal (including the knob of lid).
• Using the lid brings the contents of the pot to a boil faster, so that you can save time, energy and money while lowering your environmental impact.

Watch the video to see how to make No knead,easy rustic bread in Dutch oven

Check out other No Knead Bread Recipes.

Supersoft No Knead Bread :step by step instructions

How to make CRUSTY No Knead FRENCH BAGUETTES at home :Step by step instructions

SUPER DELICIOUS HONEY OATMEAL BREAD:Easy No Knead method

Absolutely Easy No Knead FOCACCIA BREAD

No Knead Artisan Ciabatta Bread

Super soft no knead dinner rolls