Bread Machine Cranberry Bread (with Walnuts)

This bread machine cranberry bread is stuffed with dried cranberries & chopped walnuts. It is delicious and perfect as toast or as a crunchy sandwich bread. Our cranberry bread is not a sweet “quick bread” (i.e. banana bread). Rather, it is a nutty & slightly sweet “traditional” bread. This is a great recipe if you are looking for a fun bread to make for breakfast & lunch or to serve as a tasty side dish.

Bread Machine Cranberry Bread (with Chopped Walnuts)

Since this cranberry nut bread recipe is done in a bread machine, it is simple & easy to make. It should take you only 5 minutes or so to prepare and then you let the bread machine do the rest of the work. For more great recipes, please visit Bread Dad’s main Bread Machine Recipes section. You will also find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.

Key Ingredients – Dried Cranberries & Chopped Walnuts

Ingredients – Bread Machine Cranberry Bread (1.5 lb Loaf Version)

• 1 1/8 Cups – Milk (lukewarm) – 1 1/8 cups of milk is equivalent to 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of milk – 259 milliliters
• 4 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 57 grams
• 3 Cups – Bread Flour – 360 grams
• 2 Tablespoons – Light Brown Sugar – 27 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Salt – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Bread Machine Yeast – 5 milliliters – Not active dry yeast
• 1/2 Cup – Chopped Walnuts – 58 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Dried Cranberries – 58 grams

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, flexible spatula, oven mitts, cooling rack and bread machine.

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Bread Machine Cranberry Bread on Wire Cooling Rack

Instructions – Bread Machine Cranberry Bread (1.5 lb Loaf Version)

• Bread machine settings – 1.5 lb, light color and “basic” bread setting.
• Unplug the bread machine and then remove the bread pan from the bread machine.
• Add the milk & softened butter into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients (except the dried cranberries & chopped walnuts – they are added later).
• Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid or salt (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together). Some people like to make a small “divot” on top of the flour in order to hold the yeast in one spot before the machine starts.
• Put the bread pan (with ingredients) back into the bread machine, close the bread machine lid and then plug in the bread machine.
• Enter the correct settings (1.5 lb, light color & basic bread) and press the “start” button.
• When the bread machine’s first mixing cycle has stopped and before the second (& final) mixing cycle starts, you should add the dried cranberries & chopped walnuts. FYI – See your bread machine manual on when & how to add fruits & nuts when using your bread machine. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your specific bread machine.
• When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the unplugged bread machine. Use oven mitts when removing the bread machine container (bread pan) as it will be very hot!
• Take the bread out of the bread pan and place the bread on a wire cooling rack. Wear oven mitts.
• After removing the bread, don’t forget to remove the mixing paddle if it is stuck in the bread. Use oven mitts as the mixing paddle will be very hot coming out of the bread machine. Or wait until the bread is completely cooled and then remove the mixing paddle.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common bread machine problems.

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Tips – Bread Machine Cranberry Nut Bread

• The tips below are designed to help bread machine “novices” and those who haven’t touched their bread machine in years.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Bread Machine Recipes (such as buttery white bread, French bread and cinnamon raisin bread).

• This cranberry bread is a sandwich-type bread so you need to use the “basic” bread setting. You should not use the “quick bread” or “cake” settings that are often used for sweet quick breads like banana bread.
• Optional – If you would like to make the dough in your bread machine but finish baking it in your oven, you should visit our oven-baked Cranberry Walnut Bread Recipe. It is the “oven version” of this bread machine cranberry walnut bread recipe. This method allows you to avoid a bread machine mixing paddle hole and the bread machine “block” loaf shape.
• Optional – If you would like to add more fiber to this bread, you can replace 1 cup of bread flour with 1 cup of old fashioned oat flakes or 1 cup of whole wheat flour. Therefore, instead of 3 cups of bread flour, you would use 2 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of old fashioned oat flakes (or whole wheat flour).
• Optional – If you don’t want to use butter, you can replace it with an equal amount of vegetable oil. Use a neutral flavored oil (i.e. canola or corn oil) for the best results. Stronger flavored oils can interfere with the cranberry & nut flavors.

• Optional – If you don’t have enough dried cranberries, you can replace the cranberries with raisins, dried blueberries, dried cherries, etc. Or you can use a 50/50 combination of dried fruits (i.e. dried cranberries & dried blue berries) in order to make your homemade cranberry bread even more unique.
• Optional – If you have run out of chopped walnuts, you can use alternatives such as chopped peanuts, chopped cashews, chopped pecans, etc. Just remember to use your family’s favorite nuts in order to make a fantastic cranberry nut bread!
• Since this recipe contains chopped walnuts, please do not serve it to anyone with a nut allergy or to anyone who might have a potential choking issue (i.e. young children).
• If you have run out of bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour as an alternative. However, the bread will not be as airy (as a bread made with bread flour). Bread flour is better than all-purpose flour for making sandwich-type breads. All-purpose flour is better for cookies, pies, etc.
• Optional – If you like breads with nuts, you should try our Oat Nut Bread recipe. Made with chopped walnuts and old-fashioned oat flakes.

• The second mixing cycle will slowly mix all of the walnuts & cranberries into the dough. It might take a few minutes. Be patient!
• For safety reasons, when adding the chopped walnuts & dried cranberries, you should not put your hands inside a bread machine. Moreover, you should always wear oven mitts when dealing with a bread machine because the interior can get quite hot.
• Moreover, ALWAYS follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your specific bread machine on how and when to safely add ingredients such as nuts or cranberries once a bread machine is turned on.
• FYI – Some bread machines come with an automatic fruit & nut dispenser and this unit adds the fruit/nuts at the right time for those specific machines. Other bread machines will beep when it is time to add fruit or nuts. Check your bread machine manual for further details.

• Using the “basic” bread setting on my Sunbeam bread machine, the first mixing cycle stops about 10 minutes after the bread machine starts. During this initial mixing “halt”, the bread is allowed to rise for 20 minutes. Then the second mixing cycle will commence (about 30 minutes after the bread machine was started).
• FYI – If you use the recipe settings (1.5 lb, basic bread & light color), this bread takes about 2:53 hours to mix & bake in my Sunbeam bread machine.
• Don’t use cold milk. The main problem with using regular milk is that people tend to use cold refrigerated milk and this can slow the yeast growth. Try to use lukewarm milk (or instant powdered milk mixed into lukewarm water). If the milk is just coming out of the refrigerator and thus is too cold, I like to put the milk in my microwave for 20-30 seconds in order to warm it up. However, you should also be aware that the milk/water should not be too hot because very hot milk/water can kill the yeast.
• Some bakers like to use a soft flexible spatula to loosen any dough that might be sticking to the sides of the bread pan. Read your bread machine manual to see how & when this is done with your specific machine. Always wear oven mitts when dealing with a bread machine.

• If you have a problem with a bread machine recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct bread machine settings), you are using the correct amount of an ingredient (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measurement cup or accidentally add a teaspoon when a tablespoon is called for), you are using the correct ingredients (i.e. bread machine yeast versus regular yeast or bread flour versus all purpose flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• Be sure to use the correct amount of liquid called for in a recipe. For example, too much liquid can cause a bread top to collapse, balloon, etc.
• If you haven’t used your bread machine or bread maker in a long time, please buy some new bread machine yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Bread machine yeast is not likely to be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
• Bread machine yeast loses its potency over time. Generally, bread machine yeast lasts for only 3-4 months after you have opened the bottle. However, if the yeast is exposed to air & moisture (i.e. the bottle not sealed tight) or exposed to higher temperatures, the yeast will expire even more quickly.
• Sweet Quick Bread – If you are looking for a cranberry bread that is sweet “quick bread” (i.e. similar to banana bread) and not a sandwich-type bread, you should try our Cranberry Quick Bread with Fresh Cranberries, Cranberry Quick Bread with Dried Cranberries or Pumpkin Cranberry Bread recipes.
• If you like nuts, you should also try our Walnut Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread and Pecan Banana Bread recipes.

• Before using your bread machine, you should always read your bread machine manufacturer’s instructions in order to use the bread machine safely & effectively.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine. The bread pan and the rest of the bread machine can get very hot during the baking process. This means that the bread pan and bread machine is likely to be very hot when you attempt to remove a baked good from the bread machine and/or bread pan.
• For more easy bread recipes, please visit Bread Dad’s main Homemade Bread Recipes or Bread Machine Recipes sections.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes! Jump to comment section

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Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Bread Machine
• Wikipedia, Cranberry
• Wikipedia, Walnut

Your fantastic comments motivate us to write more easy & delicious recipes. Also beginning bakers learn a ton from your helpful suggestions, tips and amazing recipe variations. Thank you!

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