Cranberry Walnut Bread (Oven-Baked Recipe)

This cranberry walnut bread recipe creates a delicious sandwich bread. It is stuffed with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts. You can use this bread to add some variety to your sandwiches (it is far better than using some boring old white bread). Or you can create an amazing (sweet & crunchy) breakfast toast. This cranberry walnut bread is mixed & kneaded in a bread machine (or electric stand mixer) and then it is baked in an oven.

Cranberry Walnut Bread – Fresh from the Oven

Since this recipe contains walnuts, please do not serve this bread to anyone with a nut allergy.

FYI – This is the oven-baked version of our popular Bread Machine Cranberry Walnut Bread. The same great taste but without the bread machine “block” shape and bread machine mixing paddle “hole” in the bottom of the loaf. You get a delicious & unique homemade bread with a “classic” bread loaf shape.

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips
• Our Newsletter

Key Ingredient – Dried Cranberries

Key Ingredient – Chopped Walnuts

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 Cups – Milk (lukewarm) – 307 milliliters
• 6 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 86 grams
• 4 Cups – Bread Flour – 480 grams
• 1/4 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed) – 54 grams
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Salt – 7.5 milliliters
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Instant Yeast (or Bread Machine Yeast) – 7.5 milliliters – This recipe does not use active dry yeast.
• 3/4 Cup – Dried Cranberries – 86 grams
• 3/4 Cup – Chopped Walnuts – 86 grams

Servings – Roughly 18 Slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, flexible spatula, cutting board, 9×5 bread pan, oven mitts, oven, wire cooling rack and a kneading machine to make the dough (either a bread machine or electric stand mixer with dough hook).

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Instructions

• Creating dough with bread machine
• Or Creating dough with electric stand mixer & dough hook
• Shaping dough & baking bread in oven

Instructions – Creating Dough with a Bread Machine

• Unplug your bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine.
• Pour the milk into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast (bread machine yeast) in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Put the bread pan with ingredients back into unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in bread machine. Enter the “Dough” setting on your bread machine and then press the “Start” button.
• About 5 minutes after you have pressed the start button, add the dried cranberries and chopped walnuts into the bread pan. FYI – The bread dough should be fully mixed before you add the nuts & cranberries. Some bread machines have an attachment that automatically adds the nuts & fruit. Others will beep when it is time to add the nuts & fruit. Read your manual.
• When the bread machine has finished making the bread dough, unplug the bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan (with the dough) from the bread machine.
• Now go to the instruction section below on “preparing the dough & baking the bread”. FYI – Ignore the instructions for the electric stand mixer below if you are using a bread machine to make your dough. Skip down to the preparing dough section.

Instructions – Creating Dough with an Electric Stand Mixer with Dough Hook

• Unplug your electric stand mixer.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer.
• Insert a dough hook into the electric mixer.
• Pour the milk into the mixing bowl and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast (bread machine yeast) in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the electric mixer is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Place the mixing bowl back into the electric stand mixer.
• Plug in the electric mixer and use a low speed (i.e. setting 2) to mix the dough. Mix the dough for 7-10 minutes.
• Add the chopped walnuts & dried cranberries about 3-4 minutes after the mixer was turned on. FYI – The dough should be fully mixed and the kneading process underway. To be safe, unplug the machine when adding the chopped nuts & cranberries. After adding the nuts & cranberries, plug in the machine and finish the kneading.
• When the kneading is done, turn off the electric mixer and unplug the machine.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer. Pour the dough into a second large mixing bowl that has been lightly “greased” with olive oil, butter, cooking spray, etc.
• Optional – Lightly coat the top of dough with vegetable oil in order to prevent dough exterior from drying out. You can use a pastry brush to brush on the oil. FYI – This prevents the crust of the dough from drying out.
• Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes until it doubles roughly in size. See tips below for more information.
• After the dough has risen, go to the instruction section below on “preparing the dough & baking the bread”.

Instructions – Shaping the Dough & Baking the Bread

• Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto a large cutting board.
• Remove the dough from the bread machine pan or electric stand mixing bowl and place the dough on the cutting board.
• Press down on the dough with your hands and create a “flattish” rectangle with the dough. The dough should be roughly 1 inch high.
• Roll up the dough into a tight “jelly roll”. FYI – Please see the short instructional videos in the tips section for more information on how to shape the dough if you haven’t shaped bread dough before. It is easier to watch & learn from these short videos versus trying to explain the rolling technique step by step.
• Place the rolled up dough into the bread pan.
• Press down on top of the dough so the edges of the dough press out towards the sides of the bread pan. This should result in little or no gaps between the dough and the bread pan. This helps the bread to turn into a nice loaf shape without any misshapen edges. Make sure that the top of the pressed down dough is roughly level (so one side isn’t much higher than the other).
• Optional – Lightly coat the top of dough with vegetable oil in order to prevent dough exterior from drying out. You can use a pastry brush to brush on the oil. FYI – This prevents the crust of the dough from drying out.
• Loosely cover the top of the bread pan with plastic wrap. Set the covered bread pan aside for 60-90 minutes for the dough to rise into a loaf shape. Once the dough has risen 1 – 1.5 inches (2.5 – 3.8 cm) above the rim of the bread pan, the dough should be ready to be placed in the oven. FYI – You want the dough to fully rise during this stage. So don’t try to shorten this rising time. If the dough is still significantly rising while in the oven, you are more likely to see crust/seam cracks or “bursts” in the oven. In addition, the speed of the dough rise will vary in part based on the temperature of your kitchen (i.e. rise faster in the summer & slower in the winter).
• During this “rising” period, preheat the oven to 350 F. This should be done at least 10-15 minutes before you expect to put the dough & bread pan into oven.
• Place the bread pan in the (preheated) oven to bake at 350 F for 37-42 minutes. Wear oven mitts when dealing with a hot oven. Place the bread pan in the middle of the oven.
• Rotate the bread pan in the oven after 15-20 minutes (in order to ensure an even browning of the bread).
• After the 37-42 minute baking period has finished, remove the bread pan from the oven. Wear oven mitts. Optional – Use digital thermometer to confirm that the bread has been fully baked. See tips below.
• Remove the bread from the bread pan and place the bread on a wire cooling rack. Wear oven mitts.
• Optional – Right after removing the bread from the bread pan (while the bread is still very hot), you can brush melted butter on top of the bread with a pastry brush. This butter “basting” helps to create a more golden & tastier crust.
• Allow the bread to cool down on the wire cooling rack for 1-2 hours before slicing the bread.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common bread making problems.

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Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Machine Cookbooks
• Bread Mixes – Ingredient kits
• Bread Tools – Baguette pans, etc.
• Other – Sandwich books, sourdough, gluten free, yeast, etc.

Helpful Tips – Cranberry Walnut Bread Recipe

• The tips below are designed to help baking & bread making “novices”.
• 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.
• As stated at the top of the page, this bread recipe is the “oven version” of our popular Bread Machine Cranberry Walnut Bread recipe. This recipe uses a bread machine (or electric stand mixer) to make the dough and then you bake it in your oven. This helps to eliminate the standard bread machine “block shape” (as you get a more normal bread loaf shape by using a 9×5 bread pan & oven) and the typical bread machine mixing paddle “hole” (found in the bottom of non-oven bread machine loaves).

• Make sure the chopped walnuts are broken into small bits before adding them to the mixing bowl. This makes sure that you will have walnut bits spread throughout the bread and avoid potential rising/baking problems caused by an overly large walnut impacting a section of the dough. Since walnuts are soft, you can easily break up large walnut “chunks” with your hands.
• You can use sweetened or unsweetened dried cranberries to make this cranberry walnut bread recipe. I prefer to use sweetened dried cranberries because I think the sweet & slightly tangy taste of sweetened cranberries goes well with the slightly bitter taste of chopped walnuts.
• The dried cranberries should NOT be premoistened (i.e. soaked overnight) for this recipe. You should add them dry to the dough mixture.
• You can soften the unsalted butter by microwaving it for 15-30 seconds.

• Do not press cranberries or walnuts into the top of the dough AFTER the dough has risen. This can partially deflate the dough. If you are trying to add some cranberries and/or walnuts to the top of the bread, this should only be attempted immediately after you have rolled the dough into a jellyroll and placed it in the bread pan (before the second rising of the dough begins – at the start of the 60 minute “rest” period before placing the bread pan in the oven).
• Optional – If you don’t like or don’t have chopped walnuts, you can use chopped pecans in order to make this recipe. Pecans are similar to walnuts but are slightly sweeter.
• 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 blueberries) in order to make your homemade cranberry nut bread even more unique.
• Optional – If you want to add a little extra fiber to this cranberry nut bread, you can replace 1/2 cup of bread flour with 1/2 cup of old fashioned oatmeal.
• Optional – If you want to turn this cranberry nut bread into a non-dairy bread, you can easily substitute water for the milk and vegetable oil for the butter. Substitute on a one-to-one basis (i.e. 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil for 6 tablespoons of butter).

• If you are looking for other bread recipes where you can make the dough in your bread machine and bake it in your oven, you should try our recipes for White Bread (with extra buttery flavor), Buttermilk Bread (a soft white bread), Flaxseed Bread, Multigrain Bread and Oatmeal Sandwich Bread.
• This cranberry nut bread recipes creates a delicious sandwich-type bread (perfect for lunches or toast). It is not a sweet “quick bread” dessert/snack (i.e. similar to banana bread). If you looking for recipes for cranberry quick breads, you should try our Cranberry Bread with Dried Cranberries, Cranberry Bread with Fresh Cranberries and Pumpkin Cranberry Bread recipes.
• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. flour) for the best results. Ingredients that have been sitting in the pantry for months can become stale or pick up weird smells & flavors. Try to keep your ingredients (i.e. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life.

• Don’t use cold milk because that will inhibit the growth of the yeast. The milk should be lukewarm in temperature. If you use cold milk, your bread may have trouble rising properly. You can use a microwave (for a very short time) in order to warm the milk. However, don’t make the milk too hot as excessive heat can kill the yeast.
• For the best results, you should use bread flour to make this cranberry walnut bread recipe. If you use all purpose flour, the bread might be too dense.
• Use FRESH walnuts. After you have opened a bag of chopped walnuts, the walnuts can go rancid (bad) quickly due to their high oil content. Do not use old walnuts that have been sitting in your pantry in an already opened bag. Once the walnut package has been opened, you should store the chopped walnuts in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer.
• Optional – If you prefer a softer bread, you can use buttermilk (rather than regular milk) to make this recipe. The acidity of buttermilk “tenderizes” the bread. However, buttermilk can be harder to find & more expensive than regular milk.
• Optional – If you want a lower sugar version of this bread, you can use only 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar (versus the 1/4 cup of light brown sugar called for in the recipe). FYI – 1/4 cup equals 4 tablespoons. Thanks Moya for testing this version for us!

• This bread recipe uses instant yeast or bread machine yeast. It does NOT use active dry yeast.
• Active dry yeast is different from instant yeast & bread machine yeast. Instant yeast & bread machine yeast are added directly to the recipe’s ingredients. In contrast, active dry yeast must be activated in water/milk before being added to a recipe’s ingredients. Many bakers find it quicker to use instant yeast because you just add it to the dry ingredients. With active dry yeast, you need to spend roughly 10 minutes “proofing” (activating) the yeast with a liquid & sugar.
• Cooler home temperatures in the winter can cause rising problems for bread dough. Ideally, your room temperature should be around 75-80 degrees F. Colder winter room temperatures can significantly delay the rise of the dough. You will need to raise the temperature of your kitchen (if you like a cold house in the winter) or find a warm spot for the dough to rise. I often put my dough (covered of course) next to a heating vent in the winter to make sure it is getting enough heat.
• Conversely, dough can rise faster than expected in a very hot kitchen.

• Kitchen humidity can also impact a recipe. A winter kitchen tends to be drier due to your heating system drying out the air. In contrast, a kitchen in the summer can be much more humid. This change in humidity impacts baking as flour can soak up humidity from the air. Therefore, you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of liquid in the winter if the dough is looking too dry. Or you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of flour in the summer if the dough is looking too wet. If your kitchen is very dry or humid, you might have to add even a little more (but start with 1 teaspoon at a time until you achieve the right consistency).
• Of course, excessive kitchen humidity or dryness can impact a recipe at any time during the year (not just in the summer & winter)!
• Other factors that can impact the rise of the dough include old or expired yeast, contaminated yeast (i.e. the yeast was left in an open jar & air moisture contaminated it), water that is too cold or too hot, using heavily chlorinated tap water, placing salt next to or on top of the yeast (salt can kill yeast or inhibit its growth), not covering the dough during the rising period (as the exterior of the dough can dry out & limit the ability to rise), etc.
• If your bread comes out too dense, it is likely due to one of the following reasons; You are using old or stale yeast, using a cold refrigerator temperature liquid (which slows yeast growth), baking in a cold winter temperature kitchen (yeast likes kitchen temps of 75-80 degree F), using all purpose flour (versus bread flour as called for in the recipe), placing salt on top of or next to the yeast (salt kills yeast so it must be placed away from the yeast in the bread pan), etc.

• If you are having problems shaping your dough, you should watch these instructional videos:
• King Arthur Baking
• San Diego Artisan Bread School
• Father Dominic – a slightly different method versus the videos above
• If you like, you can knead the dough by hand. However, kneading dough by hand for 10-15 minutes is too much work for me!!! I prefer the bread machine or electric stand mixer to do the hard stuff.

• How do you know when the dough has risen enough in the second rise (when the dough is in the bread pan)? After letting the dough rise for 60-90 minutes (and when it is roughly 1-1.1.5 inches above the 9×5 bread pan), you can try the “poke test“. Poke your finger into the dough (going in about an inch). If the poke hole rebounds immediately, you need to allow more time for the dough to rise further (it is “under proofed”). If the hole doesn’t come back at all, the dough has risen too much (it is “over proofed”). If the hole slowly fills over 2-3 seconds, the dough is at the right stage of proofing.
• Unfortunately, the temperature of your kitchen can make the timing for this perfect poke result hard to predict (because there is a faster dough rise in hot kitchens and a slower rise in cold kitchens). Experience with “proofing” will make this easier (but it can be a problem for beginning bakers).
• FYI – If the dough is “under proofed” (hasn’t risen enough) when you place it in the oven, the bread is more likely to burst/crack when baked in the oven (as the still rising dough will push against the hardening crust and “burst” at the seams of the crust). Bakers try to get around this issue via testing for the right “proofing” level (i.e. use the poke test), “scoring” breads (slicing the top of the dough so the cracks occur where you want them), adding moisture inside the oven (so the dough doesn’t harden as quickly), using a dutch oven (in order to trap the dough moisture inside the dutch oven container & not spread out into the oven), etc.
• If your dough is “over proofed”, you might like to read the King Arthur Baking article “How to save over-proofed dough” as it gives tips on how to save the dough.
• For more information on dough proofing, please read this MasterClass article “Baking 101: What Is Proofing?“.

• This recipe calls for the use of a 9 x 5 inch bread pan. You can also use a 8.5 x 4.5 inch bread pan but the “crown” of the bread might come out too tall (or overflow) if your yeast is very active.
• Use an oven thermometer as your expected oven temperature may be different than reality. Some ovens can be 25-50+ degrees F hotter or colder than the number you set with your oven dial. An oven thermometer (which usually costs less than $10) is an easy way to measure the actual temperature inside your oven.
• Recommended – Use a digital bread thermometer to test if your bread is completely done. The interior temperature of the bread should be 190-200 degrees F. This inexpensive tool can save you from underbaked breads.

• You should let your bread cool down for 1-2 hours on the wire cooling rack before you cut any slices (or the slices will be “gummy” and not taste as good as expected). Excess interior moisture is released (via steam) during the cooldown period.
• If you have not made bread in a long time, please buy some new bread machine yeast or instant yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Yeast is not likely to be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
• Once you have opened the container that contains the yeast, the yeast will last longer if you store the bottle in the refrigerator or freezer. Just make sure the bottle is sealed tight (as yeast will deteriorate quickly if exposed to air, moisture and/or heat).

• 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, hot oven, hot bread pan, etc.
• Since this recipe contains walnuts, please make sure that anyone eating this bread does not have a peanut/tree nut allergy. Do not serve this bread to anyone with a peanut/tree nut allergy.
• Food that contains nuts is a potential choking hazard for young children. Do not serve this bread to young children.
• For more easy bread ideas, please check out Bread Dad’s sections for Bread Machine Recipes and Homemade Bread Recipes.

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

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Machine Cookbooks
• Bread Mixes – Ingredient kits
• Bread Tools – Baguette pans, etc.
• Other – Sandwich books, sourdough, gluten free, yeast, etc.

Cranberry Walnut Bread – Common Questions & Answers

What nuts go in cranberry bread?

We like to use chopped walnuts in our cranberry nut bread. However, you can also use softer nuts such as chopped pecans and chopped cashews. We like to add walnuts because the soft crunch & slight bitterness of walnuts goes well with the sweetness & slight tartness of dried cranberries.

What goes well on cranberry walnut bread?

Our cranberry walnut bread is a fantastic sandwich bread. You can use it to make amazing sandwiches such as turkey sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. You can also use our cranberry walnut bread to make some “improved” toast (versus boring toasted white bread). Cranberry walnut toast goes well with cream cheese, mashed avocado, jams & jellies, etc.

What do you like to add to your cranberry walnut sandwich bread or cranberry walnut toast? Please post your ideas in our comment section. I would love to try them out!

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Bread
• Wikipedia, Bread Machine
• Wikipedia, Cranberry
• Wikipedia, Dried 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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