This cranberry walnut bread recipe creates a delicious sandwich bread. It is stuffed with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts. Visit Bread Dad (BreadDad.com) for many more easy bread recipes.
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 teh kneadig is done, turn off the electric mixer and unplug 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 section for more information.
After the dough has risen, go to the instruction section below on "preparing the dough & baking the bread".
Instructions - Preparing 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 this short instructional video for more information on how to shape the dough if you haven't shaped bread dough before. It is easier to watch & learn from this short video versus trying to explain the rolling technique step by step.There are also other instructional "dough shaping" video links in the tips section below.
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 the tips section.
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 Bread Dad's recipe tips section for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common bread making problems.
Notes
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.This is a Bread Dad recipe and may not be copied or reproduced. Material on this website is copyright protected under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Legal DisclaimerThe nutritional information is provided using recipe tools such as WP Recipe Maker. These figures should only be considered as an estimate. They should not be construed as a guarantee of accuracy given visitors may use different serving sizes, ingredients, etc. See our legal disclaimer for additional nutrition disclosures.