Cranberry Nut Bread (Whole Wheat, No Sugar)
If you are looking for the most perfect whole wheat loaf of bread, you just found it. This is not the dry gross bread most people think of when they think of whole wheat bread. No, this freshly baked Cranberry Nut Bread is so much more!!
Servings: 12
Equipment
- stand mixer or you can knead by hand.
- baking sheet or loaf pan
- Digital thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water It should feel just warm to the touch
- 2 ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- 3-4 tablespoons honey
- 3- 3 ½ cups whole wheat flour I used spelt, but you can use white wheat, red wheat, einkorn, kamut, etc.
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 6 tablespoon softened butter you can also use oil if you prefer
- ½ cup potato flakes I buy these at my local Winco in the bulk bin section.
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Egg wash
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to your bowl for the bread dough, starting with 3 cups flour. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Check the dough. It should be "tacky" (slightly sticky) but not too sticky. You can see this in the video.
- If you need to, add in ¼ cup more flour, then mix another 30 seconds and check. If you still need it, add in the last ¼ cup. Just keep in mind the dough should be tacky.
- Mix on medium speed for 6 minutes until the dough is smooth. Add in the cranberries and walnuts and mix for another 20-30 seconds until it is well combined.
- Cover, move this to a warm place and let this double. Mine took about 45 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, shape your dough. I made mine into a boule, which is just like a giant roll shape. You can also just form it into a regular loaf.
- Place on your parchment-lined baking sheet. Or butter your baking sheet and place the loaf right on that.
- Cover and let this double. Mine took about 30 minutes. At the end of the 30 minutes, make sure and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When it is ready, mix the egg and milk, then brush over your loaf of bread. I scored my bread, and you can as well if you like.
- Move to the oven and let this bake for about 30-40 minutes. I like to check by taking the temperature of my bread. This is the best, most accurate way to check wheat bread. It needs to be 190 degrees.
- When it is done, remove it from the oven. It is best to let this cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing, the bread will continue to bake during this time. I also like to move it to a cooling rack so it doesn't sweat on the bottom.
- That is it and you are done!! Now, sit back and enjoy. You deserve it!
Notes
Your dough should be tackier (sticky) than it would with an all-white loaf. Wheat flour absorbs more liquid, so needs a little more liquid added. The dough should be barely tacky, not super sticky.
It is also really important the bread is mixed for the proper amount of time. Don't skimp on this. At least 6 minutes on medium speed usually does the job! I love my Bosch mixer for this.
Make sure your bread rises all the way before working with it. The time depends on the heat in your house and the humidity. My bread usually takes 45 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. This doubling goes for the first and second rise.
Take the temperature on your bread. This is the most effective way to check for doneness on bread. Oven temps variety, as do so many other factors in bread making. So, for perfection every time, I go for 190 degrees on the quick read thermometer to ensure doneness.
I also really love to grind my own grains. If a grain mill is in your future, which I hope it is, Nutrimill is a great brand to consider. I have had mine for about 15+ years and use