May 9, 2018 · 34 Comments

Easy Whole Wheat Cranberry Walnut Bread

Name: Easy Whole Wheat Cranberry Walnut Bread
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 16 slices
Ingredients: 4 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour; 1 1/2 cups warm water; 1/3 cup olive oil; 1/3 cup honey; 1 tsp gluten (optional found by yeast at grocery store); 2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup dried cranberries; 1/2 chopped walnuts; 1 Tbs yeast

Breads/Muffins· Real Food

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Easy Whole Wheat Cranberry Walnut Bread : Sweet and tender whole wheat bread, studded with dried cranberries and walnuts, becomes the perfect loaf of bread for sandwiches, breakfast casseroles, or just to eat toasted and is made in with almost no effort!

Friends, I must tell you something, I am in love with Cranberry Walnut Bread.

My sister and I had a coffee date at Panera a few months back and instead of a bagel, I opted for a slice of their Cranberry Nut Bread toasted with some smear of butter.

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And that is when I knew I had to recreate this bread for my own consumption at home!

Easy Whole Wheat Cranberry Bread

This cranberry bread is slightly sweet, tender, moist, and has pops of tangy flavor from the cranberries and bits of chewy goodness with the addition of chopped walnuts. It is the perfect complement to the fall season and pairs beautifully as a savory sandwich bread, killer french toast,or base of a breakfast casserole.

However, you slice it (ha! ha!) this bread is good! And good for you!!

How to Make Cranberry Nut Bread

This recipe for bread with cranberries and walnuts, starts with my Whole Wheat Bread recipe.

Bread Machine Cranberry Bread

Start with water in the machine. Add, oil, honey, salt and gluten, then flour.
Make a small well in flour and put yeast into that well.
Set to manufacturer’s instructions for wheat bread and start cycle.
When bread machine beeps to add ingredients (after initial mixing), open bread machine and add in walnuts and cranberries.
If your bread machine does not have the option to add in mix-ins, just place walnuts and cranberries on top of the wheat flour before adding the yeast.

Oven Cranberry Bread

Mix together water and yeast and let sit for 5 minutes, or until mixture gets creamy and a bit bubbly.
In a separate large bowl, mix together salt, gluten, cranberries, walnuts, and flour.
Make a well in flour mixture and pour in the water mixture. Knead until smooth (about 5 minutes).
Let rise until doubled.
Shape as desired (into two 1 pound loaves) and let rise until doubled again.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

A Few Pointers on Cranberry Bread Recipe

Feel free to omit the walnuts from this bread to make it nut free.
Swap out walnuts for pecans if desired.
This bread is also incredible made with coconut oil in place of the olive oil–gives the bread an incredible rich flavor.
Be sure to use regular yeast, not quick rise yeast.
Vital Wheat gluten is optional, it just helps to keep the bread soft an rise evenly.
Allow bread to cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
Once fully cooled, store bread in sealed container, or bag, at room temperature for 48 hours. Longer than that, store in refrigerator.

Use Cranberry Walnut Bread to Make:

Cranberry Bread Recipe

Cranberry Walnut Bread sliced on parchment paper

4 from 2 votes