Cranberry Walnut Bread

(Craisin) Cranberry Walnut Bread is a soft and chewy, slightly sweet, yeast bread that compliments cool weather and holiday festivities. The simple, step-by-step recipe is mixed by hand OR stand mixer and is geared for beginner bread bakers.

Cranberry Nut Bread is the ultimate simple, special occasion holiday bread that's plump, tender, and easy to love. Dried cranberries, aka craisins, and a little sugar add a touch of sweetness, while chopped walnuts add savory crunch. Serve cranberry bread sliced, toasted, and topped with a soft-rind or cream cheese (triple cream brie is my fav). It's heavenly with butter too!

Also, if you're new to making yeast bread, never fear. This cranberry bread recipe is written for bread beginners, just like my classic French bread recipe. It's super flexible too, meaning that you can use active dry yeast or instant yeast, knead by hand or use a stand mixer, and proof the dough in the Instant Pot or at room temperature.

Key ingredients

Ingredient amounts are listed in the full recipe card below.

• warm water - see recipe card for temperature
• active dry yeast OR rapid rise yeast packet
• unbleached all purpose flour
• sugar - any kind of dry sugar can be used
• sea salt
• olive oil - or preferred oil
• dried cranberries - do not use fresh cranberries for this recipe
• walnuts - or preferred nuts

How to make cranberry walnut bread

Here's a brief overview. Visit the printable recipe card below for detailed instructions.

1. Combine water and yeast (bloom yeast if needed).
2. Add SUGAR, SALT, and OLIVE OIL. Whisk to combine. To that, add FLOUR, DRIED CRANBERRIES (CRAISINS), and WALNUTS. (reserve 1/3 cup flour to assist during mixing).
3. Mix and knead the dough with a stand mixer or by hand.
4. 1st proofing (allow dough to double in size).
5. Deflate and reshape to prep for 2nd proofing.
6. 2nd proofing (optional but recommended for gluten development).
7. Deflate and shape dough into final form (French baguette, oval, round, or loaf).
8. Final proofing (allow the final form to expand before baking).
9. Bake the French loaf.
10. Cool and store.

Kneading dough 2 options

1) Stand mixer option

Insert dough hook and mix dough ingredients on low speed until cohesive. Continue kneading until dough becomes elastic and stretchy (about 3-5 min). During this process, sprinkle flour over the dough in tiny amounts to prevent it sticking to bowl or dough hook. You may need to stop the mixer occasionally to scrape dough from the bowl sides.

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2) Hand kneading option

Stir dough ingredients together in a mixing bowl until shaggy, but somewhat cohesive. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and hand-knead until dough becomes elastic and stretchy (5-8 minutes). During this process, sprinkle flour over dough in tiny amounts as needed to prevent dough sticking to hands or surface. Try to think of hand-kneading as "pushing" the dough into itself until it eventually forms a well-developed elastic structure.

Proofing the dough

You can proof yeast dough in the Instant Pot! It's pretty amazing how quickly you can rise dough, regardless of room temperature. Don't worry, you can always proof the dough using traditional methods if you don't have an Instant Pot.

Shaping the dough: loaf or free form

You can shape yeast dough however you like! After the second proofing, you'll shape the dough into a loaf pan and bake, or create a free form (like the rounds you see in this recipe) and bake on a parchment-covered baking sheet. You can also shape into baguettes and bake on a baguette pan or baking sheet. Always leave leave enough space around free forms to double in size before baking.