Cranberry Walnut Bread

(Craisin) Cranberry Walnut Bread is a fluffy, plump, slightly sweet bread perfect for turkey sandwiches or toasted with soft cheese. This simple yeast bread recipe is mixed by hand or stand mixer and perfect for beginners, just like this super easy French Bread recipe.

Cranberry Nut Bread is the ultimate simple holiday bread that's soft, chewy, and easy to love. Dried cranberries aka craisins and a little sugar add a touch of sweetness and walnuts give it the perfect crunch. Serve cranberry bread sliced, toasted, and topped with a soft, creamy cheese (I used a triple cream brie in the photos). 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. 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 via Instant Pot or room temperature.

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How to make Cranberry Walnut Bread

* see recipe card below for FULL PRINTABLE recipe

1. combine warm water and yeast
2. add sugar, salt, and oil and pour into flour
3. stir everything until it forms a shaggy dough
4. add dried cranberries (craisins) and walnuts
5. knead (or mix via stand mixer) about 5 minutes
6. 1st proofing (rise) via Instant Pot or room temperature
7. punch down to remove air bubbles
8. 2nd proofing
9. punch down, shape into loaves, and score the loaf
10. 3rd proofing
11. bake
12. allow to cool and enjoy!

Kneading dough: stand mixer or hand-knead

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.

How to know when dough is done kneading

Yeast dough is done kneading when it passes any of these tests

1. pull test - dough doesn't tear when you pinch or tug a piece away from itself
2. windowpane test - dough doesn't tear when you stretch a small portion thinly enough to see light coming through
3. poke test - dough springs back when you make an indentation with your finger

Can you knead bread too much?

Yes, it is possible to over-knead dough. When this happens, the dough will become more stiff to knead and may begin to tear. If this happens, cover the dough and let it rest for 5 or 10 minutes, then test the dough to see if it needs more kneading (see previous paragraph).

How to proof dough: Instant Pot or Room Temp

• Option #1: Room temperature proofing - Place dough face down in a large, oiled, mixing bowl, flip to coat with oil, and rest seam-side down. Cover with a kitchen towel or loose fitting plastic wrap. Allow to rise at room temperature (75°-100°F) until dough doubles in size (45-90 min).

• Option #2: Instant Pot Proofing - Coat the Instant Pot stainless insert with OLIVE OIL. Place dough ball face down in the pot, flip to coat with oil, and rest seam-side down. Cover pot with a lid or plate. Select “yogurt” button and toggle the "adjust" button to "normal" indicator and set timer for 1 hour. Allow dough to rise until it doubles in size (30-60 minutes). Note: Instant Pot must have the YOGURT setting to proof bread dough.

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.

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