Cranberry Walnut Bread
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups +2 Tablespoons (215g) all purpose flour
  • 1½ cups (195g) whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons course sea salt or kosher salt
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1½ cups (360g) warm water at 105ºF*
  • ¾ cup (95g) chopped walnuts
  • ¾ cup (105g) dried cranberries
For dusting:
  • 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon yellow cornmeal (optional**)
Special Equipment:
  • Oven-safe dutch oven with a capacity of 5 qts or larger and has a handle that is oven safe to 475ºF
  • Serrated knife
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, mix the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, cinnamon, and yeast together.
  2. Check that your water is at 105ºF.*
  3. Add the water to the dry ingredients and stir until consistent. The dough will be wet and sticky.
  4. Add in the walnuts and dried cranberries.
  5. Cover the bowl and sit it in a room temperature, draft free spot to rise for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.
  6. After the rise time, it should double in size, be bubbly looking, and still be sticky.
  7. Dust a cutting board with the 1 Tablespoon of all-purpose flour and 1 Tablespoon cornmeal.
  8. Turn the dough out onto the cutting board. Form it into a round ball shape flouring all the sides as you go.
  9. Using a paring knife, score a shallow "X" into the top.
  10. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
  11. While the dough is resting, set an oven safe dutch oven with the lid in the oven and preheat your oven to 475ºF.
  12. Remove the dutch oven from the preheated oven. Be very careful to use oven mitts as you move the pot around your counter because it will be extremely hot.
  13. Drop the dough down into the preheated dutch oven. If you need to adjust the position of the dough, shift it into place using a wooden spoon. Cover with the lid.
  14. Bake for 25 minutes with the lid and then remove the lid and bake for 10 minutes more. The bread will be golden brown and have a solid crust.
  15. Carefully remove the bread from the dutch oven using 2 wooden spoons and leave it to cool on a wire rack.
  16. Once cool, use a serrated knife to slice.
  17. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or ziplock.
Notes
* It is so important that your water is at 105ºF. If you use water that is too cold, the yeast won't activate and your bread won't rise which will create dense, heavy bread. If you use water that is too hot, it will kill the yeast which will also create dense, heavy bread.
** You could also just use 2 Tablespoons of all-purpose flour if you don't want to buy another ingredient. I like using the cornmeal because it adds a really nice texture to the crust.
Recipe by Birch Tree Baking at https://www.birchtreebaking.com/cranberry-walnut-bread/