No-Knead Cranberry Walnut Bread

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Crusty and delicious, this easy no-knead cranberry walnut bread with chocolate is a wonderful treat for the Holidays! This artisanal bread comes together so fast and is really low effort!

Prep Time10

Cook Time50

Total Time5

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: Loaf (10 Servings)

Calories: 227kcal

Author: Natasha Minocha

Ingredients

3 1/4 cup All-purpose flour
1.5 tsp Salt
1.5 tsp Dry active yeast
1.5 cup Warm water ( about 40.5 C or 105 F)
1 tsp Sugar
1/3 cup Dried cranberries, sliced
1/3 cup Walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup Dark chocolate You can use chocolate chips, or chunks

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a small bow,l, mix the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Keep aside for 5-10 minutes until frothy.
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Pour in the yeast water mixture.
Mix well to form a shaggy dough. This is a very sticky dough.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 3-4 hours until it's doubled and has small holes or bubbles on top.
Heat oven to 230 C / 450 F and place your Dutch oven with the lid in the oven. I used a 3.5 QT / 3.3 ltr Dutch oven, but you can use a smaller or bigger size too.
Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of flour on the dough. Flour your hands well and fold the dough on top of itself. Turn the bowl a quarter of the way and fold the dough over itself again. Do 3 more quarter turns of the bowl with folding over the dough each time.
Add the cranberries, walnuts, and chocolate to the dough. Sprinkle another tablespoon of flour on top and fold the dough over the add-ins a few times until they are evenly distributed through out the dough.
This will take just 3-4 minutes. Flour your hands so the dough doesn't stick to your hands. You can also use a spatula for this step.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour on a piece of parchment paper and place the dough on it. Let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes.
Take the hot Dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid. Carefully transfer the dough, still on the parchment, into the Dutch oven. Cover and bake at 230 C / 450 F for 40 minutes.
Carefully remove the lid and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
Cool the bread completely at least 2 hours before slicing. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

I prefer to add cranberries, walnuts, and chocolate to the bread dough after the first proof. You can add cranberries and walnuts to the bowl with the flour and salt in step 2, and add the chocolate later after the first proof.
As with all bread recipes, I highly recommend weighing the ingredients.
Dough of this homemade cranberry walnut bread is meant to be super sticky, so don’t add too much extra flour.
Give the bread dough ample time to rise. This is important.
You don’t need to knead the bread but fold it a few times with your hands or a spatula.
Let the crusty cranberry nut loaf of bread cool completely before you slice. Give it at least 2 hours.

Nutrition