It has been a strange week to say the least. Here in the New York metro area (northern NJ) we went from work as usual last week to finding empty shelves in grocery stores and everything around us rapidly shutting down this week. The eery uncertainty that’s in the air is unsettling, and I hope you are well wherever in the world you find yourself. With all this extra time at home over the last few days (and likely in the next coming weeks…) I turned to a couple of simple ingredients in my pantry in search of comfort. And they delivered, as they always do. This cranberry walnut bread is simply a variation of the very popular New York Time No-Knead Bread recipe. If you’ve never tried that recipe, it is the easiest thing in the world to make, and chances are you already have all the ingredients on hand, which is a major plus right now!
NO-KNEAD CRANBERRY WALNUT BREAD
(Recipe adapted from The New York Times No-Knead Bread recipe)
Makes 1 loaf
INGREDIENTS
3 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)
1/2 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp salt
1 5/8 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (depending on preference)
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup dried cranberries (depending on preference)
Optional: orange zest, tablespoon of honey, other nuts such as pecans
DIRECTIONS
1. Combine all the ingredients other than water in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add water and stir everything together until a sticky dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 12 – 20 hours.
2. At the end of the rising time, you should be seeing lots of bubbles on the surface of the very wet dough. Take the dough out of the bowl and form it into a rough round loaf on a generously floured surface. Sprinkle with more flour, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise for another 2 hours. (I let mine rise on a large wooden board.)
3. Preheat your oven to 450 deg F (232 deg C), placing your baking dish (either a Dutch oven with a lid or a casserole dish with a lid) inside the oven while it preheats. Once the oven hits the right temperature, carefully remove the baking dish and place the dough inside (sometimes I use parchment paper on the bottom, sometimes I don’t) and bake with the lid on for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 15 – 30 minutes, until the top has a nice color and sounds hollow when you tap it. Let the bread rest and cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing. It is best fresh, but is still good for the next couple of days, especially toasted, with some butter and jam!
(New York Times No-Knead Bread recipe)
I hope you are safe and healthy wherever you are, thanks for stopping by today! Happy Baking!
