Around Thanksgiving I shared over on Instagram about my Cranberry Walnut Bread, but there’s more to the story. When I was pregnant with the triplets Panera had Cranberry Walnut bagels which were DELICIOUS! Of course, after Christmas they disappeared, because we can’t tolerate such things out of season.
For years I’ve been trying to find a recipe for a Cranberry Walnut bread, but most of them were a baking soda/powder recipe, which was NOT what I wanted. I wanted a yeast bread. I wanted it to be more of a brown bread. So I started trying recipe after recipe to find the right one.
One day I was making one of my favorite breads, molasses brown bread, when it hit me…it’s the perfect bread for cranberries and walnuts! Here is my recipe, per request. The recipe does freeze well, but there’s nothing quite like a hot slice of bread with melted butter.
- 1-1/2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 2 tablespoons shortening
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
- ¾ cup warm water (110° to 115°)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- 4-3/4 to 5-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- In a bowl, combine first four ingredients. Cool to 110°-115°. In a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Sprinkle with sugar. Add oat mixture, brown sugar, molasses and 3 cups flour; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
- Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Punch dough down. Divide in half; shape into loaves. Place in two greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Brush with butter. Yield: 2 loaves.
