Yeasted bread has never been easier. This simple method produces the most beautiful and crusty cranberry nut no-knead bread with very little hands-on work! If you’re new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
“Homemade bread” and “easy” are terms that don’t typically go hand-in-hand. When you think of homemade bread, you think difficult, right? This recipe, however, will completely change that thought. I realize that’s a pretty big promise, but I’m confident your perception of homemade bread will switch from “nope! too much work” to “wow, I CAN do this.”
One reader, Kris, commented: “This is an excellent recipe—bread made easy. Delicious bites full of flavor from the cranberries and walnuts. Will keep this forever. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Linda, commented: “This recipe is fantastic. The bread had a wonderful crust and great flavor. The instructions were super thorough at explaining everything for a novice bread maker. ★★★★★”
Why You’ll Love This Cranberry Nut No-Knead Bread:
- Just 7 simple ingredients
- Hardly any hands-on time
- Variety of textures: crispy crusty exterior, soft and chewy interior, and plenty of dried cranberries and nuts in every slice
- An egg-free baking recipe and dairy-free recipe
- Tastes incredible warm with a swipe of honey butter.
This bread, like my homemade artisan bread, seeded oat bread, pizza bread, asiago-crusted skillet bread, and olive bread, has all the bells and whistles of a fresh-from-the-bakery cranberry nut bread, and takes very little effort. If you are new to working with yeast, or simply feeling a little lazy, this recipe is for you.
Making this loaf will leave you plenty of time to loaf around. 😉
Just 7 Ingredients for This Cranberry Nut Bread
You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make homemade bread, and you might already know that if you’ve tried this sandwich bread recipe. You only need 7 ingredients to make this bread:
- Flour: Flour gives the bread its structure. You can use all-purpose or bread flour. I typically reach for bread flour because it yields a slightly chewier bread.
- Salt: Pick up some coarse sea salt; I find the flavor is lacking with regular table salt.
- Yeast: You can use instant or active dry yeast, but I highly recommend an instant (aka “rapid rise” or “quick rise” yeast). I always use Platinum Yeast by Red Star, which is an instant yeast with dough improvers. You don’t need much here—only 1/2 teaspoon—because of the long rise time.
- Nuts: Walnuts or pecans—baker’s choice!
- Dried Cranberries: I love the chewy texture of dried cranberries here. Don’t use fresh or frozen cranberries, because this dough is too wet. Raisins would work too, or try chopping up dried apricots or dates.
- Water: I normally encourage you to use warm liquid with yeast because it helps the yeast work faster. For this recipe, you want the water to be about 95ºF (35ºC), because we’re encouraging a nice slow rise to build flavor. An instant-read thermometer takes the guesswork out of this.
- Honey: Honey adds flavor and helps give the bread its springy, sponge-like texture.
By the way, if you enjoy honey in your homemade bread, you’ll love this no-knead honey oat bread because the flavor really stands out. The process is also very similar to today’s easy bread recipe. And both breads are delicious warm or toasted and topped with this easy homemade honey butter.
Overview: 5 Steps to Make No-Knead Bread
This no-work, no-knead, professional-bread-at-home concept originated with Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery in NYC. It’s all very basic ingredients, but his method is unique, which includes an 18-hour rise time. 18 hours?! Yes! Don’t be nervous, this 18 hours gives the dough a chance to ferment. And the fermentation time requires absolutely nothing from you. Just set it on your counter and forget about it until the next day. We use this same method for homemade English muffins. In both recipes, the magic happens when you’re not looking!
Step 1: Stir ingredients together. Don’t even break out your mixer.
This will be a super sticky dough. Remember, do NOT be tempted to add more flour. It will stick to your hands. That’s nothing a quick wash can’t fix!
Step 2: Cover the dough and ignore it.
Let the dough rise at room temperature for 12–18 hours. This recipe is very forgiving. Any normal-ish room temperature is fine. You’ll know that the dough is finished rising when it has about doubled in size and air bubbles have formed on top. Like this:
Step 3: The dough will still be super sticky after rising. That’s ok! Using lightly floured hands, form the sticky dough into a ball and place on a large piece of parchment paper. Score the top with a sharp knife, kitchen shears, or bread lame, then allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Step 4: Preheat a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven. You’ll bake the bread in a pre-heated (super-hot!) Dutch oven, which helps form a crusty exterior. If you don’t have a Dutch oven, you can use any oven-safe heavy-duty pot with a lid.
Step 5: Bake for about 35 minutes. For an accurate doneness test, the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer reads the center of the loaf as 195°F (90°C).
FAQ: Why Bake No-Knead Bread in a Dutch Oven?
Baking the bread with the lid on traps steam inside the pot, creating that perfectly crisp crust. A lid is the secret to this bread recipe’s success! You won’t regret picking up a Dutch oven.
No Dutch oven? No problem.
While baking the bread in a Dutch oven is key to this bread’s texture, you can get around it. Instead, place the rounded dough on a parchment paper-lined or generously floured nonstick baking pan. No need to pre-heat the pan like you do the Dutch oven. While the oven preheats and the scored loaf is resting, boil a kettle of water. After the oven is preheated, place scored dough/baking pan on the center rack. Then place a shallow metal baking/roasting pan or cast-iron skillet (I usually use a metal 9×13-inch baking pan; do not use glass) on the bottom oven rack. Carefully and quickly pour 3–4 cups of boiling water into it, and then quickly shut the oven door to trap the steam inside. The steam helps create a crispier crust. This is exactly how I bake 4-ingredient artisan bread.
Step 6: Enjoy a slice of warm, fresh bread you won’t believe you made from scratch.
This lightly honey-sweetened cranberry nut bread is fabulous for breakfast, toasted with butter or honey butter. Or serve it alongside a charcuterie board with a soft cheese like brie or goat cheese, or this white cheddar cranberry pecan cheese ball (yum!).
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
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Crusty Cranberry Nut No Knead Bread
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 20 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf; 10-12 servings
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Yeasted bread has never been easier. This simple mixing method produces the most beautiful and crusty cranberry nut no-knead bread with very little hands-on work! If you’re new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Ingredients
- 3 cups + 2 Tablespoons (390g) bread flour or all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt (I find the flavor lacking with regular table salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast
- 3/4 cup (95g) chopped walnuts or pecans
- 3/4 cup (105g) dried cranberries*
- 1 Tablespoon (21g) honey
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (about 95°F (35°C))
Instructions
- *No need to grease the bowl, and do not use a mixer in this step because the dough is too sticky for a mixer.* In a large bowl using a silicone spatula, stir the first 5 ingredients together. Mix the honey and water together, then pour on top. Mix to combine. (Note that in the video below, I add the honey to the dry ingredients instead of mixing first with water, but you can do it either way.) The dough will be very sticky; don’t be tempted to add more flour, you want a sticky dough. Gently shape into a ball as best you can.
- Cover tightly. Set on the counter at room temperature (honestly any normal room temperature is fine) and allow to rise for 12–18 hours. The dough will double in size, stick to the sides of the bowl, and may have air bubbles on the surface.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using lightly floured hands, shape into a ball as best you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Transfer the dough to a large piece of parchment paper. (Large enough to fit inside your pot and one that is safe for high heat. I use this parchment and it’s never been an issue.) Using a very sharp knife, kitchen shears, or a bread lame, gently score an X into the top. Place the ball of dough + parchment inside a bowl so the dough doesn’t spread out as it rests. Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- During this rest, preheat the oven to 475°F (246°C). (Yes, very hot!) Place your Dutch oven (with the lid) or heavy-duty pot in the oven for 30 minutes so that it’s extremely hot before the dough is placed inside. After 30 minutes, remove the Dutch oven and carefully place the dough inside by lifting it up with the parchment paper and placing it all—the parchment paper included—inside the pot. Cover with the lid.
- Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on. Carefully remove the lid and continue baking for 8–10 more minutes until the bread is golden brown. How to test for doneness: Give the warm bread a light tap. If it sounds hollow, it’s done. For a more accurate test, the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer reads the center of the loaf as 195°F (90°C).
- Remove pot from the oven, carefully remove the bread from the pot, and allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
- Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The dough takes up to 18 hours to rise, so this is a wonderful recipe to begin 1 day ahead of time. To freeze, bake and cool the bread, wrap in a layer of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, and then allow to come to room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the dough. Mix the dough together as instructed in step 1. Wrap the sticky dough in lightly oiled plastic wrap and place in a freezer-friendly container. Thaw at room temperature, then let it rest/rise as instructed in step 2. Proceed with step 3 and the rest of the recipe.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven or Le Creuset Dutch Oven | Parchment Paper | Bread Lame | Instant-Read Thermometer | Cooling Rack
- Dutch Oven: Use a 5- to 6-quart (or larger) Dutch oven or any large oven-safe pot with an oven-safe lid. If your Dutch oven is smaller than 5 quarts, you can halve the recipe (instructions remain the same, just halve each ingredient) or make the dough as instructed in step 1, shape the dough into 2 balls instead of 1 ball, and bake them one at a time in your smaller Dutch oven. While the 2nd dough waits, lightly cover and keep at room temperature. The bake times in the recipe above (25 mins and then 8–10 mins) will both be a little shorter for the smaller loaves.
- No Dutch oven? See post above for alternative.
- Flour: You can use either bread flour or all-purpose flour here. Bread flour will produce a slightly chewier bread. Feel free to substitute up to 1 cup (around 130g) of the flour for whole-wheat flour. Do not use all whole-wheat flour, as the bread will taste quite dense and heavy.
- Yeast: If you don’t have instant yeast, you can use active dry. I’ve never had a problem using active dry yeast in this recipe, and with no other changes needed. Works wonderfully!
- Cranberries: Dried cranberries (or raisins) are best for this wet dough. I do not recommend frozen or fresh cranberries.
- Parchment Paper: If your parchment paper has a maximum temperature that’s lower than the temperature called for in the recipe, bake the bread at that temperature. Bake the bread a little longer to compensate for the lower temperature.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Recipe adapted from Red Star Yeast, method originally from Jim Lahey.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Omggg it came out soooooo goooodddd
Although i did notice my dough rose all the way to the top of the bowl while proofing overnight and then went back down. I saw the marks on the bowl, Not sure if that’s okay?
It came out really great tho, i almost finished the whole thing myself, making it again ASAP
Hi Sally
Will it be a problem if I let it rise more than 18 hrs? ( I was thinking of letting it rise about 24 so it’d be done baking a little later in the day).
Thanks!
Hi Steve, we don’t suggest letting the dough sit for longer. If 18 hours is difficult for your schedule, you can make the bread dough when it’s convenient for you and freeze it! Complete the recipe through step 2. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-friendly container. To bake, allow dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, or for 2-3 hours at room temperature. Continue with step 3 and the rest of the recipe instructions.
Tastes delicious but the bread turned out a strange grayish color. Any thoughts?
Hi Charly, It’s possible that your cranberries simply released some of their color and mixed with the beige dough. We are happy you enjoyed the taste!
It’s a walnut thing. They tend to do that on yeasted baked goods.
If you toast the walnuts before adding them to the bread dough, they don’t tend to color the dough that grayish-purplish color! But then, I never balked at eating purple bread!!!
And where is the step where you cursing trying to peel off the parchment paper? It is essential for the process! I did this bread many times, very easy and tasy, but parchment paper is a pain. I ended up not using it at all, no problem, just grease the dutch oven before placing dough.
Hi Gapka! Sorry you’ve had trouble with the parchment paper – we’ve never had that happen. Make sure if you try it again that you’re using high quality parchment paper, not wax paper or something similar. So glad you love this bread and have found a solution!
This is the best cranberry walnut bread I’ve baked and it’s better than the one in the fancy grocery store. I appreciate that the ingredients are listed in grams because it eliminates guessing and it’s easy to scale up or down. I substituted 100 grams of whole wheat flour while keeping the total flour at 390 grams. This provided an interesting nutty flavor. Le Creuset doesn’t recommend preheating their products so I don’t use a dutch oven when baking bread. I just add a container with boiling water to the oven to create steam. I prefer to make an elongated loaf instead of a boule because I get consistent slices, this worked very well with this recipe. Interestingly enough, I had to leave the house before the bread was ready so I just took it out of the oven when it was brown, but not brown enough. And surprise, surprise, I ended up with a very moist loaf that comes to life when I put a slice of it in the toaster oven for a bit. The slice becomes crusty and moist with an incredible freshly-baked aroma. It goes great with clotted cream. I’m very thankful for this recipe and I recommend everyone to give it a try!
Hi Sally. Can I add orange zest to this recipe?
Hi Lisa, The zest from 1 medium or large orange would be great!
I tried this yesterday waited 18 hours however my bread did not rise . I followed directions to the T??
Hi William, Thank you for trying this recipe. We do have troubleshooting tips in our Baking With Yeast Guide. Scroll down to the paragraph called “What if My Dough Isn’t Rising?” for many helpful tips. We hope this helps!
I was quite happy with the way this turned out, although after 18 hours, the dough had doubled but there were no air bubbles on the top. I halved the recipe and let it rise, but the dough was not as sticky and unmanageable as you had indicated. As I usually do, I probably added more cranberries and toasted walnuts, and my husband said it was delicious. I would probably add a little more honey and measure my flour more carefully next time. Thanks for this quick technique for making bread.
I have a lot of left over heavy cream; is it okay to use the cream instead of water for this bread recipe? Rest being the same?
Hi Jane, do not use cream as the liquid in this dough– it’s much too heavy. Stick with water. If you’re looking for uses for your heavy cream, here are all of my recipes using heavy cream.
I made this bread and it came out FANTASTIC!
I’m the person who has failed multiple times with yeast, but when I saw this recipe I immediately thought to give it a try.
I did add a tiny bit more honey, just because.
I baked at 425 because that’s what my parchment paper could handle (Thanks for the warning, I never would have known to look.)
And baked for a bit longer too. A huge hit! THANK YOU!
My first attempt at a yeasted bread, and it was absolutely delightful! Now I have 2 questions: Would there be a problem using dried cherries instead of cranberries? And would adding some chocolate chips cause any problems?
Thanks for yet another no-fail, delicious recipe, Sally!
Hi John, both of those should still work great in this bread. Enjoy!
Thank you, Michelle. The addition of cherries, chocolate, and pecans was delicious. This recipe is so wonderfully flexible! Today’s variation involved a cup of grated Parmesan cheese, a cup of well-dried, chopped Kalamata olives, and about a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary. Oh my heart! I love website so much. Thanks again to all of you!
I did not have a dutch oven that was oven safe to 475, nor did my parchment allow for that high of heat. So, I baked at 425 with a pan of boiling water on the bottom shelf. The bread had a very crisp crust but the inside was moist. I put sugar on the top before baking and it gave it an extra sweet bite off and on.
Really, quite good. The bottom was overbrowned (and I shaved off a few minutes of time without the lid. My dutch oven is 7.5 qts, so next time I might increase the ingredients by at least have to get a more generous loaf.
I never bake and had all the ingredients so decided to try this and…. Wow. I want to make this every weekend. Truly delicious I can’t believe this came out of my oven! I’m so proud. Thank you for this recipe!
Can you replace a portion of the water with orange juice, to yield an orange-cranberry loaf? Will it affect the yeast in any way?
Hi Vicki, For cranberry orange bread, we recommend adding the zest of 1 orange instead – no other changes necessary. Enjoy!
Thank you 🙂
I have made this recipe countless times…always delicious. I have started substituting no pulp orange juice for the water. Sometimes I also add freshly zested orange.I make no other changes. It is our favorite version. It is perfect every time!
Hi Sally,
Do you need to roast the nuts before adding them to the dough? Thanks so much.
Hi Lisa, you don’t need to roast them!
Baked the cranberry nut bread this morning. Because my parchment paper would only go to 400 degrees I needed to adjust the cooking time. Apparently I didn’t add enough time as it was not baked as well in the center. After reading other comments, I will reduce the amount of cranberries and again adjust the baking time. What temp should the bread be at when done?
Hi Marilyn, The bake time will definitely be a bit longer since you lowered the oven temperature. Continue to bake until the bread is golden brown.
I find the method of baking gives a crust that is too tough. Instead of heating the pot prior to baking I now just put it in and follow the remainder of the instructions and remove the cover after 30 minutes. The result are a nice crusty crust without the toughest. Personally I find it much more enjoyable and easy to cut.
I make bread and sourdough bread all the time. This recipe turned out great and was so easy! I made it in my cast iron skillet and used three types of flour (white, whole wheat and graham) and I got a nice firm tasty loaf. I did up the honey a bit and soaked the cranberries in hot water. Without even putting a pan of water in the oven I got a lovely crunchy deep brown crust. I will try this recipe again using different flours and different dried fruits and nuts (maybe even trying with chocolate!), perhaps even caraway seeds too. It seems like a cross between yeasted bread and soda bread.
Hi Sally, I’ve been happily using your recipes throughout the pandemic but I failed on this one! I used dried cherries as I didn’t have dried cranberries and the 1 1/2 C of water made it so wet I couldn’t form a ball. Any idea what I could have done wrong?
Thanks!
Hi Lynne! This is a very different type of dough than a traditional yeasted bread. It’s wet and sticky and that’s completely normal – it’s a very hands off bread making experience! If it’s completely unworkable, feel free to add more flour on your hands and work surface. Thank you so much for giving it a try!
Thanks Sally,
You are my go to for recipes. For years I have printed out tons of your recipes. I just baked crusty cranberry nut bread. It is so yummy!! I love cranberries so I did half dried & half frozen. Awesome!
Thank you so much…
i have been failing at all of my bread baking (too heavy and dry mainly) but this is perfection!! i used mostly bread flour with 1/4 cup of whole wheat mixed in because i ran out of plain flour and it came out incredible!!!
Followed directions to the letter,however my dough is not sticky.should I add more .water
Hi Jo, How are you measuring your flour? Make sure to spoon and level instead of scooping to prevent too much flour in your dough. If this ever happens again you can add a bit more water until it reaches the right consistency.
Hi,
We don’t have platinum yeast so, would the half a teaspoon of ordinary instant yeast be OK, and would that be about 2.5g?
Hi Kathryn! You can substitute the same amount of instant yeast.
Could you make this bread in an Instant Pot?
Hi Devvy, We don’t have an instant pot so we have never tried it. Let us know if you give it a try!
Is it correct that the recipe calls for just 1/2 teaspoon of yeast and 2 teaspoons of salt? I wondered if it was reversed—should be 1/2 t salt and 2 t yeast?
Hi Alli! The measurements are correct – this recipe doesn’t need much yeast because of the low and slow rise time.
Sally, have you ever made this bread with wild rice vs. walnuts?
Hi Deb, No we have not ever tried that!
Could this be made in a cast iron pot?
Definitely!
Thank you .. Going to make this soon.
This was so good. The cast iron kettle worked perfectly.
Wonderful texture and flavor, but both times I’ve baked it, the bottom is burned and the parchment paper is stuck in places to the bottom. Any suggestions about how to counter the charring?
Hi Christopher, happy to hear that you enjoyed this bread recipe. It often helps to move your bread away from the heat source in your oven. Otherwise, try lowering it by 50 degrees F and cooking the bread for longer. Let the bread cook until it’s golden brown on the exterior. Lightly tap it with your knuckles– if it sounds hollow, it’s done. I hope this helps for next time.
Hi Christopher, I had the same problem with bits of parchment sticking the first time I made this bread. The second time, I used the parchment paper that Sally recommends from Beyond Gourmet – no more sticky problems!
Great recipe! I live in a tropical climate and don’t have a dutch oven so I made the following modifications:
– proofing/rising time: I did 9 hours first then 30 mins for the second rise
– i used a ceramic casserole pot with lid and preheated the pot to 210C
– baked with lid on for 30 mins
– continued with lid off for 12 mins at 200C
Bread came out with nice crusts and peaks and brown color. I let it rest for an hour and had a small slice to test and it’s chewy inside in a good way and very, very flavorful! Thanks for this recipe. Will do it again soon.
I made this for Christmas gifts! I was a hit with my friends! It was delicious! Giving out this website for all my friends.
THANK YOU
LESA