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
I have a convection steam oven. Would I still have to use a Dutch oven then? I do not typically have to use one when making bread in the CSO>
Thank you!
Hi Karen, you can use the sheet pan method instead if you wish. See “No Dutch oven? No problem.” for more details. Enjoy!
This came out perfect. Next time I will try it with dried cherries and walnuts. Your website is my go to for any desserts or breads. Thank you
So good that I made it again the next day!
With cooking at 425F the 30 minutes with lid on and then 15 mins with lid removed worked perfectly, thanks to Jeanne for figuring that out.
I love this recipe! But, how would I make it without the nuts? My niece is allergic. Should I just add more cranberries or just leave out the nuts and keep other measurements the same? I can’t wait to try more of the recipes on your site.
Hi Jenna, you can simply omit the nuts with no other changes. Enjoy!
Is it possible to make this bread in the ninja basket air fryer?
I changed some things and made this more like a Christmas bread because I had a large bag of dried fruit on hand. It is delicious. Next time I will add chopped semi sweet chocolate. Since I live in Mexico over the winter I can get really good Mexican chocolate with coffee or chiles. Might be an interesting combo. I let the dough rest out on my counter for 18 hours and this batch was the best I have made. Of course with a dry day and 86 degree farenheit temp it soared into a mountain. Love your recipes. Also just made the cinnamon swirl bread.
I just had a piece of my freshly baked cranberry walnut bread. Soooo very good! I added a few extra cranberries walnuts. The flavor is fabulous! I’m already planning my next loaf.
WOW A 10 !Fabulo u s, super easy. Just had a hot piece of this bread. Couldn’t find platinum yeast so used bread maker instant! These will go to friends recuperating from surgery or illness. So easy I can not believe it. I’m 76 not a bread maker. Thankyou
Hi! I’ve made the artisan bread many times in my Dutch oven and have always followed those directions to put in fridge for up to 3 days after the initial 2-3 hours of sitting out of the fridge. Wondering what is the reason for leaving this one out of the fridge instead of putting it in?
Also why does this one use less flour? Thank you!!
Hi Kelly, This particular recipe needs the longer rise time at room temperature because it has less yeast, but you can adapt the artisan bread dough with these add-ins if you would like. Let us know what you try!
We substituted 1 cup of whole wheat flour for one of the cups of bread flour – Cranberry Nut No Knead Bread. The loaf burned a boit on the bottom, and at points on the top. We baked at 455 for 30 minutes with top on, plus 10 minutes with top off. The loaf was fully baked. We baked in an oval 5 1/2 quart dutch oven pre heated as instructed. Could the 1 cup wheat flour have a tendency to burn? Or is it more likely we need to reduce the baking times in the oven? The oven temperature was 455 degrees throughout, guaged with an oven thermostat.
Hi AP! The whole wheat flour wouldn’t make it burn more, we would try reducing the bake time slightly next time. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Aloha Sally~~
You’ve never done me wrong yet. Love all your recipes but currently hesitating on this because I am unsure if my stainless steel copper lined pot will work as the handles have a hard rubber (or something akine) and I am un-convinced that may not withstand the heat (without the lid it seems doable.. unable to find accurate info on internet.. I love cranberry walnut bread and am anxious to try..
Seriously I really appreciate your recipes and thorough directions and of course the yumminess of the ones I have tried in my Barbi kitchen..
Mahalo Valerie
p.s. appreciate any input you are able to provide..
Hi Valerie! Thank you so much for making our recipes. We would not try this high heat recipe with a pot with rubber handles. See the blog post above for an alternative baking option you can try instead. Let us know how it goes!
Mahalo Trina~~
Well I didn’t fall off the Pineapple truck yesterday but thought it’d be worth an ask..
No matter for today big storm here power cut.. will follow directions.
Our toddler is a picky eater and lately one of the few things she eagerly eats is Costco’s walnut cranberry loaf, toasted and then spread with peanut butter. Unfortunately, that bread is seasonal and we didn’t stock up for the winter before it disappeared. But this recipe tasted EXACTLY like the Costco loaf, so much so that my wife couldn’t tell which was which.
I followed the recipe very closely, using a never-used-before Dutch oven I’d purchased two years ago, but the one problem is that the bottom of the bread was right on the cusp of being burnt. The top and sides were as they should be.
So, how can I prevent that? Should I shorten the time in the oven? Should I use two layers of parchment paper on the bottom? Should I elevate or lower the position in the gas oven? (I’m not experienced with making bread or using Dutch ovens, unfortunately.)
Also, how might this recipe be affected if I switched all-purpose white flour for wheat flour?
Hi Nate, we’re glad the bread was a hit! If the bottom is getting too hard/burnt, try lowering your oven temperature by 25 degrees and lower your oven rack as well. The bake time will be a bit longer since you lowered the oven temperature. We don’t recommend using all whole wheat flour, but you can try substituting some of the all-purpose with whole wheat (we don’t recommend using more than 1 cup-about 130g). The bread will be denser. Hope you enjoy it!
Burned on the bottom and raw on the inside after 25 minutes at 475F. Finished cooking it despite the burned bottom, I’ll just cut it off. This recipe might work at 425F. May try again.
I made this over the weekend. I noticed when it was rising it had a bit of a “vinegary” smell. And after baking it has a sourdough type flavor. Is this normal? Thanks
Hi Shelly! Is it different than the typical aroma of yeasted bread? It should be just fine.
I like the simplicity of this recipe. Having made it twice, here are my tweaks: Roughly chop the cranberries in half. Don’t forget to add the nuts at the same time (I didn’t see this step in the recipe). I doubled the honey because I like a sweeter bread. And I used half whole wheat flour and half regular flour and the texture was fine, not overly dense and heavy. Lastly, in the future I will cut 4-5 minutes off the time spent baking with the lid on and two or three minutes when it’s off. I used an instant read thermometer.
Mix the ingredients last night covered the bowl put it aside. Came down this morning. I mixed the dough last night. Woke up this morningThe dough had not even risen. I followed the directions, mixed all five first ingredients then at the end, added the warm water and honey mixed. Nothing.
Hi Susan, Could your yeast be expired? We would try again with fresh yeast. Here’s our helpful baking with yeast guide as well.
Yeast not expired, just bought and checked the date.
Mine did not rise! It turned out awful.
grave error. should read 2 tsp yeast, not salt and 1/2 tsp of salt not 2 tsp
Hi Kathy, the recipe is correct. Did you give it a try?
I love this recipe. The exterior was brown and crusty, but the inside was a bit doughy. I did the thermometer and tap test for doneness. Wondering if it’s because my parchment paper needed a lower temperature for baking but I compensated with extra time. My husband loves it though! Any suggestions? Thanks for all your great recipes!
Hi Linda, it sounds like it was probably a bit underbaked. An extra couple minutes in the oven should help for next time. When you checked the temperature with the thermometer, did the center of the loaf reach 195°F (90°C)?
The amount of water and flour really depends on how dry the flour is. I made one loaf with bread flour and another with organic bread flour. The organic flour was much more moist. Need to really eyeball it.
Thank you for this recipe. I don’t make bread much and when I do it’s a no knead bread. My first try turned out ok, m grandson loved it, he’s 20, and my husband and I enjoyed it. However I felt it didn’t rise double so my second attempt I used a smaller bowl and covered with plastic wrap instead of a towel rubber banded. Also my Dutch over was my moms and is over 50 yrs old. When I took it out of the preheated over it was smoking! But as instructed I put the bread in with parchment paper. It turned out great but the bottom was burnt. I had also had to let rise for more than 18 hours. But we still liked it.
My second attempt I made sure it was only 16 hours. I used another large crock type baking dish. My parchment said heat only to 428 so I reduced the temp to 425 baked for 30 min and lid off needed 15 minutes to get internal temperature to 195. It looks delicious and I’m sure it will be even better than my first try. I did add extra honey this time as I saw you mentioned that in one of the comments to another post.
I have been looking at that this recipe for literally YEARS thinking I’ll make that one of these days! Today was the day! Superbly easy and the fans loved it!! Had to fight to make them wait 20 minutes to let it cool!! Definitely will be a repeat of this one! Thanks Sally!!
this recipe is absolutely delicious! It’s unbelievable how easy it is to make. And you can change things around like for example one time I used molasses instead of honey and also a little bit of maple syrup. I also replace the walnuts with pecans and dried cherries and even added chocolate chips! In fact, I have a pecan dried cherry and chocolate chip loaf in the oven right now. Unbelievably easy and unbelievably delicious.!
Thank you for including the internal temperature! After 35mins on a baking sheet it looked perfect but temped at 145°. After 10 extra minutes in the oven it was even more beautiful and exactly 195°
I made the bread and it is very delicious. The recipe is very easy to follow. Will definitely make this bread again.
Would this work with wheat bread
Hi Silvia, we don’t recommend using all whole wheat flour, but you can try substituting some of the all-purpose with whole wheat (we don’t recommend using more than 1 cup-about 130g). The bread will be denser. Hope you enjoy it!
I made it with whole wheat bread before seeing this recommendation. Compared to the earlier attempt which used all-purpose flour (and was perfect except for the bottom being a bit burnt), the dough did not rise as much overnight and the bread in the end was smaller and denser (even a tad moist inside) but it tastes fine and my toddler is literally eating it up.
If we insist on going rogue and using wheat flour, do you have any recommendations? Would 50% more yeast help out? Could it be that the opened container of yeast just got damaged from being in the fridge (sealed as best I could) for a week?
Divided in two because of the size of my dutch oven! And added dried cherries instead. Delicious!
Just made this recipe and it’s delicious! My only issue was that the bottoms of the loaves got a little charred. This happens in my Dutch ovens with my sourdough at times as well. Could this be my parchment paper? I didn’t realize it wasn’t high heat paper until after baking.
Hi Hayley, if the parchment doesn’t look burnt, that shouldn’t be the issue. You can always try turning your oven down to bake a little lower and slower if you’re having issues with the bottom burning.
Hello- can you use a 4.5 Q Dutch Oven? Never used a Dutch Oven before
Hi Sam, we recommend a 6 quart or larger dutch oven for this recipe. See recipe notes for details and alternate baking instructions.
I just bought a Le Creuset Dutch Oven- Do you put it in the oven empty to preheat it for 30 minutes? I have never used one before. Thank you for your time.
Hi Sam, Yes, you’ll bake the bread in a pre-heated (super-hot!) Dutch oven, which helps form a crusty exterior.