Cranberry Walnut Sourdough

This cranberry walnut sourdough, is without a doubt, my favorite way to make and eat sourdough bread. My girls won’t touch it because of the nuts and cranberries, but together my husband and I can easily polish this off in a day and a half. It’s got that wonderful sourdough flavor but it’s accentuated by tart cranberries whose juices get all over the dough and some crispy walnuts. 

Recipe Origins 

While I’ve been making round, dutch oven style sourdough by following the method in Tartine, this particular recipe comes after about a year of making Alexandra Cook’s Easy Sourdough Sandwich Bread. Alexandra uses a high water percentage in her dough (like you would a focaccia) and bakes the loaf in a 10 inch loaf pan. Borrowing these two steps and pairing them with how I’ve come to make sourdough over the past two years, I developed this somewhat long (but mostly inactive) process for making a sourdough loaf with my favorite add-ins. 

If you’re making this recipe, you already have some experience making sourdough bread so it won’t be too unfamiliar. Just remember to always pay attention to the dough itself, and not given timings. The dough will tell you when it’s done rising, when it’s ready for baking, etc. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Bread Flour: made from a hard wheat and has a protein content of around 13%. Water: cool, filtered tap water is ideal. 

Fed or active sourdough starter: about 8 hours after feeding. The starter should be at its most active, nearly doubled in size, thick and bubbly. 

Salt: fine sea salt. 

Cranberries: dried, unsweetened cranberries. Raisins are a fine substitute if you prefer that. 

Walnuts: preferably, you’d purchase raw walnuts and toast them yourself (in one layer on a flat pan for about 10 minutes, until fragrant). Once they are cool you can use them for the bread. You can also buy toasted walnuts but check if they are crispy, if not, toast them for 4-5 minutes to freshen them up. Pecans work great here too! 

Butter & Oil: butter to prepare the pan and just a bit of oil so the plastic wrap doesn’t stick to the dough. 

How to make Cranberry Walnut Sourdough

To make it simpler, let’s divide the process into stages: the first is mixing the dough, the second is the folds (the first fold will have you adding salt, the second adding the nuts and berries, then 1-2 more folds without any additions), the last is the slow rise (one at room temperature, one in the fridge), finally, we bake. 

First stage: mix the dough 

In a large bowl add the water, then the fed sourdough. Use a whisk to mix it well. 

Then add the flour and use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to mix it. It will look dry and shaggy. Cover and let rest. 

Separately, stir together the salt and a tablespoon of water. It helps if the water is hot because the salt will dissolve into it quicker. 

Second stage: 3-4 folds. Total time: about 4 hours. 

At the first fold, which happens after the dough has rested for 30 minutes, you’ll add the salt water and incorporate it by lifting the dough and folding it over itself like this: 

Once you’ve done this about 7-9 times, the dough will start to feel stiffer. Cover it and let it rest for another 30 minutes. 

The second fold is when we’ll add the nuts and berries and we’ll incorporate them the same way we did the salt: pour them over the top of the dough then lift and fold the dough over itself. Repeat until the add-ins are incorporated and the dough starts to feel firmer. Cover and let rest, this time for about an hour. 

The third fold can happen 1 or 1.5 hours after the second. It’s the same process: lift and fold the dough over itself over and over until it feels taut. 

The fourth fold is optional but recommended (it adds a bit more structure to the dough). You can do it 1-1.5 hours after the third. 

Third stage: rest. 

There are three resting periods: in the bowl, in the pan at room temp, and in the fridge. 

The first in the bowl after the last fold, you’re looking for the dough to have increased about 30% in size. This can take around 2 hours, it depends on the temperature of your kitchen. 

Once it has, butter a 10 inch loaf pan (butter keeps the bread from sticking to the pan) and stretch and roll the dough into a log, then fold it over itself and squeeze the ends together. 

Place it in the pan, seam side down, and oil the top of the dough and place some plastic wrap over it. 

Now the second rest: let the dough rest in the pan on the counter until it’s about a quarter of an inch from the rim of the pan. When it is, transfer to the fridge. 

The third and final rest: in the fridge for 12-16 hours. The dough should be just above the rim of the pan before you bake it. 

Bake the bread: preheat the oven and bake the bread, with a pan of ice, until deep golden. 

Why do I need ice in the oven when I bake the bread? 

Because when the ice melts, it will release steam. Steam keeps the bread from drying out (especially needed since we aren’t baking this in a dutch oven) and helps us achieve a crispy and chewy bakery-style crust. 

What if I don’t have a 10 inch long loaf pan? 

You can split the dough between two smaller loaf pans. Halve it after the dough has increased about 30% in the bowl, and roll and fold it up before placing into the buttered pans. Your loaves will be shorter than the ones pictured. 

Cranberry Walnut Sourdough Recipe 

Cranberry Walnut Sourdough

Sourdough bread studded and flavored with walnuts and cranberries. This bread is baked as a loaf, making it perfect for slicing for toast and sandwiches.

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Resting Time: 1 day d

Yields: 1 large loaf

5 from 2 votes

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Ingredients

• 400 g water cool
• 100 g fed sourdough starter
• 520 g bread flour
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon water
• 130 g dried cranberries
• 110 g chopped walnuts toasted and cooled*

Method

• In a large bowl, add the water and then the fed starter. Whisk together, then add the bread flour and stir with a rubber spatula until you have a thick, shaggy dough. Cover to seal.
• Stir together the fine sea salt and tablespoon of water and set aside while the dough rests.
• After 30 minutes, pour the salt water over the dough and mix it in by hand, folding the dough over itself several times until it’s taut. This is your first fold.
• Cover and let rest for another 30 minutes.
• Break up the walnuts into smaller pieces by pressing them between your fingers. Add the dried cranberries and the walnuts on top of the dough and then begin your second fold: lifting the dough from one side to drape it over itself (like folding a blanket), repeat this over and over until most of the nuts/berries have mixed into the dough and it is becoming tighter. Cover the dough and let rest.
• After 45-60 minutes, do a third fold: repeating the process of lifting the dough from one side and folding it over itself. Over and over until the dough becomes tight and starts to form a smooth, shapeless ball.
• If you have time, give the dough a fourth fold around the 2.5 or 3 hour mark (so at least an hour after the third fold). Cover and let the dough rest for another 2 hours or so, until it has risen about 30% in the bowl.
• Butter a 10 inch long loaf pan. Take the dough and roll it into a tight log (but not so tight you pop the air bubbles) and fold it over itself squeezing the seam together. Place it seam-side down into the pan. Use a small amount of oil (I use olive) to rub over the top of the dough and cover to seal. Let rest at room temperature until the dough has relaxed into the pan and has risen to just below the rim of the pan. Set in the fridge overnight or for up to 16 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 450 F. When the oven is ready, take your bread out of the fridge. Fill a cake pan (anything that’s 6-9 inches, round or square) with ice. Place both the bread and the cake pan with ice in the oven (the ice can be next to the bread or under it). Lower the temperature to 400 F and bake for about 35-40 minutes, until a deep golden brown crust has formed on top.
• Out of the oven, set the bread on a cooling rack. Let cool for about 3 hours before slicing.
• Store the bread in a bread box or under a cloche. The crust will be crispy and chewy the day of but it will soften into just chewy the next day.

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