Cranberry Orange No-Knead Bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every foodie knows that cranberry and orange are two flavors which compliment each other perfectly. In this recipe, these two great flavors are brought together in a crusty no-knead bread. Like the other dutch oven bread on this website (Recipe here), this bread has a hard crust and a chewy interior. As the name implies, no kneading is needed for this bread. Just mix the ingredients together and forget about it. This bread is great with cheese or as a sandwich like the Grilled Chicken Sandwich below. If you have a dutch oven, this is one recipe worth trying out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

(1) 3 Cups Bread Flour (See Note 1)

(2) 1 Teaspoon Salt

(3) 1 Teaspoon Yeast

(4) 1 Cup Dried Cranberries

(5) 1/2 Cup Fresh Orange Juice

(6) The Zest of 1 Orange

(7) 1 Cup Warm Water

NOTES:

(1) If you do not have bread flour, you can use all purpose flour.

(2) As stated earlier on, this bread is baked in a dutch oven. A dutch oven is a thick walled pot usually made of cast iron which has a tight fitting lid. It can be found in any store where pots are sold. Dutch ovens are great for soups, stews and slow roasting. They can be used on stove tops and in the oven. It is always great to have one of these bad boys in your kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROCEDURE:

(1) This cannot be easier. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a spoon or spatula until a shaggy dough forms. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave it on your kitchen counter for 12 to 24 hours depending on how sour you want your bread. Within this resting period you will notice that the dough will rise and then collapse. That’s what you want to happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2) 30 minutes before the end of the resting period, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and place the dutch oven along with its lid in the oven.

(3) At the end of the resting period, turn the dough onto a heavily floured work surface. Using a bench scraper (or any tool of your choice) roll the dough in the flour (it will be very sticky) and shape into a ball. The ball shape need not be perfect. Your aim will be to bring the dough together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4) Take the dutch oven out of the oven, transfer the dough into the dutch oven, cover the dutch oven and return it to the oven. Be careful as the dutch oven will be very hot. Bake the bread covered for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take off the cover and bake the bread for another 15 minutes. Total baking time = 45 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5) Allow the bread to cool in the uncovered dutch oven for 10 minutes. Take it out of the dutch oven and let it finish cooling off on cooling racks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS RECIPE:

Artisan Bread. Recipe here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homemade Butter. Recipe here.