Ingredients
Method
- In a large bowl, stir together the 4 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon instant yeast, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, and 1 cup dried cranberries, and ½ cup walnuts. Add the 2 ¼ cups warm water and mix well to incorporate all of the flour. If you need a little more water, add in 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir everything together to form a loose dough.
- Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and place it in a warm place. Let the dough rise for 16-18 hours, or longer.
- When ready to bake, uncover the dough. Pull up 1 side of the dough, then turn the bowl and repeat this step 3 more times so that the dough collapses. Cover again and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Place a dutch oven in the oven and preheat the oven to 500℉.
- Lightly flour a large cutting board, and keep the flour handy. Dump and scrape the dough onto the cutting board and adding a little more flour if necessary so that it's not too sticky to handle, knead and roll the dough for 1-2 minutes. Roll the dough into a ball and place it seam-side down on the cutting board, lightly flour it, and cover with a towel. Let rise for 1 hour.
- Very carefully add the dough to the hot dutch oven. (You may score the top before or after placing it into the dutch oven if you like.) Add the lid and lower the temperature to 475℉. Bake for 30 minutes covered, then remove the lid and bake the bread for 15-25 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove the bread from the dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing it.
Notes
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- Let it rise. This bread needs a long, slow rise. I let my loaf rise for a minimum of 16 hours, and you can let it go for up to 2 days. The longer rise time will deepen its flavor and make for a better-baked loaf.
- Keep in a warm place. Try to let the bread rise in a warm place—I admit this is not always possible for me because our house can be cool, especially in the winter. I keep it near the oven, which is a warmer spot. Or, place it in a sunny spot to encourage its rise.
- Try the fridge. If you have the time and want an even more flavorful loaf, after the initial long rise at room temperature, cover the bowl of dough with plastic and place it in the fridge for up to 3 days. The day you plan to bake, remove it from the fridge, follow the recipe instructions for the brief kneading process, and then let the bread rise and warm up at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
- To score or not to score. Scoring is the process of making shallow cuts to the surface of a loaf before baking. You can make small decorative cuts or use a sharp knife to quickly slash down the center of the top. You can also skip scoring altogether and simply bake the bread seam-side down in the dutch oven!
- Heat the dutch oven while the oven preheats! When you are preheating the oven, let the dutch oven heat as well. This will help create that lovely crackly crust.
- Bake on high heat. I preheat my oven at 500F and then lower it to 475F for the actual baking. I've also had success with 25 minutes at 500F and 20 minutes at 475F.
- How do I know my bread is done? A loaf of bread is fully cooked when it reaches 209-210°F (98-99°C) on an instant-read thermometer. After you have experience baking bread, you'll know when your bread is done by how dark the outside crust has become. I like to do 30 minutes covered in the dutch oven and then 20 minutes uncovered (times will vary depending on your oven).
- Cool the loaf completely. It's SO hard not to tear into a warm, freshly baked loaf of bread as soon as it comes out of the oven, but I urge you to wait at least 1 hour, preferably 2. This allows the starches to set and solidify (if you've ever been disappointed by a gummy crumb, chances are the bread didn't rest long enough).
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