Nut and Bolts:

Sourdough Cinnamon Cranberry Bread is a fun recipe to make, and it uses unfed sourdough discard. This bread is excellent when toasted with butter or maple crème for breakfast. I love having it as a snack with tea. It is adapted from a King Arthur Baking Company's Cinnamon Raisin Sour Dough Bread.

Thoughts on Cinnamon Cranberry Bread:

1. This bread is an airy and slightly sweet bread that is easy to make.

2. This bread can be made with dried cranberries or raisins.

3. I like to make this bread when I know my daughter has a lot of activities because it becomes a quick breakfast or snack.

4. The swirl part of the bread can be tricky, but it is worth giving it a go since it will be super tasty.

Method:

You will need 113g of unfed or fed sourdough starter (For tips, see my blog on sourdough starter), 361g of All-Purpose Flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons of instant yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt, 1 large egg, 71g of butter; softened, 152g of lukewarm water. Also, extra softened butter to grease the bowl to proof the bread.

For the filling; you will need 50g of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water, 74g of dried sliced cranberries, and about ¼ cup of melted butter to cover when the bread comes out of the oven.

To start, place the 113g of sourdough and the 152g of water in a bowl on the stand mixer with the bread hook attachment. Then mix on a medium speed for a few seconds to get the water and sourdough mixed. Next, add the 71g of softened butter and egg. Then add the flour. On one side of the flour, add the sugar, and on the other side, the salt. Then make a well in the flour for the yeast. After that, mix at low speed until the dough forms a ball. Then let it knead until you can stretch a small piece of the dough and see through it without breaking. This test of how well the dough is kneaded is called the windowpane test.

Important Tip: The windowpane test helps a baker know if the bread is kneaded enough. The gluten is fully developed if light can pass through it without the dough ripping. It will be more like a membrane and not clear glass, but light will come through it. If the dough starts to rip, it needs to be kneaded more.

After it finishes kneading, place it in your butter greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and put it in a warm place for it to rise. It will take anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. 

While the bread is rising, it is time to make the filling. First, make the egg wash by beating an egg with water and setting it aside. 

Important tip: This filling can be tricky to get right because adding dried fruit with a swirl can cause the bread to have a gap in it, and it will not slice nicely. I do not care, but it can make it hard to toast. So, chopping the fruit in the food processor first helps distribute the fruit better, which is why I use that method in this recipe. But I felt the bread tasted better if I added the filling and had the fruit whole. Alternatively, you can just chop fruit without chopping it with a cinnamon mixture. So, decide on which method you like the best.

Next, weigh and measure out flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Place them in the food processor and pulse them a few times until mixed. Then add the cranberries to the food and pulse until chopped. 

Once the bread has risen, when it is a light soft pillowy dough, gently deflate it and shape it into a rectangle. Then you want to roll it out. 

Important tip: Before rolling out your dough, measure your pan. If you have a 9 by 5 pan, you do not want the width to be larger than 6 inches. I roll out my dough near my pan so I can check to make sure I do not roll it too wide.

Gently roll out the dough to create a rectangle with a width of about 5 inches and a length of 19-20 inches. Use a dough knife to keep the dough in a rectangle. Once rolled out, brush with the egg wash, leaving a 1-inch edge on the short side. I always leave the edge that is away from me clean so that I can roll the dough away from me. Next, spread the cinnamon and cranberry mixture evenly on the egg-washed dough. Then gently press the fruit into the dough. 

Important tip: When rolling the dough up, you want to ensure it does not get wider in your pan. You also want the center to have the same thickness as the ends, so the bread does not sag that much in the middle.

Next, roll the dough up toward the section that does not have any filling on it. Gently roll and crimp it under, making a tight roll while ensuring that the sides of the dough do not get wider than the pan. You may need to gently crimp the sides of the dough toward the center to keep the width of the bread shorter than the pan. Roll until you are at the end with no filling, then pinch the end into the dough, closing the seam. Finally, place the bread seam side down in the pan. Then cover it and let rise until the crust is at least an inch over the rim of the pan. It should take about an hour. Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Once proofed, place it in the preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. Check on it after twenty minutes to ensure it is not browning too quickly. If it is browning too quickly, tent the top of the bread with some tin foil. It will be done when the internal temperature is 190°F. Then take the bread out of the oven. Next, release the bread from the pan and cool it on the rack. Immediately brush on some melted butter all over the crust of the bread. Then cool and enjoy.

Final thoughts on Sourdough Cinnamon Cranberry Bread:

This is one of my favorite bread to make and eat. It is a great bread to use for French toast. It is also wonderful on its own. It's a great snack, and I love to have it around my mess. I hope you give it a whirl in your mess.