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Incorporating dried fruit, nuts, or herbs into stored dough: Thanksgiving Cranberry Corn Bread
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by Jeff, November 19, 2008
Filed Under Recipes | 35 Comments
Read on for a discussion of how to roll things into stored dough. It works the same whether you’re rolling in dried fruit, nuts, or even herbs…
Before I launch into our Thanksgiving Cranberry Corn Bread, Zoe and I want to thank everyone who posted their bread stories into our blog this past week. Hearing other people’s stories about their bread has been the best part of doing this website. Kelly (see the post from 11/11) is the first winner of the signed book. Kelly does not use her bread machine and loves giving bread away. Bravo. Beth, who posted on 11/14, is the 2nd winner– a working mom with an active blog of her own. We’ll be in touch with both of you.
This week’s bread is a yeasted corn bread adapted for American Thanksgiving but based on the Portuguese Broa style (page 82 in the book). It’s basically our regular Master Recipe, but with 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour taken out and replaced with an equal amount of cornmeal.
The Thanksgiving recipe’s on page 86, but here’s what you need to do. Take about 2 pounds of the Broa dough mentioned above and shape it into a ball; then flatten it with your hands and a rolling pin until it’s about 1/2-inch thick. Sprinkle the dough with 1/3 of a cup of dried cranberries (or 1/2 cup fresh):
Now break out your microzester, and use it to scrape the zest from half an orange…
… now sprinkle that over the cranberries, and then sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of granulated sugar over that…
Now roll it up like a jelly roll… If it sticks to the board as you’re rolling, nudge it off with a dough scraper.
Tuck the ends under to form a ball, flatten it on a work surface, and then, using your hands and a rolling pin, make a disk the right size for a 12-inch cast iron pan. It should be about an inch or inch and a half thick. If you don’t have a cast-iron pan, see below.** This instruction applies to this flattened thanksgiving bread only; you can make loaf breads this way too (freeform or in a pan).
Grease the pan well with butter, lard, bacon grease, or oil (I used olive oil today), and place the dough round in it.
Allow to rest for at least 1 hour and 20 minutes. You’ll get a more open hole structure if you wait two hours.
Put a broiler tray in the oven to dump water to make steam. 20 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F if you keep a baking stone in the oven. If you don’ t use a stone, a 5-minute pre-heat is adequate (the stone isn’t required since you’ll bake in the cast-iron).
Just before baking, heat the cast-iron pan over medium heat for 1 or 2 minutes to jump-start the baking process and promote caramelization of the bottom crust. Don’t overdo it–no more than 2 minutes. It will start to sizzle.
Place the pan on a rack near the center of the oven. Pour 1 cup of water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Depending on the thickness of your loaf and the weight of the pan, baking time will be about 25 minutes.
Carefully turn the hot loaf out of the pan onto a serving plate or cooling rack, or just cut wedges directly out of the pan once it cools. Be careful with the hot cast-iron pan!
You should get a result just like the cover photo. Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks again to all of you who participated in the drawing.
And I guess if this is kinda-sorta Thanksgiving, maybe we should let you know about Holiday sales. Retailers are going to be discounting heavily this season because of the economic slowdown. So Amazon is having a Home and Garden Markdown… it’s not all Kitchen stuff but there are some interesting things on the list. Good luck!
—–
** This bread can be done as a simple free-form loaf right on a baking stone, cookie sheet, or silicone mat (about the same baking time, or in a loaf pan (longer baking time needed). Either way, it’s done at 425 degrees.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Join us on Twitter to keep in touch anytime
Comments
michelle of bleeding espresso said...
November 20, 2008 at 1:38 am
What a great Thanksgiving combo of orange and cranberries. YUM!
And congrats to the book winners! Lucky bakers 
Kelly said...
November 20, 2008 at 5:56 am
I can’t believe I won – I’m beyond thrilled. Thank you both so much!
This recipe looks delicious and gives me a great excuse to use my neglected cast iron skillet.
Lu said...
November 20, 2008 at 6:47 am
I love coming to your website because it encourages me to try yet another bread! The regular repertoire always includes the master boule, deli rye and light wheat – it’s fun to see your photos and then try a new bread.
jeff said...
November 20, 2008 at 6:52 am
Thanks Lu! Believe it or not, all that cornmeal doesn’t make this heavy. Let us know what you think.
Kelly– your book needs to get signed by Zoe too, then off on Priority Mail– hope you enjoy it.
Jeff
Suzana said...
November 20, 2008 at 11:48 am
Our Portuguese Broa is rather heavy, and definitely gives a lot of work to get it right. This sounds like a much lighter yummy version!
Congrats to the winners! 
jeff said...
November 20, 2008 at 11:59 am
Thanks for visiting all the way from Portugal, Suzana. Though you’re making me nervous 
it’s like when the French evaluate our baguette! Please let us know if you make it, if you have any suggestions. Jeff
Christina said...
November 23, 2008 at 6:06 pm
This sounds delicious!
Barb said...
November 24, 2008 at 7:52 am
Hi Jeff and Zoe,
I did my first demonstration of your bread recipe and I’ve posted it on my blog (along with an explanation of WHY (lol!) I have linked back to you, heavily. It was a HUGE success and I’m so excited to my next one. I hope you have a moment to check it out – please let me know if you have any suggestions!
jeff said...
November 24, 2008 at 8:02 am
Thanks Barb, what a great website you have. There are a few others teaching others based on our book, and some people are even baking carloads of bread this way and selling them at farmer’s markets. But your site documents it the best! Jeff
Felice said...
November 27, 2008 at 4:52 pm
News alert…It is possible to make bread in a grill pan.
We just redid our kitchen and I still can’t find all my pots and pans. I wanted to make this bread to bring to our neighbors but could not find the 12-inch cast iron. I didn’t want to recalucualte the amounts for a 10-inch pan so I used the cast iron grill pan. If you don’t mind a funny looking bottom crust the grill pan works just fine. Oh, and the bread tastes good, too.
Cindy said...
November 29, 2008 at 6:22 am
My family usually doesn’t like cornbreads because they are too dry and crumbly. I tried this recipe and shaped it into a boule. It was a BIG hit at Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks!
I love your book and tell all my friends. I even went to one friends house and mixed the first batch for her to show her how easy it is. I can’t wait for your whole grain book!
Pamela said...
December 1, 2008 at 4:05 pm
This bread was incredible! It is also a wonderful breakfast treat toasted with a little butter! Your website and your book have been so inspiring! I can’t wait for your next book!!!!!
jeff said...
December 1, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Thanks Pamela, glad you enjoyed it. Our next book, well it’s only 35 days to book deadline, but then almost another year till release. It’s a relatively slow business. Jeff
AnnMarie said...
February 9, 2009 at 4:05 am
Wish I’d read this before making it from the book yesterday. You say to use 3 tablespoons of butter/grease/oil. So I did. It was hard to put that much in, so I reduced it to about 2.5 and even that was way, way too much. The bottom of the bread is almost-disgustingly greasy.
I couldn’t get my dough to fill the pan and the cranberries poked through the top when trying to push it flatter (I used fresh ones). I let it rest for nearly 2 hours. I also let it rest a bit when I doing the initial patting out–hard a hard time there as well. Any tips?
jeff said...
February 9, 2009 at 6:02 am
First, just reduce the butter or whatever you used, to your taste.
What was the problemw with the resting time, the cranberries etc?
Steve said...
October 16, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I love the broa as a nice, hearty bread, or better yet as a pizza crust, but this is the first recipe from your book that I thought was terrible! I didn’t think the cranberries and orange went with the cornbread at all; perhaps if it was sweeter like American-style cornbread. I did, however, try out this recipe with brioche dough instead and it was wonderful, the best-tasting bread I’ve ever made. The real delight of your book is how simple it is to adjust recipes to individual tastes.
zoe said...
October 16, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Hi Steve,
That is exactly what we hoped people would do, play with the dough and create their own breads. When you have a big bucket of dough you are more inclined to create new taste combinations. Sorry you didn’t care for the broa version, but I’m thrilled about the bread you made with the brioche!
Thanks, Zoë
dorcas said...
November 29, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I baked your yeasted Thanksgiving bread in a Le Creuset pate terrine on Thanksgiving morning & it was the hit of our family dinner.
The next day my 85-year old mother-in-law said that the only thing she wants for Christmas is for me to bake her some more of that bread!
I discovered your first book this summer when I was sitting around the house recovering from spine revision surgeries. I can’t bend or lift & have a lot of other restrictions. My husband would put everything out on our kitchen counter & I’d bake away. I’m working my way through the first book & the second one just arrived. My family & co-workers thank you!
mary anne said...
March 17, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question … I want to use the potatoes I have on hand to make some bread. (yes it is St. Pat’s day). The 2 recipes in your ‘Healthy’ book call for raw potatoes cut into 1/4″ pieces. Other recipes call for cooked/mashed potatoes. Do the potatoes in your recipes cook well and become soft in the loaf – and if I were to use mashed/riced potatoes, what is you advice?
zoe said...
March 17, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Hi Mary Anne,
Some of the recipes call for cooked mashed potatoes and others for raw diced ones. The raw potatoes are cut small enough that they soften up beautifully while the loaf is baking. The difference in the loaves is the texture. The loaf with the mashed potato is a very hearty loaf with a smooth texture. The other has the chunks of potato throughout. Both ways are great!
You can experiment adding the riced potato to your recipe, but not too much or it will make the loaf too dense. You may have to add a bit more Vital Wheat Gluten and perhaps more water to get the texture you want?
Thanks and happy baking! Zoë
Tom Muschlitz said...
March 25, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Has anyone tried pretzel rolls or bread with the basic recipe?
zoe said...
March 25, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Hi Tom,
Are you looking for pretzels like this: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=489 or something else?
Thanks, Zoë
Brooke Clarke said...
April 8, 2010 at 10:43 am
Hi:
Is there a reason you don’t have an Onion Dough?
Have Fun,
Brooke
zoe said...
April 8, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Hi Brooke,
We have several loaves that feature onions in the dough, but generally they are added to the dough after it is mixed. The only one I can think of that has raw onions is the beet bread in HBin5. Hmmmm, an idea for the next book!
Thanks, Zoë
Susan Irwin said...
May 31, 2010 at 10:22 am
I added dried rosemary to an original boule, and the bread was delicious. I would like to make this dough into dinner rolls, but I’m not how long to let the rolls rest, or to bake. Any suggestions for making rolls from the “original” and healthy bread doughs will be greatly appreciated.
By the way, I’m still playing with the various doughs … sometimes they rise beautifully, sometimes not so much. No problem, though, since they are all delicious, even if a little flat!
jeff said...
May 31, 2010 at 11:00 am
Susan: Check out our dinner roll postings at:
Thanksgiving rolls/buns: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=443
Kaiser Rolls: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=544
Brotchen: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=536
“Baguette” buns: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=392
Susan Irwin said...
June 5, 2010 at 10:34 am
Thanks, Jeff, I’ll try the baguette buns ASAP.
Angie said...
August 4, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I just got back from Norway, where the bread is fantastic! Whole wheat with lots of seeds. Can you tell me the best way to incorporate seeds into your bread dough? I just bought the Artisan Bread book, but haven’t started baking yet.
zoe said...
August 4, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Hi Angie,
You can either roll the seeds into the dough as we’ve done in this post or your can mix them in the dough when you are first stirring it together. If you choose to add them in at the beginning be sure not to add so many seeds that it will interfere with the doughs ability to rise and stretch. In our second book we have a wonderful seeded bread that you may be interested in taking a look at.
Enjoy, Zoë
Bettyanne said...
September 1, 2010 at 8:16 am
Good morning Jeff and Zoe. I have some leftover buttermilk dough (about 1 and 1/2 pounds ) I was thinking about making it into a granola bread. What do you think and since the dough is already mixed, would I have to make a roll and spread it out OR can I mix the granola into the raw dough and give it a greater resting time? Please help me here. Thanks so much
jeff said...
September 1, 2010 at 11:08 am
Bettyanne: I like doing it as a roll-in as above. Mixing it in is going to be more cumbersome, I think, but should work. Not sure how this would affect rest time but I’m guessing you’re right– that it’d need more rest. 20 or 30 min more??
Bettyanne said...
September 1, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Thanks Jeff, I think I’ll do it as a roll up. Do you think the granola and the Buttermilk Bread are a good match?
Bettyanne said...
September 2, 2010 at 11:38 am
Good morning Jeff and Zoe (it’s still morning for me here in CA). My Buttermilk bread and granola bread really tastes fantastic. What a wonderful breakfast with some yogurt. I have a question though. When I slice the bread, the granola all falls out of thebread instead of staying inside. What should I have done different. I did sprinkle a light layer of suger before the granola but maybe I should have done something different. Thanks for any advice you can offer.
zoe said...
September 2, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Hi Bettyanne,
If you have our book you will want to follow our Aunt Melissa’s granola bread recipe on page 114. If you are folding the granola into dough you already have then you may want to use the Swiss Muesli Breakfast Bread recipe on page 215. This recipe requires you to soak the muesli in milk and then work that mixture into the dough by kneading it, which then requires a longer rise.
Give either of those a shot and let us know how it goes! Thanks and enjoy, Zoë
Judy Neary said...
November 19, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Yummy! Can’t wait to try it.