Whole Wheat Cranberry Almond Bread

Wow, this week’s recipe sure has a long name! It is my first attempt at a semi-original recipe and I think it turned out pretty well. 

What I was attempting, was to combine two of the master recipe variations into one totally awesome bread.  The two variations are a whole wheat batter bread and a batter bread with cranberry and nut mix-ins. I love craisins so I was excited to see how this would turn out.

 

I started off as usual by proofing the yeast, which worked perfectly.  I am getting so good at this part! Then the milk, ½ cup water, butter, honey, salt, a little cinnamon, and the whole wheat flour all get mixed together.

Next, the active yeast gets added.  The craisins and almonds were mixed in with the remaining flour and then slowly added to the mix. 

SIDE NOTE: In retrospect, I would add the craisins and nuts to the dough after all the flour has been thoroughly mixed in.

You can almost see how good it smells.

When the dough was finished mixing, it smelled so wonderful!  The whole wheat, honey, and cinnamon made the most delicious smelling combination.

I’m trying out a different pan again this week; the fluted tube pan or the bundt pan.

FUN FACT: A tube pan usually refers to a pan that has flat, straight sides.  A bundt pan is usually decorated or fluted around the sides.  They seem to be in the same family of pans, like cousins.

Bake for 45 minutes at 375° and ta-da, whole wheat cranberry almond batter bread!

Because of the way the pan cooks the bread, there is a lot more crust than usual.  Most of the whole wheat bread that I’ve had has really dry crust and this bread was no exception, making the increase of crust not a good thing.  The finished bread wasn’t as flavorful as I was expecting with how great the dough smelled.  Also, I think it could have used more craisins! 

Whole Wheat Cranberry Almond Bread

INGREDIENTS

•  1 Tablespoon (1 package) active dry yeast
•  A pinch of brown sugar
•   ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
•  1 cup warm water
•  1 12 oz can evaporated milk
•  2 teaspoons salt
•  2 tablespoons melted butter 
•  1 teaspoon cinnamon
•  1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
•  2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
•  ½ cup craisins
•  ½ cup chopped almonds

DIRECTIONS

1.  Add the yeast, ginger, brown sugar, and ½ cup water to a bowl.  Stir until dissolved and let stand about 10 minutes.
2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the milk, honey, salt, butter, and whole wheat flour.  Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute.
3.  Add the yeast mixture and beat for an additional minute.
4.  Add the all-purpose flour on low speed ½ cup at a time, adding more water 1 tablespoon at a time to maintain a sticky batter.
5.  When all the flour has been added, beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes.
6. Slowly fold in the craisins and almonds.
7. Grease the pan.
8. Add enough dough to fill the pan half way to two-thirds full and cover with plastic wrap.
9. Let the dough rise until double in size.
10. Heat oven to 375° and bake 40-45 minutes.  A bread tester should come out clean and an instant read thermometer should read 200°.
11.  Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove bread from pan and let cool completely