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Cranberry Apple Sourdough Bread sliced on a white plate with cranberries scattered and an apple in the background
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Cranberry Apple Sourdough Bread

A deliciously sweet and tangy way to enjoy cranberries.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Resting Time7 hours 29 minutes
Total Time8 hours 19 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: sourdough
Servings: 2 loaves
Author: Nicole

Equipment

  • stand mixer (with dough hook)
  • clay baker

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 c sourdough starter active
  • 1 1/4 c water
  • 1 c whole wheat flour
  • 3 c white whole wheat flour
  • 2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 Honeycrisp apple Peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
  • 2 c cranberries (I used frozen)
  • 4 tbsp honey

Instructions

  • In a stand mixer bowl, combine the starter, water, 1 c whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, and honey.
  • Mix until combined.
  • Add the 3 c white whole wheat flour, cranberries, and roughly chopped apple (you want fairly large pieces or you won't taste the apple at all).
  • Mix well.
  • Let rest 20 minutes.
  • Add the salt, and mix for 9 minutes.
  • Place in a greased bowl and let rise for 6 hours.
  • In the last 20-30 minutes of rising, soak your clay baker.

Second Rise:

  • Dump the water out of your clay baker, and place empty clay baker in a cold oven.
  • Preheat oven with baker inside to 425 for one hour.
  • Meanwhile, divide the dough into two loaves and place in two separate greased bowls, seam side up.
  • Allow to rise for one hour while the clay baker preheats.

Baking:

  • Gently flip one loaf onto a piece of parchment paper, seam side down. Score the top of the loaf as desired, and carefully place in the clay baker.
  • Bake with the lid on for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the lid, and bake for five more minutes.
  • Repeat with second loaf.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

You could also use a Pink Lady apple instead of a Honeycrisp. Those are my favorite varieties to use because they are the perfect balance of sweet and tart. 
You could try without the vital wheat gluten, or substitute dough enhancer. Either way, please come back and let us know how it turned out if you do. 
If you try to bake this bread without a clay baker, I would reduce the oven temperature and bake it longer. Please let us know how it turns out if you try this. (NOTE that I am NOT referring to substituting a dutch oven for a clay baker. I believe they bake fairly similarly, so you would not reduce the temperature or increase the time in that case).