It’s been ages since I’ve posted a bread recipe and if I’m to achieve my goal of getting everyone on earth to at least once bake a loaf of bread – I’d better get moving.  This loaf is the perfect candidate for a novice bread baker as the dough is very easy with which to work and the result – delicious – is all the incentive needed to start…kneading.  It can either be made using a bread machine or by hand.  I strongly urge the latter method to the bread machine, but whatever method gets you in the kitchen to make this is just fine and dandy with me.  If you don’t like cranberries, substitute raisins or tart cherries – or leave the fruit out entirely and toss in a handful of toasted, chopped walnuts.  There’s no law against it.

Cranberry Wheat Bread
One Loaf

1 cup warm water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp. prune puree
1 1/2 cups bread flour
2+ cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. allspice
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup dried cranberries, softened in hot water, drained and patted dry

By Machine:
Place ingredients in the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer and select Sweet Bread Cycle.  If your machine has a Fruit setting, add the cranberries when you hear the signal – or about 5 minutes before the kneading cycle has finished.

By Hand:
In a large bowl, whisk together the water, orange juice, maple syrup and yeast and let sit for a few minutes – until it gets slightly foamy.  Stir in the prune puree and then add the flours, salt and spices and mix until a wet dough forms.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, adding whole wheat flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.  Lightly oil another big bowl and when the dough is smooth and elastic, place it in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Oil an 8 1/2 ” x 4 1/2″ loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350F.  Punch dough down and form it into a log and place in the pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until there’s about 1 1/2″ of dough above the lip of the pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the bread is a beautiful, deep brown on top.  I remove the loaf from the pan about 45 minutes or so into baking and place it directly on the oven rack so that the bottom crisps up.  The loaf is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Allow to cool completely before slicing.