Wild Rice and Cranberry Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread

By: Amber Grangroth

Wild rice and cranberry Sourdough bread was inspired by the bread on a sandwich at a restaurant I went to last summer with some of my family. Of course I don’t remember what was inside the sandwich but I knew I needed to recreate the bread recipe because I have a serious weakness for delicious homemade bread.

The wild rice adds a slight nuttiness to the bread while the cranberries add little pockets of tartness. Yum! I like to make a little extra wild rice when I am making wild rice soup and freeze the extra to use when making this bread.

This bread is baked in a Dutch oven, which holds in the steam from the dough creating a delicious crusty outside and a soft chewy inside. It goes perfectly toasted with cream cheese or butter and jam or loaded with chicken salad and lettuce. Or eat however you’d like! Its sure to be delicious!

You need an active sourdough starter before making this bread. Be sure to feed your starter beforehand so you have an active bubbly starter ready to mix up this bread!

Lets get to making some bread!

Wild Rice and Cranberry Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup active sourdough starter
1/2 cup cooked and cooled wildrice
1/3- 1/2 cup craisins
3 1/4 cups bread flour
1/2 Tbsp salt

Instructions:

In a large bowl, add warm water, sourdough starter, wild rice, craisins, and mix to combine.

Add in the bread flour and mix to form a shaggy dough. Cover and let rest for 30-60 minutes.

Sprinkle salt over dough and pinch it in with your fingers. Lift up one section of dough, stretch, and fold it over the top. Turn the bowl 90° and repeat stretching the dough and folding over the top. Repeat this twice more. Then flip the dough over and cover. Let rest for 30 min.

Repeat the series of stretches and folds every 30 minutes for a total of 5 rounds.

Let the dough rest for 1-2 hours.

Dump out onto a lightly floured surface and pull in the edges to form a round. Flip the dough over and twist and tuck to create tension on the dough. 

Place into a floured banneton and let rest for 1-2 hours. A bowl lined with parchment paper or a thin towel and floured will also work.

Place the dough in the fridge to let rise over night.

The next day, preheat the oven to 450°F with a dutch oven inside. Flip the dough onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper and score the dough with a scoring blade or sharp knife.

Place the dough into the hot dutch oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 30 minutes covered. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Place a baking sheet on the rack below the dutch oven to help prevent the bottom from getting too brown.

Cool for at least 1 hour on a cooling rack before slicing.

Enjoy!