Sometimes I catch myself calling a bread “addictive” just because it tastes good. Not the case here: I really struggled not to eat this entire, rather large, loaf in one day. It’s so delicious and doesn’t need to be toasted or buttered, although doing so is delicious. The bread is neither sweet nor sour, but is flavorful in a balanced and interesting way. The texture is also perfectly soft and studded with pecans and dried cranberries. I recommend toasting the pecans before adding them to the dough for optimal flavor, and also try the teaspoon of honey in the beaten egg on the crust for extra caramelization.
While this bread looks like challenge OR Braid, does not contain eggs, oil or butter. The dough is simply flour, milk, honey, salt and sourdough; and it is a variation of this recipe from a few years ago: Naturally leavened bread with whey and honey and sprouted spelled.
There is a relatively larger amount of sourdough starter in the recipe to start the fermentation. Honey also speeds up fermentation and adds no appreciable sweetness to the final bread. Using milk to hydrate the dough and 00 flour as primary flour (70%), the crumb is quite tender. Meanwhile, yecora rojo wholemeal flour (30%) gives the dough more strength and the bread more flavor. If you don’t have yecora rojo you can replace it with any red wholemeal flour, simply withholding a little milk until you’re sure the dough needs it.
The Honey Whey recipe called for a 4-strand braid, while this bread goes with a 6-strand braid. You can choose whatever complexity you want for the braiding. Here’s a helpful one demonstration video I found on YouTube (link also in the recipe instructions) that shows braids from 3 to 9 strands. You could also shape the dough like a roll and bake it in a baking dish great bread pan, if you want. The dough weighs 1.35kg including the pecans and cranberries and only 1.18kg of dough, so you’ll want to scale the recipe for a smaller pan. We have an FAQ on how to scale recipes.
The delicious braid and the discreet cooking method (on a baking tray at 350°F) they’re a nice alternative to artisan crusty bread, but you could also shape the dough into a boule or batard, proof it in a banneton, and bake it at a high temperature in a closed vessel like a ceramic cloche or Dutch oven.
Be sure to check out the Photo gallery after the recipe.
Milk and honey bread with cranberries and pecans
This braided bread is beautiful and delicious. The texture is soft and tender thanks to the milk and all-purpose flour; and the flavor is balanced and interesting with a little whole wheat flour, plus toasted pecans, dried cranberries and a hint of honey. It makes a great gift bread, but you’ll want to make one too.
Total time
1 hour and 45 minutes
ingredients
- 390 grams all-purpose flour (3 cups)
- 170 grams yecora rojo wholemeal flour (1 1/3 cups)
- 400 grams milk, heated to about 90°F (1 2/3 cups)
- 160 grams of sourdough (2/3 cup)
- 50 grams of honey (2 and 1/2 tablespoons)
- 12 grams of salt (2 teaspoons)
- 90 grams dried cranberries (3/4 cup)
- 80 grams pecans, toasted and chopped (3/4 cup)
- for the beaten egg, 1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water or milk and 1 teaspoon of honey
Instructions
- Lightly toast the pecans and chop them if the pieces are large/halves.
- In a medium-sized bowl, thoroughly mix all ingredients except cranberries, pecans, and beaten egg. Cover the dough and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
- Roll out and fold the dough, cover and let rest another 20-30 minutes.
- See this FAQ for photos of the following instructions on adding cranberries and pecans via lamination. Moisten a clean work surface and place the dough on it. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. A little tugging is fine. Spread about 1/3 of the cranberries and pecans over the center third of the dough, then fold to one side to cover the additions. Spread another 1/3 of the additions over the layered portion of the dough, then fold over the other side of the dough to cover the additions. Add the remaining cranberries and pecans to half of the dough. Fold in half and ball up the dough. Put it back in the bowl, cover and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.
- Do a final round of spiral folding or stretch and fold to further distribute the additions and strengthen the gluten.
- When the dough has expanded by 50-100% (100% has doubled), finish the first leavening. My dough rose for 5.5 hours in a warm, lighted oven.
- Decide how complex you want your braid to be. I did a six strand braid. Here’s a video on YouTube showing 3 to 9 strand braids.
- Scrape the dough from its container onto a clean work surface. Usually at this point it is not necessary to flour the bench.
- Divide the dough and preform each piece into a ball or short log. Cover and let rest 10-15 minutes.
- Roll the balls into long tubes. Lightly dust the strands with flour, then braid them following the video instructions.
- Thread the ends of the braid and place the dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Cover with a lightly oiled piece of plastic or a slightly damp tea towel and leave to rise again for 1-3 hours, depending on the dough and room temperature. It should expand and become more puffy (see photo gallery). My dough rose for 2 hours.
- Towards the end of the final test, start preheating the oven to 180°C and prepare the dough.
- Brush the dough with egg milk and honey and place it in the oven.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread exceeds 190°F.
- Place on a rack to cool. Store covered to preserve the soft texture.
