Cranberry Wild Rice Sourdough Bread: A Recipe from the Farm

Last Updated on December 21, 2023 by TheFarmChicken

This Cranberry Wild Rice Bread is beautiful. Bright red cranberries make for pretty pink swirls inside the loaf. This is definitely a Fancy Farm Food, and it will fit perfectly on your holiday table. I love how festive cranberries are and I always take a little cranberry sauce when I go through the line at Thanksgiving Dinner. Cranberry Wild Rice Sourdough Bread: A Recipe from the Farm combines wild rice and cranberries in a delicious sourdough loaf.

The cranberries make such a pretty color in this bread. They are bright red, and tasty, every time you get a bite. What does the wild rice do? It makes the bread even more moist and complements the cranberries well. The first time I started creating this recipe I used to much rice and not enough cranberries… I worked through that and now I am excited to share it with all of you!

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The Ingredients:

Sourdough Starter

You want to have a mature starter for this recipe. With all the inclusions in this bread I wouldn’t recommend using a young starter. You might have a hard time getting it to rise.

Sourdough Starter replaces the need for active dry yeast also known as instant yeast in a recipe.

If you don’t have a starter and need to make one, here is everything you need to know. Agnes would love to teach you all about sourdough!

Water

You always want to use a chlorine free water when working with sourdough. I use distilled water, but a well filtered water should work too. You are mainly just trying to avoid tap water, and like I said, water that has chlorine. Chlorine will weaken your starter by killing the natural yeasts.

Bread Flour

I like to use Dakota Maid bread flour in all my sourdough loaves. Another good brand that I have heard a lot of good about is Kind Arthur flour. The reason it is helpful to use a bread flour is for the increased protein in the bread giving you a stronger gluten formation in your loaf.

Salt

Kosher salt is my go-to when working with sourdough baked goods.

Wild Rice

Wild rice is popular in Minnesota and grows in streams, rivers and lakes. Have you ever heard of wild rice? It pairs well with sourdough and adds a nice moisture to the bread.

When shopping for wild rice we saw a lot of “Wild Rice Blend” but you want just straight wild rice. I will link it below.

Fresh Cranberries

Sometimes people will use dried cranberries or craisins in baked goods, but I wanted the beautiful color and flavor of boiling down and using fresh cranberries.

I take the fresh tart cranberries, boil them down with a little sugar and water. They are boiled until they get very thick and most of the moister is gone. The result is slightly sweet cranberries that have been made into a preserve like consistency.

The Dough:

This is a fairly sloppy dough and stiff dough. As I was working with it, it takes a bit to get the cranberries mixed in. Don’t let yourself be discouraged by that though because it will come together and bake beautifully! At the kneading stage I usually use the mixer, but it might be helpful to knead it by hand for a couple minutes toward the end of the kneading time.

Serving Suggestion:

• Slice this bread and use for an after Thanksgiving leftover turkey sandwich. Spread some cranberry sauce on it and enjoy! This would be good as a grilled sandwich too!
• This is a good bread for grilled cheese. I use mozzarella and it pairs nicely with the flavors!
• Toast this bread to lightly golden brown and serve with farm fresh eggs and fruit.

Pin for Later:

Cranberry Wild Rice Sourdough Bread: A Recipe from the Farm

Cranberry Preserve

• 1 ½ cup cranberries, washed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 T water

Ingredients for Cranberry Wild Rice Sourdough Bread

• 140 g sourdough starter, active and mature
• 200 g water, room temperature and chlorine free
• 475 g bread flour
• 172 g cranberry sauce
• 2 T uncooked wild rice, cooked to package directions (67 g cooked wild rice)
• 8 g salt

Instructions to make the cranberry preserve:

• In a small saucepan combine the cranberries, sugar and water and cook over medium heat stirring frequently. The berries will pop, and you will cook them for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce gets really thick. You want most of the moisture to boil off. Cool in the refrigerator before adding to the bread.

Instructions to make the cranberry wild rice sourdough bread:

• In a large mixing bowl or large bowl of a stand mixer; measure out the active starter and water. Mix this together with your hand, wooden spoon, or Danish dough hook. After it has made a slurry measure in the flour.
• Next, either with the dough hook attachment and stand mixer or by hand, mix until a shaggy dough forms about 1-2 minutes. Let the dough rest, covered for 30 minutes. (This is the Autolyse.)
• After autolyse add in the cranberries, cooked wild rice, and kosher salt. Knead on the lowest setting or by hand for 5-6 minutes. I usually do the majority of it in the mixer and then take it and knead it in by hand for the last few minutes.

NOTE: The dough with be kind of sloppy but don’t worry about this just try to work in the rice and cranberries as well as you can and it will come together more as you do your stretch and folds.

• Grease a large non-metal large mixing bowl with a dash of olive oil or cooking spray and once the bread is done being kneaded transfer to the greased bowl.
• Let rest and cover bowl with tea towel for 45 minutes.
• After the rest you will now perform your first set of stretch and folds.
• Take the dough on one side and pull upward until it doesn’t want to pull anymore. (Don’t rip the dough.) Fold it over to the middle of the dough and turn the bowl a quarter turn. Repeat 3 more times. You have now completed one stretch and fold.
• Then…
• 45 min rest, covered, then stretch and fold
• 45 min rest, covered, then stretch and fold
• 30 min rest, covered, then shape
• Next, remove the dough from the bowl onto a clean work surface with NO flour. (If the dough is sticky use some water in a small bowl to wet your fingers.)
• Take the dough and stretch or laminate the dough by pulling it gently into a rectangle. Next fold it in thirds into the middle and roll it up from one end.
• Pull the dough ball toward you with cupped hands to create tension. Be sure not to over do this step as you don’t want to rip the dough.
• Let rest for 15 minutes covered with a tea towel.
• After the rest, gently do the final shape the loaf again using the same process as earlier but being gentler with the dough. It doesn’t pull out as far the second time and that is okay.
• Once it is shaped again, flour the bannetons and place the loaf inside with the seam side up. Put the loaf in a bag and tie.

Bulk Ferment/ Bread Rise:

• Let the loaves sit on the counter for 30 minutes before placing them in the fridge for 8-10 hours.

Bake Day:

• The next day once the loaf has been in the fridge for 7 hours; preheat your oven with the Dutch oven inside to 500 degrees.
• At around 1 hour of preheating take the bread dough out of the fridge and flip it out of the banneton onto a piece of parchment paper.
• Do any designs you would like and then slash the dough. Remember to do this at a slight angle and a half inch to an inch deep.
• Place dough into the preheated Dutch oven using the parchment paper as a lifter. Return the Dutch oven to the oven, reduce the temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
• When the 25 minutes are over, take the lid off the Dutch oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Place the loaf onto a wire rack.
• Allow to cool and enjoy! It is delightful!

Cranberry Wild Rice Sourdough Bread: A Recipe from the Farm

This Cranberry Wild Rice Bread is beautiful. Bright red cranberries make for a pretty pink swirls inside the loaf. This is definitely a Fancy Farm Food, and it will fit perfectly on your holiday table.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Cranberry Preserve

• 1 ½ cup cranberries washed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 T water

Cranberry Wild Rice Sourdough Bread

• 140 g sourdough starter active and mature
• 200 g water room temperature and chlorine free
• 475 g bread flour
• 172 g cranberry sauce
• 2 T uncooked wild rice cooked to package directions (67 g cooked wild rice)
• 8 g salt

Instructions

Instructions to make the cranberry preserve:

• In a small saucepan combine the cranberries, sugar and water and cook over medium heat stirring frequently. The berries will pop, and you will cook them for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce gets really thick. You want most of the moisture to boil off. Cool in the refrigerator before adding to the bread.

Instructions to make the cranberry wild rice sourdough bread:

• In a large mixing bowl or large bowl of a stand mixer; measure out the active starter and water. Mix this together with your hand, wooden spoon, or Danish dough hook. After it has made a slurry measure in the flour.
• Next, either with the dough hook attachment and stand mixer or by hand, mix until a shaggy dough forms about 1-2 minutes. Let the dough rest, covered for 30 minutes. (This is the Autolyse.)
• After autolyse add in the cranberries, cooked wild rice, and kosher salt. Knead on the lowest setting or by hand for 5-6 minutes. I usually do the majority of it in the mixer and then take it and knead it in by hand for the last few minutes.
• NOTE: The dough with be kind of sloppy but don't worry about this just try to work in the rice and cranberries as well as you can and it will come together more as you do your stretch and folds.
• Grease a large non-metal large mixing bowl with a dash of olive oil or cooking spray and once the bread is done being kneaded transfer to the greased bowl.
• Let rest and cover bowl with tea towel for 45 minutes.
• After the rest you will now perform your first set of stretch and folds.
• Take the dough on one side and pull upward until it doesn’t want to pull anymore. (Don’t rip the dough.) Fold it over to the middle of the dough and turn the bowl a quarter turn. Repeat 3 more times. You have now completed one stretch and fold.
• Then…
• 45 min rest, covered, then stretch and fold
• 45 min rest, covered, then stretch and fold
• 30 min rest, covered, then shape
• Next, remove the dough from the bowl onto a clean work surface with NO flour. (If the dough is sticky use some water in a small bowl to wet your fingers.)
• Take the dough and stretch or laminate the dough by pulling it gently into a rectangle. Next fold it in thirds into the middle and roll it up from one end.
• Pull the dough ball toward you with cupped hands to create tension. Be sure not to over do this step as you don’t want to rip the dough.
• Let rest for 15 minutes covered with a tea towel.
• After the rest, gently do the final shape the loaf again using the same process as earlier but being gentler with the dough. It doesn’t pull out as far the second time and that is okay.
• Once it is shaped again, flour the bannetons and place the loaf inside with the seam side up. Put the loaf in a bag and tie.

Bulk Ferment/Bread Rise:

• Let the loaves sit on the counter for 30 minutes before placing them in the fridge for 8-10 hours.

Bake Day:

• The next day once the loaf has been in the fridge for 7 hours; preheat your oven with the Dutch oven inside to 500 degrees.
• At around 1 hour of preheating take the bread dough out of the fridge and flip it out of the banneton onto a piece of parchment paper.
• Do any designs you would like and then slash the dough. Remember to do this at a slight angle and a half inch to an inch deep.
• Place dough into the preheated Dutch oven using the parchment paper as a lifter. Return the Dutch oven to the oven, reduce the temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
• When the 25 minutes are over, take the lid off the Dutch oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Place the loaf onto a wire rack.
• Allow to cool and enjoy! It is delightful!

Servings: 1 loaf

This recipe was fun to create, and I hope you enjoy adding it to your holiday table or just as a special treat on a normal day. I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment or review on this Cranberry Bread recipe below. Thanks for stopping by!

Mariah N. | TheFarmChicken

Other Cranberry Recipes on TheFarmChicken:

How to Make Sugared Cranberries: A Recipe from the Farm

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• Smithey Dutch Oven (Our favorite cast iron brand!)
• Gram Scale
• Wild Rice
• Bannetons (Amazon with good reviews. I have Ballerina Farm Bannetons.)
• Bread Lame ( Amazon with good reviews with a good price point. I have a Ballerina Farm Lame.)
• Bench Scraper

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