I’m working on a book list for books for each holiday, and since we’re currently in the midst of Thanksgiving I figured I’d share at least one of our favorites right now!
We love Cranberry Thanksgiving (and all the other cranberry holidays!) and every year we make grandmas secret recipe found in the back of the book.
This year, however, I wanted to change the recipe to suit our food preferences! That means making it sourdough, and using freshly milled wheat.
I used my base recipe, which you can find here, and subbed the buttermilk for orange juice, and followed the books instructions. That means I didn’t melt the butter, and I did things kind of backwards from how I do them normally.
I started them overnight and I left them on the counter, only because I didn’t have room in the fridge, and they turned out great! Pretty spongy instead of cake like, I think because they were left on the counter, but it’s actually really delicious!
We would normally mill a kamut wheat berry, a 20/80 mix of soft/hard white wheat berries, or some spelt berries with my stone mill. However, this time I used a locally milled einkorn flour we got from a friend.
First you’ll add your dry ingredients to the mixer, and add in cubed, cold butter. Like you would for a pie crust! I like using my kitchen aid mixer because you can use the paddle attachment which makes cutting butter in a breeze!
And then you’ll mix all of your wet ingredients in a separate bowl, add to the dry ingredients and then fold in the cranberries!
Pop it in a bowl with a lid and put it in the fridge for 12-24 hours, or leave it on the counter like I did for about 8-12!
You can bake this into muffins, which is my preference, (I like to use these non-stick muffin liners!) or into a loaf pan. Baking it in a loaf pan will take longer to bake!
I hope you and your children enjoy these and enjoy the book and bringing literature to life (one of my favorite pastimes)!
As always, feel free to tag me in your creations on instagram or comment below! I’d love to hear your comments!
Cranberry Bread (or muffins) – with Freshly Milled Wheat and Sourdough
Ingredients
Dry
- 250 Grams freshly milled wheat flour, or all purpose
- 200 grams panela sugar (or 1 cup of your preferred sugar)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter cut into cubes
Wet
- 2 eggs beaten
- 100 grams sourdough discard (or bubbly active starter)
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1 tsp grated orange peel
- 1.5 cups chopped cranberries
Instructions
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl (I use my mixer with the paddle attachment)
- Add chunks of butter and cut into the flour mixture until it is crumbly.
- Mix wet ingredients into a separate bowl, beating the eggs first.
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Fold in cranberries.
- If fermenting overnight, move to overnight option. If baking right away, let sit for at least 15 minutes to let the wheat absorb some of the liquid.
Overnight option:
- Pop it in a bowl with a lid and put it in the fridge for 12-24 hours, or counter for 8-12 hours.
Baking:
- Preheat oven to 425*F
- Put muffin mixture (either fermented or not) into parchment paper muffin liners.
- Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with sugar.
- Bake for 5 minutes.
- Lower temperature to 350*F and bake for an additional 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- If you are baking in a loaf pan, bake at 350 for 55-70 minutes.