Thanksgiving Cranberry Corn Bread
It will soon be American Thanksgiving, so I thought I’d re-post our Thanksgiving Cranberry Corn bread. It’s based on the Portuguese Broa style (page 151 in the book)—it’s the regular Master Recipe, but with 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour taken out and replaced with an equal amount of cornmeal.
Here’s what you need to do. Take about 2 pounds of the Broa dough mentioned above and shape it into a ball; then flatten it with your hands and a rolling pin until it’s about 1/2-inch thick. Sprinkle the dough with 1/3 of a cup of dried cranberries (or 1/2 cup fresh):
Now break out your microzester, and use it to scrape the zest from half an orange…
… now sprinkle that over the cranberries, and then sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of granulated sugar over that…
Now roll it up like a jelly roll… If it sticks to the board as you’re rolling, nudge it off with a dough scraper.
Tuck the ends under to form a ball, flatten it on a work surface, and then, using your hands and a rolling pin, make a disk the right size for a 12-inch cast iron pan. It should be about an inch or inch and a half thick. If you don’t have a cast-iron pan, see below.** This instruction applies to this flattened thanksgiving bread only; you can make loaf breads this way too (freeform or in a pan).
Grease the pan well with butter, lard, bacon grease, or oil (I used olive oil today), and place the dough round in it.
Allow to rest for at least 1 hour and 20 minutes. You’ll get a more open hole structure if you wait two hours.
Put a broiler tray in the oven to dump water to make steam. 20 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F if you keep a baking stone in the oven. If you don’ t use a stone, a 5-minute pre-heat is adequate (the stone isn’t required since you’ll bake in the cast-iron).
Just before baking, heat the cast-iron pan over medium heat for 1 or 2 minutes to jump-start the baking process and promote caramelization of the bottom crust. Don’t overdo it–no more than 2 minutes. It will start to sizzle.
Place the pan on a rack near the center of the oven. Pour 1 cup of water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Depending on the thickness of your loaf and the weight of the pan, baking time will be about 25 minutes.
Carefully turn the hot loaf out of the pan onto a serving plate or cooling rack, or just cut wedges directly out of the pan once it cools. Be careful with the hot cast-iron pan!
You should get a result just like the cover photo. Happy Thanksgiving! Other Thanksgiving recipes:
Stuffing from homemade bread: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1228
Thanksgiving buns: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=443
Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie Brioche: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1209
Roasting Your Own Pumpkins: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=50
—–
** This bread can be done as a simple free-form loaf right on a baking stone, cookie sheet, or silicone mat (about the same baking time, or in a loaf pan (longer baking time needed). Either way, it’s done at 425 degrees.
I love all the breads. This one is intriguing.
I just checked your book out from the local library since I’ve heard such awesome things about it on the various blogs I follow. Let me just say that I need to go out and buy my own copy. I’ve added it to my Christmas list. I am officially in love with the master recipe and with the entire book. Thank you for putting it out there!
I would love to be able to try all your wonderful bread recipes.
Love everything that you guys do! Such a gift!
This looks fantastic. I’ve made all kinds of the breads and am excited to try new ones.
what a lovely prize!!!!!!!
Hope I win!
WOW! What a great giveaway! A friend of mine just shared your 2nd book with me and I am loving it! Thanks for this recipe for cornbread. Awesome addition to our Thanksgiving table!
Please, enter me…I love this method of bread making.
looks scrumptious and something perfect for the holidays. thank you for all you do, for the recipes and for the contests. i just received your two books this past weekend and look forward to exploring the recipes – i have made the original bread from the recipe i found in my mother earth news magazine with the article about you and your bread.
I’m excited about the giveaway…I’d love a dough bucket and King Arthur Flour is my fave!
I am using the HBN5 book, which I love.
I am practing doing my best when I have the time. I am trying to be a great bread baker like my father and grandmother.
I also joing a bread making group on Yahoo. I am so happy with everything I am learning. What a great give-a-way !!!!
What a treasure to anyone who wins it !!
Good timing. Just came home with 2 bags of fresh cranberries today. This looks like a real winner to me.
That corn bread looks delicious! Something new to try this Thanksgiving.
I love hunting through my cupboards and fridge for ingredients – whatever I have on hand on any given day. It’s never the same twice but always just as good!
Count me in!
love your book, love your bread … love to win …. thanks for the opportunity!
Great holiday bread idea! And great giveaway.
I would never have imagined making cornbread this way! I love my family’s century-old recipe but am definitely going to give this one a try.
I love cranberries and orange. Looks delicious!
What a great giveaway….I would love to win!
We’ve saved money and ate better by using your recipes to make our own pizza (and other things too 🙂 )
I’m thinking that dough whisk is a better choice than splurging on a 14-cup food processor. After eating all of this tasty bread, heaven knows I need to be doing things by hand. Great giveaway!
The cranberry cornbread sounds delicious. Another bread to try!
This will definately be made this coming holidays. 🙂
Looks wonderful, I am definitely making this for T-day
That looks tasty!
This looks yummy! LOVE your recipes and hope I win! :o)
I love good bread… I love baking… I love giveaways…
Thanks!
Love KAF and would like to try your recipes!
I would love to win this I am sooo ready for the “right” kind of container to store my dough and the full book of recipes to move on in my bread making. Thanks for offering this.
I have just started baking with your method and I am really in to it! I loooove your recipe. It is very easy and convenient for a stay home mom like me. I went today to William Sonoma and couldn’t find the Danish Dough Whisk… I would love to apply for the contest!! Thank you.
Ive made a lot of your breads already, not the broa though. The spruced-up version looks delicious, will make it this weekend!
Oh please oh please. What do I have to do to win this? It would be so helful to my baking to have more ‘tools’. Happy Holiday to you (even if I don’t win *G*)
Regards,
Suzan
Wow! I would love to win this!
awesome book, just brought some bread in for an event today, now the book is coming in for a viewing, always use King Arthur too.
I am learning how to make the bread any help would be good
What a great Christmas gift this would be for one of my new bakers in the family.
oohhhhhh…Dough wisk!
I so want to try that dough whisk! Love baking bread with little to no labor!
That bread looks really good! I’ll have to add it to my list of recipes to try for Thanksgiving.
I have hotdog rolls in the oven as I type this. I love this bread! A whish would make life even easier. Thanks!
What a great contest! Happy Thanksgiving
What fun!
Another delicious-sounding variation. So many good breads, so little time!
I am hosting a big Thanksgiving for the extended family this year. I had to rent a place to hold it. Any breads we make will be from ABin5. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Don’t know where to start…except at the beginning! Everything sounds so delish – and easy…little nervous I’ll be disapointed!
Thanks for the giveaway! Always nice to get some new recipes.
Cast iron skillet sounds great to make the bread in. Will be trying that this year.
What a cool and generous giveaway! I know just who would enjoy it, too. Thanks!