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
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** 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 just ordered ABin5 (it arrived on my doorstep last week), and I can’t wait to get started with the Master Recipe! If I won, I’d keep everything except the book – I have a friend who would love it for Christmas!
Sign me up for the contest too! Thanks!
-drew-
Looks delicious! And great giveaway! 🙂
Just got my new order from KA. Now that the weather is turning colder puts me in the mood to bake. Just stirred up a batch of no Knead bread. My family says I bake LOVE in every loaf! I consider that a huge compliment!
Sounds delicious! But i already have requests for rolls!
Going to have to give the cornbread a go. Fun giveaway!
I’m looking forward to trying this with the fresh cranberries we just brought back from Cape Cod!
I love your recipes and KAF! I will definitely be trying this bread now that I have a cast iron skillet.
I’ve had your book for about 2 weeks now and I’m in LOVE! My family refuses to eat any other bread now!
This sounds wonderful! Thank you for the recipe and the fantastic give-away.
How cool is this???? KAF is my favorite go-to source for baking supplies !!
yumma yumma yumma!!
OOh, what a nice giveaway! I have been wanting one of those Danish dough whisks, it was going on my Christmas list.
Great giveaway!
That looks so yummy! Thanks to all for the giveaway. I hope I win!
Cranberry cornbread sounds fantastic. I’m mulling it over, as this year I’m doing vegetarian Mexican food for Thanksgiving…. Maybe I’ll do TexMex or Southwestern. 🙂
Cool contest.
Oh wow, that looks so good!
This recipe will definitely be my Thanksgiving dinner bread recipe. I would LOVE to win this package. I’ve got the book (it’s my fave) but I would keep the flour (King Arthur is by far the best), the whisk and the rising bucket and give the book as a gift. Am already planning to give several for Christmas so this would be very special.
Great contest! Would love the share the ABin5 book as a gift!
Wow! I was totally putting one of these sets together for a gift – hope I win so I don’t have to do all the work 😉
Mixed up master receipe of dough. Started using King Arthur Flour when my neighbor moved here from China, that is the only flour she uses and now I am a convert. Imagine that someone from 16 hours away can teach me about an American Product. Thanks for listening and good luck to contest entries.
Just wanted to thank you. The book is great. I love being able to fit baking into my schedule so easily. I will never by sliced bread again. The recipes with the procedures in pictures have really helped. Thanks
another good use for cast iron pans, woohoo!
Please enter me in your contest.
Thanks for the opportunity! I made a cranberry orange bread today! This looks wonderful!
Would love to win this prize! I am already planning on ordering the Danish dough hook for Santa to put in my stocking.
I love this book and KA is my favorite flour ever! Love the cornbread recipe too!
This recipe sounds yummy
I bought the book for the gf breads, but now my family is getting to enjoy the other recipes!
This looks sooooo good! I love your site but it always makes me hungry!!!!!
pick me! Pick me! I have a newborn baby and would love to use my time off from work to learn to make bread. Good luck to everyone!
I’m a sucker for bread with cranberries! Can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂
Thanks for an opportunity to win such an enticing prize….have your first book…LOVE it…and continue to get excited about trying another recipe there.
Thanks for the contest!
Just made my first loaf of bread in cast iron this weekend. Really liked the way it turned out and will be using this method more often!
That sounds devine! I have a loaf of the master dough resting now for dinner tonight. I love both of your books. Winning this would let me give it as a gift.
I love your book Healthy Bread, would love to win the Artisan Bread book AND supplies!! Go King Arthur!!
Just baked a batch of bread this morning. Yum!
I will definitely try this recipe- I love all the breads in your books. It always impresses my friends when I make my own bread!
Love bread and love king arthur anything! great combination in this recipe!
These recipes look so good! I’m going to be trying them soon!
I’d LOVE to win this package. I need a proofing bucket in the worst way. 🙂
Would love to win!
Making a batch of sticky pecan caramel rolls RIGHT now!
Wow, if I could get a copy of the book, that would be one thing of my Christmas list!
I love my five-minute bread!!
Baking my own bread is my dream and I hope I can get to it sometime soon…
Wow! Great giveaway! The bread looks fabulous, I haven’t tried this one yet. Thanks for the opportunity!
Cornbread? Good. In a cast iron? Good. With cranberries? Goooood! I will definitely be trying this recipe at some point this Holiday season. Thanks to King Arthur Flour and the ABin5 gang for the giveaway!
What a great giveaway! Am looking forward to learning how to make bread in 5 minutes a day. 🙂
Yum! Hopefully my house will be back together by Thanksgiving and I can try this if not I’m bookmarking for Christmas.