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Nov 18, 2014

No Knead Fruit & Nut Bread

No Knead Fruit & Nut BreadI love it! I love it! I love it! I’m having so much fun with my no knead breads. I started with the plain one, then I made my 100% whole wheat version. Not long after I did it with kalamata olives and now this! The idea came to me during our trip to Vancouver. We had a fabulous brunch at the hotel and they had a whole wheat fruit & nut loaf that looked so good. Did I mention that I’m a bread person? So I tried a slice and it was fabulous. A few minutes later I went back for more and it was gone! All that was left was the tiny heels… but I took them anyway. Everybody loved this bread. I wondered right away if I could make it at home and would it work with my no knead recipe?

The answer is yes. I made it a few times and had to take a break because I kept eating it – I could not stop myself. Fruit and nut bread is such a great combo, especially for breakfast. So here are some things to know:

  • The oven is very hot and sugar burns easily. The first time I made it, the crust was almost burned so I had a better result with a slightly reduced temperature. I still preheat the Dutch oven to the usual 450 degrees F to get the initial blast of heat but as soon as the bread goes in, I reduce the temperature to 400.
  • If your Dutch oven will fit, raise your oven rack up one notch to lift the bottom of the pot farther away from the heat. But put it back to the center for the last 10 minutes when the lid is off.
  • You can also start the dough the night before but using cold water and let the covered mixture stand on the counter top (not in a warm spot) overnight from 8 to 24 hours, and then shape it in the morning and continue.

I  make mine with half and half whole wheat and bread flour. I do recommend bread flour but you can use all purpose flour with the whole wheat. This half and half flour mixture ensures a soft loaf but a healthier one with the added fiber. I tried using all whole wheat flour with this sweet loaf but it didn’t work for me. It’s so simple, you just dump everything into a bowl, the flours, walnuts, raisins, sugar, salt, and yeast, and add water.

If you’re a bread person like me, you will love this delicious fruit & nut bread. But you may have to challenge yourself to not eat it all in one day. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

26 Comments on "No Knead Fruit & Nut Bread"

  1. wj

    I used raisins and cranberries excellent

  2. Rose

    Iove this one. I don’t care for raisins so I used dates, I bet dried cranberries would be great as well even prunes.

  3. Mailyn

    Jenny. Thank you again for your wonderful and delicious, and easy recipes.
    You are making many of us very happy and I hope you continue.
    You are the BEST!

  4. Rose

    Hi Jenny missed your talk show. Love all your recipes I wished some people would pay attention to your videos or read the very clear instructions you provide,instead of asking stupid questions! Happy New Year!!!

  5. Steven Tillman

    Well I wanted to try both plain white and fruit and nut so I made up both batters and using a larger Dutch oven placed both “packages” side by side at the same time in the hot oven. The white did not raise as much as the fruit and nut but both loaves came out great. Incredible, I will never again do the 18 hour version. Totally unnecessary. Fruit and nut will make great holiday gifts. Will make more today on this rainy day. ❤️

  6. Jenny

    Hi Jenny. I can’t wait to try this recipe. Everything in recipe makes sense to me except where you remove lid & parchment paper. How do you do that? Do you remove entire load from Dutch oven & peel paper off and then return the loaf to Dutch oven & continue baking for the remainder minutes? This step confuses me. Please help. Thank you. Jenny

    • Jenny Can Cook

      Please see the video of my Faster No Knead Bread.

  7. Geraldine Pierce

    Could this be cooked in a bread pan and if so what size and does the temperature change??

  8. Dalila G.

    Hi Jenny! 🙂
    I am definitely making this no-knead bread, sounds like it’ll be a winner in my home.
    I can’t wait for an overnight method….LOL…..need this sooner!
    We LOVE eating bread and the sooner the better. 😀
    I’m going to use cherries and pecans as another choice on bread loaf #2.
    Hubby said to make the first one as original recipe states and then make loaf #2, just to make sure I can do it right….wish me luck!
    Have a nice day Jenny!

  9. Curtis Varble

    Can Splenda be used in place of sugar

  10. Curtis Varble

    When I put the dough in the Dutch oven is the parchment paper underneath the dough or on top. Do I turn it up side down.

  11. Lori

    Hi Jenny! I made both the faster NO knead regular bread as well as the fruit and nut. Both are so delicious. Thanks. Love the recipes. The fruit and nut one I made using the overnight recipe. With the faster one, I noticed that the dough didn’t rise that much..though the bread still tasted great despite being undercoooked. I will try both again. Soooooo easy!! By the way, can I substitute dried cranberries for the raisins? Do I have to adjust the temperatures? I ran out of raisins. 😉

  12. Magart

    Can I substitute honey for the sugar?

    • Jenny

      I have never used honey but I see some recipes that do. Let us know how it turns out.

  13. Lisa B

    I love your bread recipe! I like experimenting too. I make it with part unbleached & part whole wheat. I added 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar, 1&1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon( I use Penzeys) & 1/2 cup of raisins. Cinnamon- raisin bread! I bake in a ceramic pot with lid so I haven’t had to change the temp

  14. Rhonda

    Oh I’ve got to make this. It looks so good…yum!…btw, I would’ve taken whatever was left of this bread too. I love bread. I’m so much a bread person and this being a no knead bread, I got this and your other no knead breads. I feel the confidence

  15. Marguerite

    Hello Jenny.i have one question. In which step do I add the raisins and the nuts. Do I have to dust them before with flour? Thank you so much for all your receipes. They are FABUJOUS !!!

    • Jenny

      In step one, I noted that everything goes into the bowl except the water (no dusting). But I clarified that step and listed everything that goes in the bowl. Please look again.

  16. Roz Brown

    FABULOUS! Easy and Super-Delicious! I LOVE bread also. Thank you! Adore your recipes, and admire you, Jenny!

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