Cranberry Walnut Bread

The "Wine and Cheese Party" has long been a staple of Bonaccorsi family meals. These "parties" are the dinners where we cut up bread, apples, and all our favorite cheeses and sit around the kitchen counter, snacking up a storm. If we're feeling really fancy, we'll occasionally bust out the shrimp cocktail. No matter how fancy or casual we're feeling, though, there's always a loaf of cranberry walnut bread from Whole Foods. Actually, there are two loaves, because this dream bread heats up like a dream for the next day's breakfast.

I have strong feelings about this bread and wanted desperately to make it myself while I was still in my bread making craze. When I looked up the recipe online, though, I found that the recipe for the exact Whole Foods bread isn't the greatest thing for your health (which is probably why it's so delicious) I decided to spruce it up a little.
This version uses whole wheat flour, a lot less sugar, and apple sauce instead of the fats that the traditional recipe.

I am seriously considering making this bread again and bringing it to Thanksgiving dinner with me, but that might be a little much as I am already responsible for the cranberry sauce (recipe to come). If you're hosting the meal this year, I strongly encourage you to make this bread--the smell alone is totally worth it!
I hope you love this bread as much as we do, whether you serve it at a feast or a wine and cheese party.

Cranberry Walnut Bread
Makes 2 round loaves

3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs honey
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 tbs unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
5 tbs butter
1 Tbs dry active yeast

In a small pot or microwave safe bowl, heat the milk and butter until the butter is melted. Cool the milk Add the sugar and honey, and mix until dissolved.
All ow the mixture to cool until it is warm (105-110ºF), then mix in the yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes, or until the milk bubbles through the butter layer on top.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, nuts, and cranberries.
When the yeast has proofed, add to the flour mixture, along with the apple sauce. Mix with a fork until thoroughly combined.
Turn out on a floured surface and knead the dough well for about 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Form the dough into a ball and cover with flour. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to sit until doubled in size, about an hour and a half. *If you need to move a little more quickly, you can let it rise for an hour, but the longer it sits, the more the flavors will develop.*
Preheat the oven to 400ºF
When the dough is risen, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute.
Divide the dough into 2 balls and allow them to rise, covered, for 30 minutes.
Bake the 2 balls on a pizza stone or parchment lined sheet for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350ºF and continue baking for another 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool to nearly room temperature before slicing.
Enjoy!

Walnut Butter (cookies)

I've had a revelation.
Some people have them while sitting on solitary rocks in the desert.

Some people have them while sitting in the belly of a whale.
I had mine sitting on the couch with a jar of almond butter and a spoon.
Yep, I'm refined like that.

The revelation was this: I love natural nut butters...I can make natural nut butters...I love making food...I bet I'd love making natural nut butters.
Oh, and my revelation was correct. Since I first did the math, I have fallen in love with making nut butters from scratch, adding unexpected ingredients, and then using those butters as the unexpected ingredient in a whole new recipe. It really makes you feel like you deserve the respect you get when you drop the Made from Scratch title.

These are 2 of the most basic nut butter recipes, but I promise I'll post more soon, and hummus too, because that's essentially just a bean butter (and peanuts are technically beans, so.. yep)
These are like the sophisticated big brother of the peanut butter cookie, not quite as elegant as the almond butter cookies I made a few months back (they're more like the great aunt who's surprisingly trendy) but clearly there's a lot more going on with these guys than there is with their peanut butter companions.

In reality, the only real big difference is that these use a different nut, a couple of slightly different measurements, and a giant food processor. The nut does all the heavy lifting, but go ahead, take credit, you did make the butter after all.

Slightly Seasoned Walnut Butter
Makes about 1 cup 

8 oz of walnuts, peeled and coarsely chopped
Water
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp decent vanilla extract)

Soak the walnuts over night in water. This removes any bitterness.
In the morning, preheat your oven to 350ºF and drain your nuts.
Roast the nuts in the oven until dry and slightly fragrant, this should take bout 15 minutes, but check them often and turn them half way through. Do not let them get dark.
Remove the nuts from the oven and cool to room temperature, feel free to keep your oven on if you're going to make the cookies.
Place the nuts in the bowl of your food processor and grind them for a while. At first you'll just have nut mal, but if you keep on scraping down the sides and grinding on and on, you'll end up with a creamy butter. Just before the nuts reach their ideal smoothness (about 13 minutes in) add your vanilla, and continue pulsing and scraping for about another 2 minutes.
Use as you please, I like it in the cookie below.

Walnut Butter Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

1 cup walnut butter (above yield)
1 large egg
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
2/3 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line 2 pans with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients until well incorporated and almost verging on creamy.
Sift in the flour and baking powder, stirring after every 5 hits or so.
Scoop 1/2 tbs sized balls onto the parchment and space them about 2-2 1/2 inches apart, they have a decent spread.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until they're crisp around the edges but still soft int eh middle.
Enjoy!