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No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Blueberry Bread

No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Blueberry Bread
My No Knead Whole Wheat Honey Sandwich Bread is one of those recipes that you just might find yourself making over and over, because it is so fast and easy – especially for a yeast bread recipe – and it makes a great all purpose loaf of bread for sandwiches and toast. The loaf is also fairly plain, which makes it a great base for variations. With a little cinnamon, a little brown sugar and a generous amount of dried blueberries, I turned this sandwich bread into one that makes excellent french toast.

No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Blueberry Bread starts out with a mixture of whole wheat flour and bread flour. The flours are heated slightly before being incorporated into the the dough, which helps the loaf to rise faster and make it into the oven more quickly. The dough can be mixed by hand, but I tend to whip it up in my stand mixer, so it really tasks very little time to put together. The whole wheat flour gives the bread a very nutty flavor and a slightly coarser crumb than all purpose or bread flour would. The slightly airier texture of the finished bread makes this perfect for soaking up an eggy french toast batter or lots of butter after toasting. It doesn’t have the sweetness of a cinnamon swirl bread, which often has additional sugar added when making the swirl, but it still has plenty of flavor from the cinnamon and all of those blueberries.

Dried blueberries make a nice change from raisins in this bread dough, adding a sweet and fruity flavor to the loaf. The berries plump up nicely during baking, too. If you have raisins or currants, you could easily substitute those into this recipe or use them in a mixture with some blueberries. Dried cranberries could be subbed in in the fall and winter for a tangier note in cooler weather. This bread slices easily and makes great toast, especially if you finish it off with butter and cinnamon sugar. If you end up taking the french toast route with your finished loaf, pick up some fresh blueberries and make a nice compote to top off your breakfast!

No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Blueberry Bread
2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour (all purpose is ok)
1 3/4 cups water, warmed (100-110F)
5 tsp active dry yeast (2 packages/ .5-oz)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup dried blueberries

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour and bread flour. Microwave for 30-40 seconds, until flour is very warm to the touch.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 cup of the water with the yeast, honey and sugar. Stir and let stand for 5-10 minutes, until yeast is foamy. Add in the remaining water, vegetable oil, salt, cinnamon and about half of the warm flour mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon to combine.
If using a stand mixer, attach a dough hook and continue adding flour with the mixer on medium. Add flour gradually until dough comes together into a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides. A small amount of flour might be left over. Turn speed up to medium, add in blueberries, and mix for 1 minute.
If mixing by hand, gradually add in the remaining flour, mixing vigorously with a wooden spoon with each addition. Mix until until dough comes together into a smooth ball and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. A small amount of flour might be left over. Add blueberries into the dough and continue to push dough around with the wooden spoon, gently kneading it, for 1 additional minute after dough comes together smoothly and blueberries are well-incorporated.
Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Turn dough out into the loaf pan and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 30-35 minutes, or until dough rises 1-inch above the sides of the pan.
Preheat oven to 400F.
Once bread has risen, remove plastic wrap and place loaf pan in the oven.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until bread is dark golden brown.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn bread out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf.

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2 Comments
  • betty
    August 10, 2011

    this looks so good i have all these ingredients so im going to try and make it this weekend 😀

  • melissa
    August 20, 2011

    We just bought a big bag of dried blueberries from Costco last weekend, and I’m still getting used to my new KitchenAid, so this recipe was a must for me! I made it last night in around making dinner and WOW! It is easily the prettiest loaf I’ve ever made. And I love that it’s subtly sweet and cinnamony (American sweet things are often OTT for me).

    I’ve just eaten four slices toasted and buttered for breakfast! It’s that good!

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