Cranberry-Walnut Rolls
62 comments » 
These are phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. I was cleaning out my stack of Bon Appetit magazines from last year and came across this recipe. I have no idea how I missed it the first time around. As soon as I saw the combination of cranberries and walnuts in large-sized dinner rolls, I made it my business to make them immediately. And they were absolutely everything that I imagined they would be. The rolls are soft, have an incredibly light and tender interior, and are packed with dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. Totally festive for the holidays, or really any time of year.
This dough comes together really easily and was great to work with. It rose nicely, held the roll shape beautifully and puffed up and browned like a dream in the oven. The recipe calls for sprinkling the rolls with some raw sugar (also called turbinado or demerara), but I didn’t have any so I just skipped it. My sister ate one of these with apple butter and raved; I personally think they would be fabulous served with an orange-infused butter. These are perfect for a holiday table (they are huge, so figuring one per person is plenty) or even for a breakfast treat.
One year ago: Cheddar and Chiles Bread
Cranberry and Walnut Rolls
Yield: 12 rolls
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes (active), 3½ hours (inactive)
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3½ cups (or more) bread flour
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1½ teaspoons quick-rising dry yeast
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ cups whole milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for coating bowl
1 large egg
1 cup dried cranberries
Nonstick cooking spray
1 large egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
Raw (turbinado or demerara) sugarDirections:
1. Stir the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until toasted, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Mix 3½ cups bread flour with the brown sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Warm the milk in a small saucepan over low heat until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the milk registers 95 degrees F. Add the oil; remove from the heat. Add the milk mixture and 1 egg to the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until a wet coarse ball forms, about 1 minute. Add the nuts and the cranberries. Replace the paddle attachment on the mixer with a dough hook. Mix dough on low speed until smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky, adding more flour by the tablespoonfuls as needed, about 4 minutes. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 2 minutes.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl. Shape the dough into a ball; place in the prepared bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume, 1¾ to 2 hours.
4. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the dough to an unfloured surfaced; divide into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a smooth round ball. Transfer the rolls to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them apart. Spray the rolls with nonstick spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature until 1½ times original size, about 1½ hours. Brush rolls with egg glaze; sprinkle with raw sugar. Let rise 15 minutes longer.
5. Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
6. Place rolls in oven; reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F and bake 7 minutes. Rotate baking sheet; continue to bake rolls until golden and slightly firm to the touch, about 8 minutes longer. Cool completely on a cooling rack.
*Note: You can wrap these in foil and place in an airtight bag and freeze for up to 2 weeks. Thaw the rolls at room temperature. If desired, you can rewarm the rolls wrapped in foil in a 350 degree F oven for about 10 minutes.
(Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
, November 2009)
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these rolls look delicious! i love that this bread has walnuts and cranberries in it; it’s so much more interesting than plain dinner rolls.
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Those rolls are so beautiful and delicious!
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Oh my!! Fresh bread is my favorite! these look amazing!
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Oh my goodness. That first picture did me in. I need these in my life.
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Yummy! A roll with a little bite to it.
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I’ve just been invited to my first ever Thanksgiving-with-the-Boyfriend-and-family, and I’ve been fretting over what to bring, especially because his sister and I bond over cooking and baking, and I kind of want to impress everyone. This recipe looks perfect!
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you’ve got me sold—rethinking the roll choice for Turkey Day now
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These look absolutely fabulous! I have to make my potato rolls for the big day-they are the most requested holiday recipe from my family. But I will be making these today; I can taste that next day turkey sandwich on these! Maybe a little thyme in the dough?
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I would have never thought to put cranberries and walnuts in a roll. Looks delicious!
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These look wonderful! Adding cranberries and walnuts is always a good thing, if you ask me!
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These look really incredible. The added fruit and nuts really elevate these into something special. I’d be happy with a little butter on them.
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Oh just lovely! I bet they are sensational!
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YUM! I think I might be changing my T-giving bread plans!
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My favorite tea-cakes have cranberries in the dough, seeing your rolls I know these will be a hit in my family too. So fluffy and full of goodies, yummy.Thanks for sharing
an award is waiting for you on my blog
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These rolls sound amazing. They would totally work in with my thanksgiving menu!
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beautiful! I want to make them!
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I’d love to try these sometime- they look delicious!
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These look SO SO SO good! Please email me one right now to enjoy:)
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OMG! I’m so making these NOW! They look and sound incredible,I agree on the orange butter! I was also thinking about………a leftover sandwich turkey on these,oh I have to stop ! Thanks for sharing another winner ,you haven’t failed me yet!
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I think I’m going to try pecans instead of walnuts. That’s all I have and I did my grocery trip last night. I also like the flavor of pecans more than walnuts. I love the idea of the orange-infused butter…yum!
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A rave review from someone who bakes more than most means these must be REALLY good! Cranberries and walnuts can’t be anything but good in bread. These really scream holiday festivities to me and I love the orange infused butter idea. Maybe just a dollop of marmalade over butter would be good.
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These look delicious! And look at those shiny golden tops! I’m alergic to Walnuts, so will try making these with pecans. Thanks for the recipe!
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gorgeous! can not wait to give these a try. Yeast baking is my most favorite thing!
love,
cathy b. @ brightbakes
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I made these last year and they were so good I had to make them again the weekend after Thanksgiving!
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ooooh, sticky and fresh! I love the cranberry bits sticking out everywhere!
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These look amazing. I cant bear to throw away any food related magazines!
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I just can’t imagine these being anything but wonderful. Heaven, actually. Thanks for making and sharing these. I think I’m gonna make ‘em.
AmyRuth
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Wow…just wow. You’re making me hungry!
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Great idea for a dinner roll.
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The cranberries in your rolls look unreal! What fantastic photos!
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I have been buying this kind of dinner roll from an artisan baker at my local farmers market for a while now. I love them stuffed with my favorite Cranberry, Pecan and Rosemary Chicken Salad http://www.lemonsandlavender.com/2010/10/cranberry-pecan-and-rosemary-chicken.html
Now I can make my own, and I’m sure it will cost a lot less than what I’ve been paying!
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Michelle on November 24th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Oh gosh, love the idea of that chicken salad on these rolls! Fabulous!
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looks awesome..
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These rolls do look amazing! I just added them to my Thanksgiving Round-Up. Please add more links at the bottom of the post if you wish. Your recipes are FAB!!
Happy Thanskgiving
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That would be:
Happy Thanksgiving
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These look perfect! And they might just have to be my next task in bread
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Woah. Those look tasty. Nice buns Michelle!
Have a fabulous Thanksgiving!
xo Patty
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These are so festive and they look delicious! Hope you have wonderful Thanksgiving!
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I love this idea for a combination of flavors!
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yum they look amazing and fluffy
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Give me these rolls for breakfast, lunch and dinner! They can be my main meals:D
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These rolls look lovely. Great recipe!
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I hope these are on the Thanksgiving table today, Michelle!
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Those look so light and airy, and what a beautiful crust!
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They look delicious! Can’t wait to make them. I think they would make a nice gift to give to the neighbors. Thanks for another wonderful recipe.
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These look great…
I absolutely hate to say it but….this is why I can’t throw certain magazines out! Our tastes change, maybe we were “off” the day we saw the magazine, and when you look back over them, something jumps out and you think to yourself..”How did I miss this?”..
Silvia carter did an article for Newsday ( LI NY) a couple of weeks ago, about going through her boxes of clipped recipes and saved magazines…oh how we have SO much in common! I am SO glad I never threw any of the Gourmet Magazines I haven gotten (mostly one and off) out…
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OH MY GOSH!
I had a batch just come out of the oven, and they are SUPERB!!
Highly recommend this recipe to everyone. Hopefully they stay as soft and yummy overnight!
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Michelle on November 29th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Yay!!
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Made these for Thanksgiving…and they came out GREAT!! It was the first time I’ve ever made any kind of yeast bread or roll:) The dough was verrrry sticky and I mixed it by hand! I just ate one I found hidden in the fridge and warmed it up to have with a bowl of apple squash soup..YUMMMMM they held up great and absorbed all the soup but still could taste the bread, walnuts and cranberries! Thank you for inspiring me to make these:)
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Your recipes always look so delicious. Thanks for sharing with us. Can’t wait to try these, although still not sure when I will have time.
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What a stunning holiday recipe! Would you like to submit it to my contest to win a cookbook? Just wanting to share the holiday cheer (and exposure to your blog) Would love for you to win
http://ow.ly/3j61M
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just emailed these to my mom as a suggestion for christmas dinner. yum!
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This looks like a delicious recipe for rolls. I love the flavors, especially the addition of cranberries!
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Can these be made without a stand mixer? Any suggestions? thanks
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Michelle on November 2nd, 2011 at 10:11 am
Yes, definitely. Just mix in a large bowl and then knead by hand.
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I would like to have these for dinner on Thursday. Can they be made Wednesday and what is the best way to keep them the freshest? Any suggestions? thanks
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Michelle on November 22nd, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Yes, you can definitely make them on Wednesday. I would let them cool, and can wrap them individually in plastic wrap and keep them in airtight bags. Then you could always reheat them briefly in the oven before eating on Thursday.
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These look delish!! There’s a bakery here in town that makes awesome (seasonal) cranberry orange rolls. I wonder if adding some orange zest to the dough would replicate that flavor? Hmmm – worth a try.
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How do you make these the night before without baking them that night? Would I make the dough and after step 3 or step 4 put in the fridge? Or freeze? Thank you!
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Michelle on November 22nd, 2012 at 8:41 am
Hi Amy, In step 4, after you shape the rolls, cover and allow to rise again. You can cover with plastic wrap then put in the fridge overnight. Let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes in the morning, then proceed.
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I have only just found you site! My new favorite!!!!!!
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There is a terrific bakery in Rye, NY – Patisserie Salzburg – that makes a cranberry/raisin/nut roll that we buy whenever we are passing through, they are THAT good. This recipe, with a few tweaks, almost perfectly duplicates the PS rolls. We used 1-1/2 cups of berries (equal parts cranberries and raisins), and 1-1/2 cups of chopped nuts (equal parts pecans and walnuts). We also added a dash of cinnamon.
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