You can find dried cranberries in the fruit or bulk foods section of many grocery stores, and you can even use flavored cranberries if you wish. Look for chopped walnuts or walnut pieces in the baking section or bulk foods aisle. The secret ingredient in these rolls is the grated zucchini, which adds moisture to the rolls and makes them tender.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsps canola oil
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 cups white flour
- 2 tsps yeast
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Tools:
- bread machine
- paring knife
- vegetable peeler (optional)
- grater
- baking sheet
- floursack towel
- oven mitts
- spatula
Notes:
If you prefer not to use refined sweeteners, you can substitute a tablespoon of pure maple syrup or honey for the sugar. You can also substitute 1 cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the white flour.
Make the Cranberry Walnut Dough
- Measure 3/4 cup of warm water. The water should be about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the bread pan from the machine, and pour the water into it.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of sugar and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of canola oil to the bread machine pan.
- Peel the zucchini using a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Cut off the stem end of the zucchini.
- Grate the zucchini using the large holes in the vegetable grater. Discard the end of the zucchini.
- Add the grated zucchini to the bread machine pan.
- Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of dried cranberries to the bread machine pan, or put them in the fruit and nut dispenser if your bread machine has a special feature for these ingredients.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 3 1/2 cups of flour to the bread machine pan.
- Poke a small, shallow hole in the top of the flour. Add 2 teaspoons of yeast to the hole.
- Place the bread pan in the bread machine and set it to the dough only mode. On many machines, this cycle lasts about an hour and a half.
- When the bread machine beeps and finishes its dough cycle, remove the bread pan from the machine.
Bake the Cranberry Walnut Rolls
- Wash your hands, then remove a chunk of dough that’s about halfway between the size of a golf ball and a baseball. Roll the dough into a smooth ball, and place it on the baking sheet.
- Use the rest of the dough the same way, so that you have a dozen rolls spaced even on the baking sheet.
- Cover the baking sheet with a flour sack towel, or a few paper towels, and let the dough rise in a draft-free place for about one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and bake the rolls until they’re lightly golden on the top and bottom, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Allow the rolls to cool slightly, then remove them from the baking sheet with a spatula.
You may want to place the rolls on a cooling rack, or serving plate, to finish cooling. You can serve them at Thanksgiving or holiday dinners, and they also make a delicious snack or breakfast roll throughout the year. While cranberry walnut rolls are delicious fresh from the oven, you’ll want to let them cool completely before putting any leftover rolls in a zip-bag and storing them in the refrigerator.
