Festive Cranberry Wild Rice Bread Recipe- Loaf or Rolls!

This Cranberry Wild Rice Bread is the holiday bread everyone will be raving about! Inspired by the bread at Key’s Cafe, this soft, pillowy bread is dotted with sweet dried cranberries and chewy wild rice.

For more seasonal cranberry recipes, try my cranberry apple coleslaw, my cranberry barbecue sauce, or my cranberry orange sourdough bread.

This bread recipe was inspired by a restaurant in Northern Minnesota called The Merit at Trapper’s Landing. When visiting the restaurant this summer, we noticed they served a duck BLT on cranberry wild rice bread. I couldn’t believe how creative and delicious that was!

Upon doing more research into how I’d go about recreating this bread, I discovered that Key’s Cafe, another Twin Cities iconic restaurant, is also known for its cranberry wild rice bread and had to make a trip to sample it.

This homemade bread recipe is perfect as a Thanksgiving side dish next to my healthy sweet potato casserole, air fried butternut squash, and mashed white acorn squash dishes. You can even use the bread to make leftover turkey sandwiches the next day!

Featured Comment: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hello Holly! I live in Minnesota as well and this is the very best cranberry wild rice bread I have ever had. It turned out beautifully! Thank you so much for the recipe. –Ytmar

Key Ingredients

Here are the some of the important ingredients you will need. For a complete list of ingredients, check the recipe card.

Flour– I use a blend of whole white wheat flour & all-purpose flour. While I prefer to make most of my breads with 100% whole wheat flour, I use a 50/50 blend in this recipe to better mirror the texture and flavor of the restaurant breads.

Cooked Wild Rice– Use pre-cooked and cooled wild rice. See my tutorial for how to cook long-grain wild rice in an Instant Pot to make this as easy as possible. For any extra rice you may have, check out my Thanksgiving Wild Rice Fruit Salad recipe!

If you can’t find long-grain wild rice locally, you can use a wild rice blend, which is usually available in most major grocery stores.

Dried Cranberries– While fresh cranberries may be tempting, they are a little bit too tart for this recipe. Dried cranberries work best. If you don’t have dried cranberries, dried sour cherries would work as the best substitute. Raisins also work.

Butter– I love enriching my bread dough with butter. Butter creates a softer, more tender crumb with a richer flavor. Olive oil will work in its place if preferred.

Honey– Adds the perfect amount of sweetness, enhances texture, and helps the crust of the bread brown beautifully. Maple syrup can be used as an alternative.

Cranberry Wild Rice Rolls Instructions

To make rolls, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. I like to weigh the whole loaf with a scale and then divide it by 12 and weigh each ball to make sure they’re even.

Roll each piece into a smooth ball and arrange them in a parchment-lined 9×13 pan in rows of 3×4.

Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the interior temperature is at least 190°F when tested with a thermometer, and the tops are golden brown.

Best Ways to Serve Cranberry Wild Rice Bread

I have served this festive recipe many ways, and my favorite way is simply dinner rolls with a bit of butter. You really can’t go wrong with the rolls! Cranberry butter would be an amazing side to serve it with.

As a sandwich loaf, this bread is perfect for leftover turkey sandwiches, or even for a delightful breakfast of French toast the next day! (tip for French toast: Keep the slices thick so they hold together well in the milk & egg mixture).

It would also make an excellent side to go with my cozy autumn wild rice soup! Serve to guests along with my fall themed snack mix for even more fall flavors.

How Long Does Homemade Bread Last?

Fresh homemade bread is best eaten within a day or two of baking, but this bread can last 3-4 days if needed.

For best results, I recommend slicing and freezing any slices of bread that you don’t think you will eat within 2-3 days. Frozen slices are easy to pull out of the freezer and toast whenever you’d like.

You can also freeze the loaf or rolls soon after they have cooled. When you are ready to serve them, pull from the freezer to thaw on the counter. Rolls will thaw quickly, usually within an hour. The sandwich loaf may need a couple of hours to thaw completely.

How to Measure Flour without a Scale

This recipe was developed using a scale to weigh the flour. While 210 grams would typically equal 1 3/4 cups flour, when using measuring cups instead of a scale, 99% of the time people end up too heavy-handed with the flour.

To accurately measure the flour without a scale, you should spoon the flour in your measuring cup, level it off, and keep it lightly packed.

If you don’t have a scale, start with a little less flour. Begin with 1.5 cups each of the whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour, then add a little more flour a couple tablespoons at a time if you feel the dough is too sticky & not forming a ball or pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl.

Add flour slowly until you get the right down consistency.

Cranberry Wild Rice Bread FAQs

More Fall Baking Recipes

Make this Hearty & Wholesome Wild Rice Bread Recipe Today!

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