No Knead Guinness Cherry Pecan Bread

I've been having quite a bit of fun with the Cast Iron No Knead technique of making bread.  Snowy weather and homemade bread just seem to go hand in hand and this recipe  makes whipping up a loaf of hearty artisan style bread, as easy as stirring and heating up an oven.

Last week I added rosemary and kalamata olives to a loaf that was pretty awesome and this past week I started my pre St. Paddy's Day, throw Guinness into everything, cooking and baking spree. I love any excuse to love on some Guinness.

I used cherries and pecans but you really use any dried fruit and nut.  The Guinness adds a malty rich flavor that is hard to identify as Guinness, but definitely adds a depth that is not present in the non-Guinness version.  I could see myself putting Guinness in quite a few loaves.  I actually  just pulled a cheddar and Guinness loaf out of the oven a few minutes ago...more on that one on a later post.

I added 1/2 of the cherries in the batter before it sat for 18 hours and they ended up being a little soft.  Next time I'd wait and add all of the fruit at the same time as nuts--right before baking.  I wrote the recipe below to add the fruit after the dough sits overnight.

The loaf comes out of the oven with a thick chewy crust and a super soft, almost springy crumb inside.  This is pretty fantastic plain but a bit of honey butter makes everything better. 

No Knead Guinness Cherry Pecan Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup Guinness (a can will have enough, if you use an 11 oz bottle, just pour it into a measuring cup and add water to make up the difference--about 1/4 of a cup)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Sugar in the raw for sprinkling on top(optional)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, yeast and salt. 
2. Add Guinness and vanilla and mix to combine. 
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours or overnight.  
4. Heat oven to 450 degrees. When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 25 minutes. 
5. While the oven and pan is preheating, add cherries and pecans to dough and stir well.   
6. Dump dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Let rest until pan is ready.
7. Remove hot pan from the oven and carefully drop dough into ungreased pan. If desired, brush with water and sprinkle with Sugar in the Raw or other large sugar crystals.
8. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. 
9. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 
10. Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool before slicing