Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Winning Rye Bread

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I have been on a quest for quite a while for a winning recipe for Rye Bread. I've tried quite a few, and even thought I had the best I could make, but this loaf beats them all. I have been dying to make it again, and I think I'll do it today. I cut the recipe in half and it still makes two loaves, but I think Sister Margaret, my son's senior English teacher, might just like a loaf.

The recipe came from allrecipes.com, and I followed it pretty precisely, except for halving it.

Rye Bread
2 loaves

1 t. active dry yeast
2 cups warm water, divided
1 cup rye flour
3 T. sugar
2 T. caraway seeds (more or less to taste -- I used 2 T.)
1 t. salt
3 -1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

2 t. cornmeal
1 egg, lightly beaten
caraway seed
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water; whisk in rye flour until smooth. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel. Let stand in a warm place for about 4 hours or until batter falls about 1 in. and surface bubble activity is reduced.

Stir in the sugar, caraway seeds, salt, 2 cups all-purpose flour and remaining water; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes (or use dough hook on mixer). Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.


Divide dough into two portions. Shape into two round loaves, about 6 to 7 in. across. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray (or place parchment down); sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves on pan side by side. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.




With a sharp knife, make several slashes across the top of each loaf. Brush with egg. Sprinkle each loaf with caraway seeds (I like a lot, but do this to taste).


Bake at 400 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, rotating pans after 15 minutes, or until browned. Cool on wire racks.

Printer version


Source: modified from allrecipes.com

4 comments:

Abby said...

I love a really good rye bread, but they aren't easy to find around here. Will you bake me some?!

Barbara said...

I have four loaves cooling on the counter, but you'll have to move fast! ;-)

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

Looks delicious!
Just one question--"divide dough into 4 portions. Shape into 2 loaves"?????

Barbara said...

Whoops. Two portions, two loaves. Like I said, I halved the recipe. I just missed the edit.