A wonderful all-purpose, basic rye bread. Dense but soft and loaded with flavor. Makes great loaves or rolls. Simple & delicious ♥
It’s a New Year and there’s not a whole lot of new stuff going on around here. Each year I half heartily resolve to become more organized and each year I fail miserably. I guess it’s kinda my thing to constantly be behind schedule and scramble around searching for misplaced things.
Some exciting news! There has been a wonderful new addition to my kitchen appliances – The Bosch Mixer ♥
Much thought went into what mixer was right for me and the work I need it to do. I’ve burned up too many mixers to mention and we decided to invest a little more money into something that would be the work horse I need.
So, you ask, what do I need all this power for….?
Bread. I love making bread. It’s truly my favorite thing to bake, but I’ve slowed down on making it BIG time the past few years. It’s almost embarrassing to say, considering I’m pretty young, but I’ve worked hard in my years. I have arthritis in my hands and wrists so serious kneading kills me. Serious kneading also kills a lot of stand mixers which has culled my joy of bread baking.
No worries though, I’m back in the game. The first thing I baked was pumperknickel and numerous ryes. We’ve been eating so many loaves of rye and I’ve been trying to find the best “all-purpose” rye. Something that is great thrown into a loaf pan and sliced up for sandwiches, made into rolls or shaped into rounds and served with cheese or soup.
I think I found it….for now. Bread making is an ever evolving love 😉
Oh, and if you don’t have a heavy duty mixer, you can certainly get your hands dirty and get busy kneading. I still do it when I can! Rye is extra sticky, so keep flouring your work surface and hands.
The bread baking is on again! That’s something to toast to in the New Year!
Thanks for stopping by! Happy Baking ♥
-Amanda-
Rye Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water 110°F
- 2 packages of dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons x 2
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 3 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 4 cups rye flour
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + extra for dusting & kneading
- 1-2 tablespoon melted butter OPTIONAL
Instructions
- I use a stand mixer for this recipe, but you can just as easily do this by hand. Rye dough is sticky stuff, so plan to flour your hands & work surface often.
- Dissolve yeast in warm water. I combine the two in my mixer and mix with dough hook until dissolved.
- Add milk, molasses, oil, salt, eggs, caraway seeds and flours.
- Using mixer & dough hook, mix on slow/medium speed for 6 - 8 minutes. If you're kneading by hand, knead for about 10 minutes.
- Place dough in a large greased bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft free spot for about an hour. The dough should double in size.
- Flour your hands and work surface. Shape dough into 3 loaves. I use greased loaf pans and free form the loaves. You can also shape the dough into rolls if you'd like.
- You can dust the tops of loaves with flour before rising OR brush with melted butter prior to baking (after rise).
- Cover again and let rise for an hour. The loaves will double in size.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. I prefer to use a baking stone, so preheat stone if using.
- Slash tops and brush with butter (if using).
- Place free form loaves on baking stone or place loaf pans in preheated oven.
- Bake loaves for about 45 minutes, rolls for about 12 minutes. Loaves should sound hollow sounding when tapped.
- Transfer bread to cooling rack. Cool, slice and enjoy. Store in an airtight container or bag. Rye stays delicious for days - I actually prefer it the day after baking.
- If you're not going to bake 3 loaves of bread right away - you can store left over dough in the fridge, covered, for about a week.
- Enjoy 🙂
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