I’m a big fan of homemade bread. There is nothing better then opening the oven door and being enveloped in the sweet aroma of the soft, fluffy dough that I spent hours nurturing to perfection. I also like that I get to knead the dough, because there really isn’t anything as satisfying as feeling the dough come together in your hands.
Since I spend so much time making bread, I’ve worked out quite a few recipes I thought I would share. This rye bread is fairly basic and can be easily customized for your tastes. I happen to like the combination of rye and wheat flour for flavor with the all purpose flour acting as a generic filler to finish out the recipe. But you could omit the wheat flour if it’s not your thing, or maybe use bread flour for a more light, chewy texture to your dough. Or maybe substitute milk for the water to give the bread a sweeter taste and softer texture. Whatever suits your tastes.
I keep this particular bread recipe on hand because it is so customizable and easy to manipulate to fit whatever situation I need a delicious loaf of rye bread for. This recipe will make two standard sized loafs of rye bread for you and your family to enjoy.
Rye Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup rye flour
- 2 cups wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon yeast
Instructions
- Combine the warm water, honey, and yeast in a small bowl. Allow the yeast to bloom for several minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Lightly mix the rye flour, wheat flour, all purpose flour, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl large enough to proof inside of.
- Once the yeast is ready, pour the liquid into the dry mix and stir until the dough comes together. If the dough is still too wet, knead in more all purpose flour until the dough is a bit tacky but not sticky.
- Grease the bowl and allow the dough to rise for 30-45 minutes in a warm space. Make sure to cover the bowl as well.
- After the dough has just begun to rise noticeably, knock the air out of the dough and give it a brief knead. Return back to the bowl and allow to rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.
- Alternatively, you could place the dough in the fridge to slow rise for up to 3 days to really develop the flavor.
- Once the dough has doubled, shape it in whatever form you would like. For standard loaves, bake at 400℉ for 30 minutes.