Earlier today, I posted a photo on Instagram and Twitter of a delicious loaf of rye bread, and I figure I should share the recipe since it’s so darn easy.
I love rye bread: the really heavy, dense, and dark rye bread that’s massively popular in places like Finland and Sweden. However, baking rye bread at home can kind of suck: the dough is hard to handle, often super sticky, and doesn’t rise much. Which is why this recipe is so awesome.
You make a sourdough that sits and sours itself for a couple of days, then mix in some more stuff and just pour into a loaf pan, rise, and bake. No need to handle the sticky, batter-like dough, no worries about it rising, because it basically fills up the loaf pan. And it’s delicious: eat it with butter, butter and honey (yum…), or butter and cheese.
Dark, dense, heavy rye bread
Makes 1 loaf
Day 1:
- 2 tsp yeast
- 1 tbsp salt
- 200 ml plain yogurt
- 500 ml lukewarm water
- 600 g (about 1 liter) dark rye flour
- Mix all of it together in large bowl (it will rise a bit), and let stand covered with plastic wrap for 24-36 hours.
Final day:
- 300-400 ml all-purpose flour
- 1-2 tbsp whole caraway seeds, lightly crushed (optional)
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour to sprinkle on top
- Stir the flour and caraway into the sourdough, making sure it’s all mixed in.
- Then pour the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan, capable of holding 2 liters.
- Sprinkle flour on top and pat the batter out evenly into the pan, making sure it fills out the corners.
- Prick it all over the top with a fork, then let rise under a towel for 1-2 hours.
- Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes in 380F, then tip the loaf out of the pan, flip it over and put back in the oven (bottom up) without a pan for 10 minutes more.
- Wrap the baked loaf in two towels and leave like that until it is totally cool. Then put in a plastic bag and don’t slice it until the next day.
Maria Haskins 