Dark German Rye Bread recipe

Around here we have a lot of people from German descent, my husband's family included. So dark breads, like this next one are pretty up there on the list of YUMMY things to eat.  Just as a word of advice- don't give your kids a spoon of molasses and tell them it is syrup.  They won't appreciate it as much as you will.  





Dark German Rye Bread

2 cups of warmish water about 105- 110 degrees
2 TBS active dry yeast

Sprinkle the yeast over the bread and mix it in a bit then let it sit for about 10 minutes until it gets a little bubbly and foamy on top.  That means your yeast works.

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses- again, remember the warning about the kids
3 TBS cocoa powder
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of unsalted butter at room temp

Mix all of this together with the yeast mixture until even.

3 1/2 cups of rye flour

Mix until even and smooth.

Mix 1/2 cup of bread flour into this at a time until the bread dough starts pulling away from the side of the bowl and looks smooth and springy.  This is when your bread dough is ready.  Total dough will be somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 cups.  I always caution on the low end. 

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes.  Honestly, if your mixer is strong enough, it can handle all the kneading and you can turn it out, divide it into two pieces, and put into bread pans...  Unless you WANT to knead the bread, then by all means...  keep kneading the bread.  You know, sometimes it feels good to just get back to the old ways.

Let sit and rise until doubled in size.  It takes about an hour in a warm room.  Because of the density of the bread, it won't get HUGE.  Just a nice heavy medium sized bread.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Tips on making the most awesome-est bread ever!

• When using whole wheats, keep your ration of whole wheat and regular flour to about 1:1.  
• To keep whole wheat breads from getting too dry, turn out the dough when it is still sticky.  The stickier it is, the moister the bread will be.
• Try using a pan on water inside the oven at the bottom for softer crusts.  It helps!
• Mix the flour slowly, and take your time.  Awesome bread cannot be rushed.
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