Austrian Pumpernickel Bread Recipes

PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Brush a large bowl with butter; set aside. Combine 1/4 cup warm water with sugar; sprinkle yeast over top. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat espresso, chocolate, molasses, and 1 1/2 cups water over medium. Cook, stirring often, just until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool until warm but not hot (below 110 degrees).
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, combine both flours, caraway, and salt. Add the chocolate mixture then yeast mixture. Mix by hand, using the hook, to combine. Turn mixer on medium and mix until dough comes together in a smooth, springy ball around the hook, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove a small piece of dough and stretch it. If the dough holds together in a thin "windowpane" without breaking, the gluten is sufficiently developed. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until incorporated, about 4 minutes. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead a few times to form into a ball. The dough will be slightly sticky; don't be tempted to add more flour. Transfer to buttered bowl, turning once to coat, and cover loosely with buttered plastic. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• When dough has doubled, turn out onto a work surface. Pat dough out into a rectangle, roughly 10 by 12 inches with short side facing you. Fold bottom edge two-thirds of the way up the rectangle, and top edge down to cover. Rotate dough 90 degrees and repeat the fold. (This is called a business-letter turn.) Return to buttered bowl and top with buttered plastic. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled in size again, about 1 hour. Remove from bowl, gently deflate, and work into a round boule about 6 inches in diameter. Place a clean dish towel in a medium bowl and generously dust with flour. Place boule, seam-side up, in bowl. Loosely fold floured towel ends over dough to cover. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees and place a 9- or 9 1/2-inch enameled cast-iron pot in oven with the lid to preheat. When dough is ready, carefully remove the lid, pull back corners of towel, and flip bowl upside down to transfer bread to the heated pot, seam-side down. Quickly slash an "X" in the top of the bread with a serrated knife and using an oven mitt, cover with lid. Return pot to oven and bake 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until bread feels hollow when tapped and internal temperature registers 205 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes more. Immediately turn bread out of pot onto a cooling rack. Let cool at least 2 hours before slicing.

CLASSIC PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let sit in a warm place until the yeast mixture turns bubbly (about 5-10 min.).
• In a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer with a dough hook), combine remaining 1 cup water, molasses, salt, shortening, caraway seeds and yeast mixture. Beat until smooth.
• Slowly beat rye flour into the yeast and molasses mixture. Mix in the all-purpose flour and mix until it is a soft, smooth dough ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. If dough is too moist, add a little more flour. If dough is too dry add a little more water.
• Knead the dough for 5 minutes.
• Lightly grease (or spray with cooking spray) a large bowl. Add the dough, turning once to coat the entire surface of dough with oil. Cover dough with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
• Punch down dough. Separate dough into 2 equal parts. Form 2 round, slightly flattened loaves. Score a 3/4 inch deep 'X" into the tops of both loaves with a sharp knife.
• Grease (or spray) a large baking sheet; sprinkle with cornmeal. Put the loaves on top and then cover with a clean cloth and let rise until doubled - about an hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degress F. Bake 30-35 minutes or until crusts are dark brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped.
• Remove from baking sheet and cool on a rack before slicing.

HOMEMADE PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the molasses, butter, chocolate, vinegar, salt, rye flour and 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Shape into a round loaf. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. With a sharp knife, make three shallow slashes across the top of loaf. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes., Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

PUMPERNICKEL BREAD II

Steps:

• Mix well bread flour, rye flour, cornmeal, salt, yeast, cocoa, and brown sugar. Add milk, oil, and molasses. Mix thoroughly. When mixed well enough that the dough holds together, knead by hand 15-20 minutes.
• Cover, let rise in bowl 30 minutes. Punch down, form, and place into 9 1/2x5 inch pan. Cover with damp cloth and let rise about 1 hour.
• Bake in preheated 375 degree F (190 degrees C) oven 25 to 30 minutes, covering top with aluminum foil last 10 minutes.

AUSTRIAN PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let it sit until it is frothy. Then add the molasses, vegetable oil, caraway seed, salt, rye flour, shredded wheat and cocoa.
• Mix until smooth, then add the all-purpose flour until the dough develops a good texture. Turn it out onto a floured surface and cover. Let it rest for 10 or 15 minutes.
• Knead the dough until it is smooth.
• Now place the dough in a greased bowl and cover. Let it rise in a warm place until the dough has about doubled in size, which usually takes about an hour.
• Sprinkle a greased cookie sheet with cornmeal. Punch down the dough and divide in two, shaping each half into a round loaf. Put loaves onto opposite corners of the cookie sheet so they don't bake into each other. Brush the top of each loaf with some melted butter, then let them rise again until they've about doubled, another hour or so.
• Bake the bread in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when you rap them with your knuckles.

BITTERSWEET PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Combine water, vinegar, apple butter, molasses, brown sugar, cocoa powder, coffee, salt, butter, wheat germ, fennel seed, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix until just combined. Add whole wheat flour; mix to combine. Add all-purpose flour, 1 cup at time, mixing on medium-high speed after each addition. Knead until fully incorporated and the dough forms a ball, about 4 minutes.
• Grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cornmeal onto a large baking sheet. Divide the dough into 2 portions. Tuck the edges underneath each dough ball to form tight loaves. Place loaves on the baking sheet; let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place a large pizza stone in the oven.
• Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cornmeal onto a bread paddle. Transfer 1 loaf carefully onto the bread paddle. Gently jiggle the loaf while sliding it onto 1 side of the hot pizza stone. Dust the bread paddle with the remaining cornmeal and repeat to transfer the second loaf.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Continue baking until top is golden brown, about 30 minutes more. Slide the bread paddle underneath each loaf, 1 at a time. Transfer to a cutting board and gently tap the bottom; if it sounds hollow, the bread is done. Set loaves on their sides; let cool for at least 20 minutes.

ARTISAN PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Prepare mashed potatoes, using fresh potatoes or instant.
• Using a very large bowl soak the yeast and sugar in 1 cup of lukewarm water for ten minutes.
• In a large pan, heat the 3 1/4 cup lukewarm water, melted chocolate molasses and margarine until the mixture is lukewarm. Remove from heat. Mix in the potatoes, cornmeal, salt and caraway seeds. Stir into the risen yeast liquid. Add the rye flour and bran. Beat for five minutes. Add three cups of white flour, mixing well. Afer about five minutes of beating, you will have a soft dough. Add four more cups lf flour. Mix well, cover, and rise for one hour or more.
• Sprinkle one cup of leftover flour on kneading board. Turn dough out, sprinkle about 1/2 cup of flour on top of dough, and knead extra flour into the dough until the dough is no longer sticky. When the dough holds its shape, cut it into three even pieces.
• Shape the three pieces into three egg shaped pieces, and place in buttered or non-stick loaf pans. Rise one hour or until one inch above the rims of pans. Bake at 350 ° for about 45 minutes - 1 hour, switching pans in oven at the half way point. Bread is done when it has a hollow sound when rapped on top.