Rye Batter Bread Recipes

BATTER RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Combine warm water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl; stir gently. Place a dry cloth over the bowl and let sit until yeast is dissolved and foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, rye flour, shortening, caraway seeds, and salt. Beat vigorously with a spoon for 2 minutes, or blend with an electric mixer on low speed, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl often.
• Stir in whole wheat flour and remaining 3/4 cup all-purpose flour until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.
• Stir the batter down, beating about 25 strokes. Place in a greased loaf pan, smoothing out the top with a floured hand. Cover and let rise until dough reaches the top of the pan, about 40 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Carefully tip loaf out of the pan onto a work surface and gently tap bottom of loaf. If it sounds hollow, bread is done.

RYE BATTER BREAD

Steps:

• Place 1/4 cup of the warm water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it, stirring to dissolve.
• Add the remaining water, honey, and butter.
• Slowly stir in the rye flour and 3/4 cup of the all-purpose flour, blending well.
• Stir in the remaining flour, salt and the caraway seeds, to make a stiff batter. Cover and let rest 20 minutes.
• Stir down the batter and pour into a greased 9 x 5 loaf pan. Cover and let stand in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Bake in a 350 deg oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until done. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.
• Note: The batter should be stiff - like a kuchen or other cake batter. It should not be so stiff that you could imagine kneading it, nor as thin as pancake batter.

BETTER BATTER RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Put butter, sugar, salt, caraway and onions in large mixer bowl. Pour water over and stir. Cool to lukewarm, then sprinkle the yeast over and let it sit for a couple of minutes, no more. Yeast should be get a bit foamy. Mix the bread flour and the cocoa. The cocoa doesn't give it a chocolate flavor, but, like the molasses, darkens the color. Put the regular beaters in the mixer and add the flour mix to the water mix. Beat in slowly, then beat on medium for about 5 minutes, to develop the dough. Switch to the dough hooks, and gradually add 2 cups of the rye flour. The dough should be thick and heavy, but not thick enough to knead. Add a little more rye flour if it's too wet. Spoon into a greased loaf pan, put a little butter on your hands, and pat it down lightly to get into it the corners. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.
• Some people add a tablespoon of instant coffee, to make the bread even darker, or 2 teaspoons of dried dill. Both are really good. You can also substitute plain yogurt for all or part of the butter. If you don't have bulk yeast, use 2 tablespoons. I buy my yeast at a health food store. It's better yeast, and it's a whole lot cheaper.

CLASSIC RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup water. Add 2 teaspoons honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle or dough-hook attachment. Add butter and remaining 1 3/4 cups water and 3 tablespoons honey. Whisk flour with salt; add 3 cups to yeast. Mix on low speed until smooth. Mix in 2 tablespoons caraway seeds. Add remaining 4 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from sides of bowl and forms a ragged, slightly sticky ball. Butter a large bowl.
• Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball. Transfer to prepared bowl; cover with plastic wrap.
• Let dough stand in a warm place until it doubles in volume (it should not spring back when pressed), about 1 hour. Butter two 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch loaf pans. Punch down dough; divide in half.
• Shape 1 dough half into an 8 1/2-inch-long rectangle (about 1/2 inch thick). Fold long sides of dough in to middle, overlapping slightly. Press seam to seal. Transfer dough, seam side down, to pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush tops of loaves with egg wash (beaten egg white mixed with water), and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drape loaves with plastic. Let stand until dough rises about 1 inch above tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake, rotating pans after 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool slightly; turn out loaves. Let cool completely before slicing.

NATURALLY LEAVENED RYE AND OAT BREAD

Steps:

• Starter/Levain
• I made 200g of almost all-rye sourdough starter by feeding 40g starter with 80g water and 80g whole grain rye flour, and I used it when it was a little more than doubled in size. Other ways of building up this large amount of ripe starter are fine too.
• Mixing and Bulk Fermentation
• Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. If possible, scrape the batter into a straight-walled dough bucket or separate out a tiny amount of dough to put in an aliquot jar to help track fermentation (explanation above, photo in the gallery below).
• Cover and let the batter rise until it has expanded by about 75%. In my ~80°F lit oven, this was about five hours.
• Shaping and Final Proof
• Grease a non-stick loaf pan or line a regular loaf pan with parchment paper. I used a medium USA pan, which is 9 x 5 x 2.75 inches.
• Scrape the batter out of your bowl or bucket directly into the loaf pan.
• Repeatedly wet a spatula with water to smooth out the surface of the batter, dipping between the edges of the batter and the pan to create the curved edges of a loaf shape.
• Sprinkle with rye flour if desired, cover, and let the batter rise about 2 centimeters. (See the gallery below for a sense of the expansion.)
• Baking
• Preheat your oven to 450°F for about 20 minutes with a pan on the bottom shelf. You'll pour boiling water into the hot pan when you load the bread into the oven. An alternate option for steam is to make a tight foil tent around the loaf pan and leave it on for the first 15-20 minutes of the bake.
• Boil a cup of water.
• Place the loaf pan in the oven and pour the boiled water on the hot pan below it, then quickly close the oven door.
• Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 390°F, and bake another 25-30 minutes. Rotate the pan if needed for even browning. The internal temperature of the bread should be over 208°F when it's done.
• If possible, wait 24 hours before cutting the bread to let the inside set. You might want to rotate the loaf onto one long side and then the other during this setting period, so it doesn't get dense at the base. If you can't wait for the loaf to set, toast each slice to solidify the crumb.

QUICK RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a baking sheet on center rack. Butter four 6-by-3-by-2-inch loaf pans, line with parchment, and butter parchment.
• Mix flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and seeds. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Whisk together yogurt, milk, honey, and eggs. Make a well in center of flour mixture, and pour in yogurt mixture. Stir well to combine (batter will be sticky). Spoon batter into pans, smoothing the tops. Scatter mixed seeds on top of batter.
• Transfer pans to baking sheet, and bake until loaves are slightly cracked and golden brown, about 1 hour. (A skewer inserted into centers should come out clean.) Let cool in pans for 15 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks, and let stand for 2 hours.

GERMAN RYE BREAD

Steps:

• In a 4-qt. glass bowl, dissolve yeast in 2 cups warm water; whisk in rye flour until smooth. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel. Let stand in a warm place for about 4 hours or until batter falls about 1 in. and surface bubble activity is reduced. Stir in the sugar, caraway seeds, salt, 5 cups all-purpose flour and remaining water; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes., Divide dough into four portions. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Shape into four round loaves, about 6 in. each. Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray; sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon cornmeal. Place loaves on pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes., With a sharp knife, make several slashes across the top of each loaf. Brush with egg. Sprinkle each loaf with 1 teaspoon caraway seeds. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes, rotating pans after 15 minutes, or until browned. Cool on wire racks.

OLD-WORLD RYE BREAD

Steps:

• In large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour, the mashed potatoes (dry), brown sugar, salt, 3/4 teaspoon caraway seed and the yeast. In 1-quart saucepan, heat buttermilk, water and oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until very warm (120°F to 130°F); stir into potato mixture until blended. Stir in rye flour and enough remaining all-purpose flour to make dough easy to handle.
• Place dough on lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead about 8 minutes or until smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with shortening or cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover; let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. (If using fast-acting yeast, do not let rise 1 hour; cover and let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.)
• Grease large cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll dough into rope, about 3 inches thick and 25 inches long. Curl dough into coil shape; tuck ends under. Place on cookie sheet. Cover; let rise in warm place 30 to 45 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 400°F. Brush water over dough; sprinkle with cornmeal and additional caraway seed. Bake 23 to 28 minutes or until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack; cool.

RYE BEER BREAD

Steps:

• Combine rye flour, beer, and yeast in a large bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Set out overnight. Do not refrigerate.
• The next day, add sugar, salt, shortening, and egg; beat with mixer until smooth. Stir in caraway seeds, if wanted. Add enough white bread flour to make a soft dough.
• Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, approximately 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to oil the surface of the dough. Let rise in warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled.
• Punch down dough, and divide in half. Shape into round or oblong loaves, and place on greased baking sheets sprinkled with corn meal. Let rise for 30 minutes.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Cool on racks.

RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Tip the flours, yeast and salt into a bowl. In a jug, mix the honey with 250ml warm water, pour the liquid into the bowl and mix to form a dough. Rye flour can be quite dry and absorbs lots of water, if the dough looks too dry add more warm water until you have a soft dough Tip out onto your work surface and knead for 10 mins until smooth. Rye contains less gluten than white flour so the dough will not feel as springy as a conventional white loaf.
• Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hrs, or until roughly doubled in size. Dust a 2lb/900g loaf tin with flour.
• Tip the dough back onto your work surface and knead briefly to knock out any air bubbles. If using caraway seeds work these in to the dough. Shape into a smooth oval loaf and pop into your tin. Cover the tin with oiled cling film and leave to rise somewhere warm for a further 1 - 1.5 hr, or until doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Remove the cling film and dust the surface of the loaf with rye flour. Slash a few incisions on an angle then bake for 30 mins until dark brown and hollow sounding when tapped. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and leave to cool for at least 20 mins before serving