We love this Rye Sandwich Bread loaf because of its unbeatable texture, deep rye flavor, and versatility. It can be baked in a standard loaf pan, a Pullman pan, or hand-shaped into a rustic batard or boule. This kind of versatility makes a perfect starter loaf for the timid baker!
Rye Sandwich Bread
Makes 1 (9x5-inch) loaf
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups (281 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (102 grams) light rye flour
- 1 cup warm whole milk (85°F)
- ¼ cup unsulphered molasses
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon (9 grams) caraway seeds
- 2 teaspoons (6 grams) kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons (6 grams) active dry yeast
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine all-purpose flour, rye flour, warm milk, molasses, butter, caraway seeds, salt, and yeast until moistened. Let stand for 20 minutes to let the rye absorb some liquid and begin to relax a bit. Knead for about 8 minutes in the mixer, or 12 minutes by hand. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F) until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
- Turn out risen dough onto a lightly floured surface, and deflate it to remove excess air. Pull the four corners of the dough into the center, and roll gently with palms to form a loaf. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan or Pullman pan with cooking spray. Place loaf in pan. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F) until doubled in size, 1 to 1½ hours.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush over risen loaf, and sprinkle with more caraway seeds, if desired. Using a sharp knife or lame, make 4 large slashes across top of loaf. Bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 190°F, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Remove from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Read the whole article in Bake From Scratch Winter 2016.
Making this bread today
When I made the slits the bread lost its raise.
Hoping the bread will recover after baking.
Smells awesome. Fingers crossed for my first rye bread
Great recipe. I added a half cup of my sourdough starter and cut back accordingly on a little flour, milk and yeast. Turned out beautiful! Very flavorful bread. Smelled like cake baking, because of the molasses. 🙂
[…] This is recipe #13 with 173 to go on my baking through the Bake from Scratch cookbook challenge. For the complete recipe, click here! […]
Making this right now! Smells sooo nice!
Absolutely wonderful bread!
Turned out great! First time making rye bread! Looks just like picture.
so good. i lost my sunset bread book from 1971 lmao so i was desperate to find something similar and this one is even better! but since i’m a moron and always read things wrong, i put the egg right into the dough…. turned out amazing anyway :p
I am so impressed with this recipe. It is my first attempt making rye bread. I had to substitute honey for molasses and add a little more milk. The texture, taste and appearance is out of this world. Thank you so much!
Hi Dianna,
So glad it worked out well for you! Thank you for the substitution information.
This is a fantastic recipe, and it’s worked every time I’ve used it. I’m happy you included weights, as I now bake using a scale (there’2 242 gm Milk, 59 gm Molasses).
I also find if I add a bit of Vitamin C – about 2.5 gm – that it goes without molding for a week; this is about 1/4 teaspoonful mixed into the dry ingredients.
I can’t seem to get this bread to rise. I did two hours on each rise hoping it would come up. But just rises enough to be a heavy rectangle. Could 8 min kneeling in the KitchenAid be too long? Suggestions please!
Hi Pat!
Thanks for reaching out! That usually means that the yeast wasn’t activated. This could be due to using cold milk, or perhaps the yeast has died off. If you are using a container of yeast, you can test it by adding a teaspoon to a cup of warm (not hot) water and adding a pinch of sugar. If the yeast mixture does not appear foamy after 10 minutes, it is no longer active.
I’m right there with you. I made the dough by exact grams and I used fresh yeast. This dough was very very slow to rise and then didn’t provide any oven spring.
Thanks for listing ingredients by weight!
II always warm liquid to 115 degrees before adding the yeast. I used bread flour instead of AP and I added two tablespoons of Caraway seeding into the mix. I use my bread machine for mixing, kneading, and the first rise. I put the dough into a loaf pan and let it rise and didn’t use the egg wash. In the oven, the dough rose very high. It smells great and is cooling on a rack. Why do you recommend letting it cool in the pan for 20 minutes?
The taste is very good! This will be my new sandwich rye recipe. Thank you.
Can I substitute white whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour?
Hi Becca,
Thank you so much for your question! We haven’t tested this recipe with whole wheat flour, and although it can be done, it’s usually better to find recipes specifically developed using whole wheat flour. Substituting whole wheat flour 100% for all-purpose flour will lower the rise of your yeasted breads significantly. This is because whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid than white flour and typically produces a stiffer dough. The stiffer/drier the dough, the harder it is for it to rise. If you’re looking to experiment a little, start by substituting 25% of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat (by volume, not by weight). If you’re satisfied with the result, you can increase the amount gradually from there. However, as you increase the amount of whole wheat flour, you’ll probably have to adjust the amount of liquids added, as whole wheat flour is far more absorbent than all-purpose.
Hope this helps, and happy baking!
Thank you for the recipe. We enjoyed with our Sunday dinner. This was my first attempt at making rye bread .
I made this bread today. Delicious. Turned out really well. Just wondering if we can substitute instant yeast for the active yeast? If you can, what is the amount I would use. Thank you
Hi Christine,
You can absolutely substitute instant yeast for active dry. They can often be substituted 1:1, but some bakers will reduce by 25% when substituting instant yeast because about 25% of the cells in active dry yeast are dead and 100% of the cells in instant yeast are alive. This would take you to 1½ teaspoons or 4 grams in this recipe.
Hope this helps, and happy baking!
This was delightfully delicious and worked exactly as written! I had to use honey, and I simply didn’t have molasses. Still turned out great! I personally might add more caraway seed on my next batch. It sliced so well! We’ve been eating it with corned beef hash and Reubens all week. Thank you for this easy recipe!
A good basic bread, and easy. Found myself wanting a bit more caraway flavor from it.
best and easiest recipe. reubens to die for. thank you.
This is delicious. I had to make a few changes due to lack of ingredients (bread flour instead of AP, and honey instead of molasses). I also baked it in a clay cloche.
Will definitely make it again. I store it in Bee’s Wrap which keeps it so fresh.
Hi Olivia. I made this exactly as written and it was truly glorious. My husband and I enjoyed it so much he wants to try making it again but doubling it this time. Have you ever baked a double batch of this rye? If so, did the two loaves turn out well? Thank you, Rachel
Hi Rachel,
We have never made a double batch of this rye, but we don’t see an issue with doubling it! Happy baking!
Did not make this yet. can you sub all-purpose flour with bread flour and medium rye flour for light rye flour.
Hi Lisa,
The ryes should be fine to swap, but we would not recommend swapping out the all-purpose flour for bread flour. The high protein content would give you a tougher loaf. Happy baking!