The Best Rye Bread Recipe I've Found

A little over a week ago, one of my posts included a picture of a flop of a huge loaf of rye bread.  The bread itself was of good texture and taste, and we managed to gobble it up without any trouble.  But I said I should have baked the bread as two loaves in regular sized loaf pans instead of as one big loaf which went splat on a cookie sheet.

In the comment section of this post, Carolyn over at Krazo Acres asked if I would post the recipe for the rye bread.  It's taken me until this morning to bake it again, but here's the recipe, Carolyn Renee, m'dear.

Papa Pea's Favorite Rye Bread

1/4  cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cup boiling water
2 (rounded) tablespoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2-1/2 cups rye flour
2 to 3 tablespoons caraway seeds
3-1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Combine first four ingredients in large bowl.  Pour in boiling water and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Cool to lukewarm.

Sprinkle yeast on warm water.  Stir to dissolve.  (I feel it's critical to have the correct temp water so you might want to use a thermometer to check it.)

Stir rye flour into brown sugar mixture, beating well.  Stir in yeast and caraway seeds and beat until smooth.

Mix in enough of the all-purpose flour, a little at a time, to make a soft dough you can knead.

Turn onto lightly floured board or counter.  Knead until satiny and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Place dough in lightly greased bowl turning dough over to grease top.

Cover and let rise in warm place until dough is doubled, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Punch dough down.  Turn out and divide in half.  Form into two balls.  Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Shape into loaves and place in 2 greased loaf pans.  (My pans are glass and measure 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2".)

Cover and let rise in warm place until almost doubled, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Bake in pre-heated 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.  Turn out onto wire racks to cool.  Makes 2 loaves.

These are my loaves from today.  Pepper mill (it's a big one) included in picture for comparison of loaf size.  Not huge loaves, but big enough for  good-sized sandwiches . . . and nice sized for rye bread.

I freshly grind my rye flour which I do believe gives more "height" to the dough.  Rye flour doesn't contain a lot of gluten so is generally more difficult to rise.  Also, my recipe doubles the amount of yeast called for in the original recipe.

A heavy, moist sourdough rye would be better, but until I master the technique of making (and keeping) a good sourdough (don't hold your breath), this bread is pretty good.