Rye Bread My Way

Yesterday I decided to take the standard bread recipe I've been using lately and try making rye bread. Shane doesn't really care for the taste of the caraway seeds in rye bread, but this is a big batch, so I divided the dough into one regular loaf without caraway, and four tiny loaves with caraway (pictured) I kneaded caraway seeds into the dough just before the second rise.

They turned out very nice, I think. The bread not too heavy or dense, and I love the sharp taste of the caraway seeds. My daughter and son-in-law were here for supper and they liked it, too.


Annie's Rye Bread

4-1/2 teaspoons bulk yeast
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup instant mashed potato flakes
1/3 cup instant dry milk
1-1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup rye flour
3-1/2 to 5 cups all purpose flour
Caraway seeds, to taste (optional)

Combine all ingredients except for flours in bowl of stand-up mixer. Add rye flour and 3-1/2 cups of all purpose flour and knead with mixer until a dough forms, adding more flour if necessary. Add just enough flour so that the dough no longer sticks to your hands, but no more than that.

Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm (80° to 100°F) location until dough has doubled in size. Turn dough out onto work surface. You may lightly flour your work surface if desired, but I prefer to just use the oil that is in the bowl and on the dough to keep the dough from sticking. (Adding extra flour can make bread that's too dry.)

Knead a few times by hand. If desired, knead caraway seeds into the dough at this time, according to your taste. Shape dough into two loaves and let rise, covered, in a warm place until dough has doubled in size.

Bake at 375°F approximately 25 minutes or until the bread's internal temperature reaches 200°F. Remove from pans and let cool completely on a cooling rack before wrapping to store.

Makes 2 standard size loaves.