Dark Rye Bread

The best food in the world is fresh warm bread and a favorite throughout history. Part of the salary of a Roman soldier was two loaves of bread per day. Once you make this recipe you will see why.

 

 

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup raw unfiltered honey
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
• 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
• ½ tablespoon raw organic sugar
• 1 ¾ cup rye meal or rye graham flour
• 1 cup organic wheat flour

Directions:

Add together the raw organic honey,  sugar, organic butter and Himalayan sea salt, into a bowl. Preheat both cups of the buttermilk and heavy cream along with the organic butter until it becomes a slightly warm temperature. Add the mixture to the warm milk. Be sure to stir the milk and other ingredients until you are satisfied that they have all ingredients have dissolved. At this step it’s important to let this mixture cool down to room temperature. If you were to add this while still warm, the yeast will begin to activate. So it’s very important to let the cool down. You can even place it in your refrigerator for short time, not allowing it to get cold but to get down to room slightly above or a luke-warm temperature. This is entirely up to your discretion.

Mix the yeast, the organic rye flour, the organic flour in a bowl until it is evenly blended. Add this dry mixture to your liquid mixture and blend until it becomes a mush.

Flour surface of your cutting board or other surface and knead the dough mixture for between 5-10 minutes. Remember all dark breads require of the baker aggressive kneading in order to make the perfect. Mold the dough into the form of a loaf. Lightly grease the bottom of the pan with butter and place the dough on top. One easy way to do this step is if you have a large coffee can. Place the dough into this buttered or greased and coffee can press it down with a potato masher. Once the dough has doubled in size, this will give you an indication that ready to bake. Otherwise cover it with a kitchen towel and let the yeast rise, typically a time period of 2-3 hours is sufficient. If you use instant yeast, and this step is not necessary.

Place your dough loaf on a buttered baking pan in place in a preheated oven at 450° for 20 minutes. At this time reduce the heat to a temperature of 250°, and bake for two hours. Then raise the temperature once again to 450° for another 15 minutes. Once it’s done, slice and add butter and honey, and you have yourself a delicious meal. If you have a bread machine, follow all of the same protocols, except use instant self-rising yeast.

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Photo Credit: Elana Amsterdam