Rye bread (+ rye bread with walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes)

The recipe for this bread is long overdue. I have been making it for such a long time, every time thinking I must put it up on the blog, but life happens, and when you think you have time and a day to yourself to bake bread and photograph it, something comes up, work, responsibilities, a sore hand from working in front of the computer for too damn long every day. You know how it is.

Anyway, some days ago, when it was a national holiday here in the Netherlands, I did have the time, energy and appetite to bake and I made two batches of this bread, which yields four loaves. One disappeared in no time, half of it didn’t make it past cooling time, but I did manage to photograph a couple of them for you.

This is a rye bread, my absolute favorite type of bread as I adore the earthy flavor of rye flour. It is similar to the German kinds of bread in the sense that it has a soft, dense and moist crumb. Don’t go thinking soggy or sticky or gummy, though, no, it is the right kind of moist, the kind that keeps the bread fresh for days.

The reason it is moist is because it contains a good amount of Greek yoghurt which gives flavor and a slight tanginess to it that is counterbalanced by the earthiness of the rye flour and the sweetness of the sugar in it. Just one tablespoon of it is enough.

The crust is crunchy and firm, and the crumb holds together and is not crumbly at all, making it ideal for all sorts of sandwiches.

Whenever I make this dough, I make one plain loaf and one with walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes. The latter always finishes first because it is incredibly delicious as it carries the flavor of the extra ingredients.

The plain one I love having it with my meals, to sop up juices of stews and soups, with salads, to fill with my favorite ingredients for a sandwich, or to make bruschette. And I love serving both of them with a platter of cheeses and charcuterie, and with a good bottle of red when we have company or when we just want to nibble instead of having a proper meal.

It is not difficult to make and it doesn’t require lots of waiting time, so I hope you try it and enjoy it!

Rye bread (+ rye bread with walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes)

I never use a stand mixer for this bread like I do with other breads, because it comes together rather easily and you don’t need to knead it for a very long time.

I always bake these breads on a pizza stone, adding ice cubes in a pan placed below the stone to create steam in the oven which allows the bread to rise without forming a crust right away, resulting in a perfect, crisp crust. But you can of course bake the bread on top of a baking sheet as well, however, the pizza stone really makes a difference in the way the bread is baked because the stone retains heat well and it creates a beautiful texture to the crust, even at the bottom of the bread, whereas on a baking sheet, bread tends to easily burn on the bottom.

I use sun-dried tomatoes that are not preserved in olive oil. Avoid those as they will make the bread too oily.

Yield: 2 small loaves

Ingredients
300 g whole rye flour, plus extra for kneading
300 g strong white bread flour
11 g dried instant yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
500 g Greek yoghurt, full-fat, at room temperature
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing the bowl
1 Tbsp salt
100 ml lukewarm water

5 sun-dried tomatoes (cut in half if too big) + a handful of walnuts halves, roughly chopped, for the second loaf

Semolina for dusting the pizza stone

Special equipment: large bowl, plastic wrap, pizza stone (or baking sheet) for baking the breads, baking paper


Preparation
In a large bowl, add the flours, the yeast and sugar and mix well with a wooden spoon. Make a well in the middle and add the yoghurt, olive oil, salt and water. Mix with your hands until you have a rough dough and then empty it onto a lightly floured surface (use rye flour). Knead well with your hands for about 5 minutes until you have a smooth and firm dough that’s slightly sticky. Add a further 10-15 grams of rye flour if the dough is too sticky but be careful not to overdo it. The dough must not be dry, but slightly sticky.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place, allowing the dough to proof and double in size. It will take 1½-2 hours to proof, depending on how warm the room you leave it in is.

Place pizza stone inside your oven and preheat to 225°C. Place a baking pan to the bottom of the oven to add the ice cubes later.
For baking on a baking sheet, preheat your oven to 180-185°C. Place a baking pan to the bottom of the oven to add the ice cubes later.

Once the dough has proofed, take it out of the bowl and knead it for a few seconds just to deflate it a bit on a clean surface (don’t flour the surface). It should feel smooth, soft and not sticky. Cut it in half and shape the first half into a ball. Dust it with some flour if you wish and then, using a sharp knife, slash the top.
Take the second half and knead it a bit together with the sun-dried tomatoes and walnuts. Shape into a ball, dust it with some flour if you wish and then, using a sharp knife, slash the top.

When the oven is ready:
If you’re baking on a pizza stone, dust it with semolina before adding the dough balls on top. Immediately add 10-12 large ice cubes inside the pan below the stone, and close right away the oven door. Turn heat down to 190°C and bake for about 45 minutes, until the bread has taken on a golden brown color. Then, leave the oven door ajar (place a wooden spoon to keep it from closing) and allow the breads to bake for further 5 minutes before you remove them from the oven. This will remove the excess moisture from the bread.

If you’re baking on a baking sheet, line it with baking paper and add the balls of dough on top. Immediately add 10-12 large ice cubes inside the pan below the stone, and close right away the oven door. Bake on the low rack of the oven for 40 minutes, then transfer the baking sheet to the middle rack of the oven and bake for a further 25-30 minutes, until the bread has taken on a golden brown color. Then, leave oven door ajar (place a wooden spoon to keep it from closing) and allow the breads to bake for further 5 minutes before you remove them from the oven. This will remove some of the moisture from the bread.
As a general rule, a bread loaf is ready when it makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Remove the loaves from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!!