Polish Rye Bread Recipe
A Light, No-Molasses Homemade Version of a Northern European Loaf
Rye bread, usually heavily darkened with molasses, is eaten primarily in climates too cold for wheat. Originally something of a famine bread, rye is now back in fashion.
Traditional Northern European rye breads are dense and dark brown. Americanised versions tend to contain very little rye flour, and approximate the colour and flavour of traditional rye with cocoa, apple cider vinegar and coffee. This Polish version has a high rye flour content, lightened with white flour, and contains no darkening agents, producing a fluffy, mild-tasting, nutritious loaf for newcomers to rye. The white flour may be replaced with wholemeal for a heartier and more rustic loaf.
- 2 cups rye flour
- 1 cup high-grade white or wholemeal flour, plus up to ½ cup extra for kneading
- 1 Tbsp milk powder
- 1 ½ tsp dried yeast, preferably with bread improver
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- fennel seeds or sunflower seeds to sprinkle (optional)
- Sift flours, milk powder, yeast, brown sugar and salt into a bowl.
- Add water and olive oil and stir.
- Turn out onto a floured bench and knead for 10 minutes, incorporating extra flour if necessary. Oil the bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover with oiled gladwrap and leave to rise until doubled.
- Punch down the dough. Shape as desired. The traditional shape is a freeform oval with two parallel slashes, but the dough may also be baked in a tin, braided or formed into a round. Grease and flour the surface of any tin or baking tray used.
- Leave the dough to rise until doubled. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with water; sprinkle with fennel or sunflower seeds if desired. Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 30-40 minutes, until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Serve warm with hearty stews and soups, or cold with cheeses and ploughman's pickle.
Bread-baking tips will ensure a successful result.
Variations
Variations of this recipe abound. The dough can be formed into rolls, sprinkled with poppy seeds and baked to serve with soup. Caraway seed is a traditional addition to rye loaves, providing a liquorice-like flavour. If you prefer a traditional Northern European rye loaf, add ¼ cup cocoa powder to the dry ingredients, replace the water with lukewarm coffee and add 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar with the wet ingredients. Knead and rise as per the original recipe, then knead in 1 tsp caraway or fennel seeds and shape dough into a round. Leave until doubled, sift a little plain flour over the loaf and bake as for Polish rye.
A special-occasion bread may be made by making a batch of traditional dough and a batch of Polish dough, rolling both doughd out into a rectangle, placing one on top of the other and rolling up like a Swiss roll. Cut the roll in half crosswise to make two loaves. When baked, the sliced loaf will reveal a spiral of dark and light dough. This bread looks stunning on a platter of breads, cheeses, chutneys and pickles.
