Two loaves: Plain rye bread and rye with walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes
Nothing beats baking bread
Published originally on my blog on 31 May 2015
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 goes 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!
Plain rye bread and Rye 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. Rye flour doesn’t contain a lot of gluten and the type of gluten that it does contain (gliadin) is not the kind which forms elasticity in dough (glutenin), so there’s no point in kneading too much.