Seeded Rye Sandwich Bread

By Addie

This light-colored, light-textured loaf is ideal for sandwiches. It's fine-grained, holds together very nicely when sliced, and is chewy without being tough. For the seeds in this recipe, we've used either caraway, or our Five-Seed Baking Blend (a mixture of caraway, sesame, poppy, flax and fennel seeds); both are delicious, the caraway giving a more traditional flavor, the blend something we consider a bit more interesting.

Our Deli Rye Flavor, a pungent combination of rye flour, acetic and lactic acids, and natural flavors, gives your light and dark rye breads that elusive taste of real bakery rye bread. If your rye breads are good but not great; if they're lacking that certain je ne sais quoi, Deli Rye Flavor could be the answer. We've found that 1 teaspoon rye flavor added to a rye bread recipe containing 3 cups of flour will give a mild rye flavor; increase the amount from there till you arrive at the exact flavor you like, trying up to 1 tablespoon per 3 cups of flour.

This rye flavor is also wonderful in crackers, Scandinavian flatbreads, and any other bread or flatbread that relies on rye flour as a main ingredient.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons regular instant yeast
• 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup white rye (or light rye, or cream rye) flour
• 1/4 cup pumpernickel (or dark rye) flour
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2-3 tablespoons caraway seeds
• 3/4-1 1/2 teaspoons Deli Rye Flavor
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preparation

Step 1

If you're making this bread in a bread machine, place all of the ingredients into the machine, program for Basic or White Bread, and press Start.

1) To make bread using the traditional method, whisk together the instant yeast, flours, milk powder, salt, sugar, seeds and rye flavor in a large mixing bowl.

2) Add the water and butter, and mix till well-blended.

3) Knead the dough, either by machine or by hand, for about 10 minutes, or until it's smooth and supple. If you're kneading the dough by hand, we recommend doing so on a lightly greased counter (spray your work surface lightly with vegetable spray), rather than a floured surface; when working on a floured surface, you run the risk of adding too much flour to the dough, which will result in a tough, dry loaf. Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise till doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

4) Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled surface, and shape it into an oval. Place the dough in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, tent it with lightly greased plastic wrap, and set it aside till doubled in bulk and risen 1 to 1 1/2 inches over the lip of the pan, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

5) Bake the bread in a preheated 375°F oven for 35 minutes, or until it's golden brown and tests done (the interior of the loaf will read 190°F on an instant-read thermometer). Remove the bread from the oven, remove it from the pan, and cool completely on a rack.
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REVIEWS:

This bread got rave reviews from my food critic, who's not overly enamored with rye bread. Note that it's best to contact KAF if you're interested in doubling this recipe, as one does not simply double all the ingredients.

My first successful loaf of rye! Thanks to Rye Bread Improver and Deli Rye Flavor, I finally got a loaf that doesn't double as a door stop! Besides the addition of the RBI, I added about 3 extra tablespoons water because it was looking a little dry in my bread machine (I live in a hot, dry climate and it was 108° today) . My husband is happy, too - now instead of buying shoes with my extra money, I'll be here looking for baking stuff, and he'll benefit from that!

Fantastic recipe and bread - love it and my family does too! Good tasting and also great toast. Good for sandwiches also.

I had a tiny difficulty: not having deli rye flavor/did have rye bread improver. Used the improver and found when I set in pan to rise...it rose up and over the side. Never having experienced this problem, I just pulled it back up onto top of dough and put it in the oven. It was really, really good! Made it again, still using RBImprover experimenting to see if I could get some of the flavor w/o too much of the VWG. Nope, and wasn't as tasty. Now that KA has deli rye flavor in stock again and it's on it's way...I am anticipating making 2 loaves at a time of this bread -one in freezer so I'm never without! It is really excellent!

The first time I made this bread it was WAY too wet, even though I followed the recipe it just spread out into a pool of dough. I made it again yesterday but reduced the 10 oz. of water to 8 oz. and it was PERFECT as dough & outstanding as bread. Most definitely this is my forever recipe for sandwich rye & the Deli flavor is a must IMO.

This was my first attempt at rye bread, and it came out great. Very light, but a nice firm crumb that slices well and makes great sandwiches and toast. I used only 1 1/2 teaspoons of the deli rye flavor but next time would increase the amount. I prefer a darker rye bread but this is so easy it will no doubt become a regular in my baking repertoire. My husband loved it and he's really the "rye guy" in our household.

This is a wonderful recipe that always turns out consistently moist and light. My husband and son have become Rye bread converts. I substitute 3 tablespoons of Rye Bread Improver for the Rye Flavor and use medium rye instead of white flour.

Since making this rye bread two weeks ago, it has become my favorite rye bread. The texture is lovely and the tang is perfect.

This is a wonderful rye bread. I did nothing different to the recipe and it came out so light it's like a feather when I picked up the loaf. For some reason when it raised it got a bubble under the top and when I turned it out of the loaf pan it broke open the bubble but no harm done. I can't believe how light it is and how good it is. It raised fast and high and I had to take part of it off and put it in a small 3X5 size or it would have overflowed my regular bread pan. All the flavors are really wonderful. I think the secret to this bread is not to let it get to dry, it was a very slack dough but I oiled my hands a little and it was easy to work with. I got a little confused at one time because I was making this rye and another one at the same time but other than that it was a very easy recipe to follow. I think hot pastrami sandwiches is on the menu tonight. The other loaf I have in the oven is the Rye Sandwich Bread with the pickle juice. Looking forward to that.

Even without the rye flavor, this recipe is hands down the best rye bread I have tasted. Considering how simple this recipe is, I think it may be one of the best returns on time spent baking. The resulting loaf has complex flavors and a beautiful crumb. After baking this recipe several times, I think the key is a long and slow rise. Without it, the loaf can get a bit dense. I highly recommend this recipe!

I have been trying new recipes for rye bread for at least 25 years. Once I found this on your web site about a month ago I have bake it 4 times so far. I am overwhelmed but its beautiful high rise, moistness and delicious flavor. My family agrees this recipe is the best rye bread I have ever made. If I could give this recipe more than 5 stars to show how much we really love it I would. Thank you for sharing the recipe with your customers.

My husband and I love rye bread and agree that this is the best I've ever baked. I used a combination of seeds, from what I had on hand--caraway, sesame, poppy, fennel, flax, and chia. I used dark rye flour for the quarter cup and Heidelburg Rye flavor (what I had), rather than Deli Rye. The flavor of this bread is very good, and it is moist, yet slices easily and holds together--even in thin slices. I baked on a rainy day and had to add a little extra flour. Will be baking this loaf often.

Made this bread this weekend, and my wife who usually doesn't like deli rye. LOVED it. The dough ended up being a little slack, so much more flour was needed than expected, but turned out beautiful (and YES, the KAF Deli Rye Flavor made a difference!)

I have never had success making rye bread at home until I baked this delicious loaf today. It has a beautiful crumb and is not at all heavy and dense. I can't wait to have it toasted for breakfast...if there's any left after having some with soup this evening! Excellent recipe - thanks!

My husband actually asked me where I bought this loaf of bread! Divine recipe! What else is there to say?