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Ingredients
- 1 cup lukewarm water*
- 1 cup white rye, medium rye, or pumpernickel flour
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1/2 cup sour cream (low-fat is fine; please don’t use nonfat)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons caraway seeds, to taste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/3 cups (9 7/8 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or First Clear Flour
- 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten or King Arthur Rye Bread Improver, optional, for best rise*
Details
Servings 2
Adapted from kingarthurflour.com
Preparation
Step 1
Place the following in a mixing bowl:
Mix to form a soft batter. Let the batter rest for 20 minutes; giving the rye flour a chance to absorb some of the liquid will make it easier to knead the dough without adding too much additional flour (which would make the bread dry). As you see in the photo above, the batter will become a bit puffy.
After 20 minutes, add the following:
vital wheat gluten
Mix and knead the dough together until it’s fairly smooth. The nature of rye dough is to be sticky, so don’t be tempted to add too much flour.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl or large
Gently deflate the dough, knead it briefly, and shape it into two smooth oval or round loaves; or one long oval loaf. (As I said, you may find the larger loaf sinks a bit. But if you’re OK with that, go for it; it does make larger slices).
Place the loaf or loaves on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
Towards the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Note: *Or substitute dill or sour pickle juice for some of the water, which adds another layer of flavor. Depending on the saltiness of the juice, you’ll want to cut back the salt in the recipe to 3/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon.
It’s best to let the bread cool completely before slicing, lest you squash it down (which makes the texture gummy). If you truly can’t wait, cut off just the tiniest “sample nub” from one end.
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