Learn how to make your own Dark Rye Bread from scratch with my detailed instructions. With deep and aromatic flavor from caraway seeds and molasses, your kitchen will be smelling heavenly as this loaf bakes. Bring out your inner baker!
Dark Rye Bread
Who is ready for some more homemade bread? I’m always up for a challenge! Today I have a classic dark rye bread recipe made rustic and so easy. Just the incredible smell that comes from your oven will have you craving this recipe every week.
So, what are you planning to do with your freshly baked dark rye bread? This loaf was amazing spread with a pat of butter, but it was out-of-this world when I made these classic Reuben sandwiches. Complete with homemade thousand island dressing, these have to be the best sandwiches I’ve ever made!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Yeast – I used active dry yeast. You can use instant yeast and just mix it straight in with the dry ingredients.
- Water
- Molasses – Blackstrap works best.
- Cocoa powder – Unsweetened.
- Salt – As much or little as you like.
- Vegetable oil – Canola, safflower, of sunflower oils can be used instead.
- Caraway seeds – Whole seeds to give you that classic rye bread flavor.
- Flour – You’ll need rye flour and all purpose flours.
- Cornmeal – Fine ground.
How To Make Dark Rye Bread
- Proof the yeast: Add the lukewarm water and yeast to the bowl of your mixer equipped with the dough hook, stir and let it dissolve for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Make the dough: To the yeast mixture, add the molasses, cocoa powder, salt, caraway seeds, vegetable oil, rye flour, and 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add in remaining flour and keep mixing until it forms a firm dough (about 5 minutes), the dough should come clean from the side of the bowl.
- 1st rise: Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl, spray the dough as well with cooking spray, cover with a clean damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest until it doubles in size in a warm, draft free environment.
- 2nd rise: Place a piece of parchment paper on your work surface. Sprinkle the cornmeal over the parchment paper. Punch down the dough and stretch it from the center to form a ball. Place the ball onto the prepared parchment paper. Let it rise for another 30 to 40 minutes until doubled in size. Once doubled, sprinkle a bit of flour over the top of the dough and cut a few slashes with a sharp knife.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 425 F°. Place a shallow pan (not glass) on the lower rack in the oven. Transfer the bread with the parchment paper on a baking sheet or into a Dutch oven and place in the oven. Pour 1 cup of water in the shallow pan on the lower rack. Bake for 30 minutes until crusty and golden brown.
Why cocoa powder?
You’ll notice that your rye flour is much lighter in color than you might think if this is your first time using it. Without cocoa powder, your bread will be a lighter shade like this rye bread recipe. To get dark rye, you’ll need cocoa to give you that rich brown color.
Fear not! The addition of cocoa powder will not make your dark rye bread taste chocolatey. It used in such a small amount that it will just complement the richness of the molasses and aroma of caraway.
Troubleshooting your dough
My dough isn’t rising
This will be an issue with your yeast. These are the main reasons the yeast didn’t work properly:
- You need new yeast. Even if it hasn’t passed the expiry date, yeast is a living organism and once it dies it will no longer produce the air bubbles you need for your bread.
- The water’s temperature. If it’s too cold the yeast won’t activate properly, and if it’s too hot the yeast will die. Make sure it’s lukewarm to the touch, like baby formula. If you have a thermometer, you’ll want the water to be around 110F/43C.
- Your environment’s temperature. Make sure the dough has a warm, draft-free place to rise. Preheat your oven to its lower temperature and then turn it off. This is a perfect environment for your dough to rise.
My dough is very sticky
The part of the world you live in can made a difference! Even humidity levels inside your home can impact dough. With higher levels of humidity, you may need a bit more flour than someone who lives in a drier climate. This can also become apparent in the rising steps after the dough has had a chance to soak up moisture from the air.
If you need to add a bit more flour than I used to get the right texture, that is totally fine. Just add a little at a time.
My loaf turned out tough
If your dough rose but the loaf tasted dry, crumbly, or tough, this is usually a result of too much flour. I live in a drier climate, so if anything you may have to add more flour to this recipe rather than subtracting any. You just want the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl while still feeling soft and elastic. It’s better for the dough to be a bit too sticky than too dry.
Storing bread
Store your dark rye bread in a breadbox, airtight container, or sealable bag. You can pre-slice the loaf, however I recommend slicing it as you enjoy the bread to keep it as moist as possible. It will last 2-3 days at room temperature or 5-7 days in the fridge.
Freezing
Make sure your dark rye bread has fully cooled down to room temperature before freezing. In this case, store the bread either pre-sliced or whole. Store it in a large freezer bag, an airtight container, or wrapped well with both plastic wrap and foil. It’ll last 3 months.
Thaw uncovered at room temperature, or use your microwave if you have a bread thawing function.
Looking for more recipes to add to your bread baking list?
- Fast and Easy No Knead Bread
- No Knead Skillet Bread
- Irish Soda Bread
- Soft Buttermilk Rolls
- Rye Bread
- Garlic Parmesan Skillet Rolls
- White Bread Recipe
- 2 Ingredient Dough
- Texas Roadhouse Rolls
- Artisan Bread
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Dark Rye Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoon active dry yeast
- 2 cups water lukewarm
- 3 tablespoon molasses
- ¼ cup cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups rye flour
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- Add the lukewarm water and yeast to the bowl of your mixer, stir and let it dissolve for 5 to 10 minutes.
- To the yeast mixture, add the molasses, cocoa powder, salt, caraway seeds, vegetable oil, rye flour, and about 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add in remaining flour and keep mixing until it forms a firm dough (about 5 minutes), the dough should come clean from the side of the bowl.
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl, spray the dough as well with cooking spray, cover with a clean damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest until it doubles in size in a warm, draft free environment.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on your work surface. Sprinkle the cornmeal over the parchment paper. Punch down the dough and stretch it from the center to form a ball. Place the ball onto the prepared parchment paper. Let it rise for another 30 to 40 minutes until doubled in size. Once doubled, sprinkle a bit of flour over the top of the dough and cut a few slashes with a sharp knife.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F°. Place a shallow pan (not glass) on the lower rack in the oven. Transfer the bread with the parchment paper on a baking sheet or into a Dutch oven and place in the oven. Pour 1 cup of water in the shallow pan on the lower rack.
- Bake for 30 minutes until crusty and golden brown
Recipe Notes
- Store your dark rye bread in a breadbox, airtight container, or sealable bag. You can pre-slice the loaf, however I recommend slicing it as you enjoy the bread to keep it as moist as possible. It will last 2-3 days at room temperature or 5-7 days in the fridge.
- Make sure your dark rye bread has fully cooled down to room temperature before freezing. In this case, store the bread either pre-sliced or whole. Store it in a large freezer bag, an airtight container, or wrapped well with both plastic wrap and foil. It’ll last 3 months.
- Thaw uncovered at room temperature, or use your microwave if you have a bread thawing function.
Excellent recipe. I knead it by hand right in a (big aluminum) bowl and use bread flour instead of all-purpose for more stability and rise. A tip: when adding the liquid ingredients add the oil first then use the same tablespoon measure for the molasses. The molasses will flow right out of the spoon.
I would like to use my Dutch oven. I usually preheat the pan, should I with this recipe? Thanks, can’t wait to try it.
Yes, I would preheat it first.
Approximately how long does that first rise take? Just trying to map out how long it will take me overall. Thank you!
It totally depends on your environment, but it could take anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours.
Absolutely excellent recipe! I’m an experienced baker, and this is the best dark rye bread I’ve ever made. I rushed things b/c we had made a wonderful borscht and wanted dark rye to go with it. Baked it in a Dutch oven (Jim Leahy instructions). Also added two cups of cooked farro. Marvelous results. (Well written recipe.)
So glad you liked it!
Followed the directions exactly. My husband is raving about it. Thank you.
So glad you guys liked the bread!
Although I have baked a few tea biscuits , I have never baked bread. I wanted to try a little ‘rye’ bread and this recipe popped in with a quick google search. I spent a lot of ‘pre’ time , read and followed the directions to the letter and NAILED it my first time. Wife even loved it. How good is that .. Thank you very much ..
My pleasure, so glad you liked it!
I have made this recipe a few times already and it is AMAZING! We love Reuben sandwiches and they start with this bread from now on. I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer. I start the yeast in the bowl and admit that I sprinkle a pinch of sugar in the water to ‘feed’ the yeast. Using the dough hook I mix in the ingredients according to the recipe, occasionally need to scrape down the bowl. Yes, the dough is sticky, but I turn it out onto my floured counter and work in about another 1/2-3/4C of flour just until it’s not sticking to my hands. Follow the remainder of the recipe, and I bake it in a loaf pan (just 1). Same amount of time. The top gets a little darker than I like but taste is ok. I am going to try to decrease the temp to 400 next time (I have tried different rack positions first), still use the pan of water. This is such great bread, thanks for sharing your recipe!!
I really like the ingredients for this rye bread. Right up my alley for the taste I expect from dark rye.
I’ve made this recipe 3 or 4 times now and every time it requires a bump up to 4 cups all purpose flour and 2 cups rye flour (if the concept remains at half the amount of rye flour to your all purpose flour). Otherwise, the dough is just too wet. Regardless, it’s probably my favorite rye bread recipe.
Exceeded my expectations! Delish
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Lisa!!
I am curious about cooking it in a Dutch oven, when doing this do you put the lid on it? Or keep it open?
I think if you cook it with the lid on you’ll get a crispy crust, so it depends if that’s what you’re looking for, if you’re doing it with the lid on, I’d put the lid on for the first 20 minutes, then remove it and let the bread brown properly.
Questions on yeast. I tried to make two other recipes and the yeast failed to rise. However, my first question is about the quantity/conversion from tbsp to tsp. I used an online conversion table which indicated that 1 1/2 tbsp = 4 1/2 tsp or two Red Star yeast packets. Does this seem correct?
My second question is on activating the yeast. I’m using the Red Star Active Dry yeast packets. The package says to use 1/4 cup water for each packet used and to 1/2 tsp sugar to activate the yeast. However, your recipe does not call for any sugar and uses four times the amount of water. Which instructions should I follow?
Hi Brian,
The conversion from tbsp to tsp seems right and for the process of activating the yeast, you can confidently follow our recipe as long as you do use all the water mentioned in it.
Let us know how it turned out.
I would like to use standard bread loaf pans to make the dark rye bread. will this method work? And given the size of the loaf you show on your site, I would guess the same recipe would most like make two loaves using bread pans. I also don’t see any adjustment for altitude.
Yeah you could probably use 2 loaf pans. We’re at a high altitude here too, so you shouldn’t need to make any adjustments.
If using a loaf pan, is the baking time the same? Also, would it still require water in the shallow pan?
Thank you,
HL
Yes, and yes. The time should be the same, if you want to make sure the bread is fully cooked inside you could always use an instant read thermometer and if you stick it inside the bread, it should read 190 to 200F when the bread is fully cooked.
Thank you !
My first try at rye bread. It was really very easy with my kitchen aid. I just have to remember to go slow, otherwise, flour everywhere. I did not have bread flour so I added 1 teaspoon of vital wheat germ per cup of flour. My loaf was huge. I think I will try it with something other than molasses next time. It tasted better the second day and toasted than plain.
That’s a great experience for the first try and so glad you enjoyed it!
This is a very nice recipe for Rye Bread. My first time making Rye so it was fun. My beaters did not want to finish out the last half cup of flour so I incorporated it by hand… Altho next time I think on the second rise I will sit the parchment directly into the cast iron dutch oven.. because it seemed to loose a little height when I moved it on the last rise and never rose back up as much after. But the texture and flavor were perfectly balanced and def pleased my Texas Rye “bunch” greatly! Wish I could share a photo. Thank you!
Feel free to share a photo either on our facebook groups or on instagram and tag us #jocooks. 🙂
Wondering…..can I just mix the ingredients by hand, or will I be sorry I didn’t use my KitchenAid?!? Pandemically speaking, there’s some satisfaction in getting hands in the bread dough =)
You absolutely can use your hands! There may be a period of time where you regret it, but pandemically speaking, it would be an excellent way to pass the time and get a good workout all in one!! 😉