Rye bread

118 Comments / Bread Recipe / By
Rye bread

Easy recipe for 100% rye bread

Rye is delicious, it's nutritious, it's terrific if you are on a diet or need to be on a low GI diet because it's a very slow release carb. Rye does not have to resemble the black squares of pumpernickel that comes in shrink – wrapped blocks on supermarket shelves.
Go on, give this a try. It's fun to make and trust me, it's delicious!
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Cook Time45 minutes
Servings12 slices

Equipment

  • scale, bowl, spoon, baking tin

Ingredients
  

  • 300 grams dark or light rye flour or a mixture
  • 250 grams water from the tap
  • 6 grams salt
  • 1.5 grams instant yeast or 3 grams dry yeast or 6 g fresh yeast
  • 1 tsp ground coriander Optional
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin Optional
  • 2 handfuls sunflower or pumpkin or flax seeds (or a mixture) soaked overnight in water Optional
  • 2-3 tbs honey or molasses or malt syrup Optional

Instructions
 

  • Measure the water into a big bowl and add the yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes to dissolve.
  • Add the flour and the salt and any of the other ingredients you are using.
  • Stir together until it is well mixed.
  • Grease a bread tin with a hard fat (butter or lard work best).
  • Wet your hand thoroughly and pick up the dough. Shape it into a sausage shape the size of the tin. Pick up the tin and place the sausage in the tin gently. Don't push down! Just place it in and leave it. The dough will fill the tin itself and does not need to be squashed into the corners. See below for a video on how to do that.
  • You can sprinkle some rye flour on the surface of the dough if you like. Cover the tin with a shower hat – raise the surface of the hat above the dough so that when the dough rises, it does not stick to the hat. Leave it for 2-5 hours – it depends on the heat in the kitchen. Don't try to speed it up by placing it in an overly warm place as rye does not like to be too warm. Check it every once in a while. Rye is ready for the oven when there are little holes all over the surface. Keep your nerve and wait for that point.
  • Heat the oven to 200 degrees C. You can decorate the top of the loaf with seeds or a sprinkle of flour. Pop it in and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and remove from tin. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
  • Rye is best eaten the next day and will certainly last for 3-4 days.
  • Eat. Yum.

Video

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

118 thoughts on “Rye bread”

  2. tbaker

    Hi,
    Love your site and all the comments, but I live in the U. S. and am unused to your types of measuring & heating. Any suggestions other than just ‘doing the math’.

  3. Eibhlin

    Hi! I’m just about to make my first attempt at making this bread however after reading all the comments above I’m a bit confused by the yeast!! I’ve bought the brand Allinson but it just says “easy bake yeast” is this instant or dry??

  4. sofika

    Hi! I tried making this bread but i had a problem.the bread did rise while i was waiting for about 2 and a half hour. Then when i baked it didnt rise but fell i the middle. What could have happened? I used instant yeast.

    1. virtuousbread

      Hello, lots of things could have happened. It could have over proofed (but you would have noticed really big holes in the top of the loaf before baking it) or your oven it not up to temperature, baking at too low a heat could have caused that. Do you recognise that either of those could be the problem?

    1. virtuousbread

      Dear Elena, thank you for that. I think you will find – and this is the joy of bread – that there are many ways to make pumpernickel and many different shades of brown! The very very black pumpernickel really does have molasses! Malt syrup is just not dark enough to give it that. Other varieties do not have it! Thank you again!

  6. Abe

    Thank you! In the middle of a 3 day sourdough and needed some bread. Found your recipe and looked good so tried it adding honey and caraway seeds. Really delicious. I’ll certainly be making this again.

  7. Kate

    Hi there, this recipe looked great because I recently found out I am allergic to wheat and I so miss eating bread! The bread rose beautifully.However, when I uncovered it, it shrank a bit. I put it in the oven for 400 degrees F and took it out 45 minutes later and it shrank quite a bit, cooked on the outside, but was still very wet on the inside. I lowered the temperature and am cooking it 15-30 more minutes hoping the inside will cook because I want bread :). What do you think I did wrong? Maybe I should not have uncovered the rising bread until I put it in the oven?

    1. virtuousbread

      Hi there, not sure why it shrank. Perhaps it was in fact OVER prooved? Check your oven temperature with a good thermometer and if it’s not up to temp, get it calibrated. If you are desperate, put it up as high as it can go, put the bread in and then reduce it to 200 (400) or even 220 (425). Rye takes some getting used to and fiddling sometimes. Remember don’t cut into it until it is at least 24 if not 48 hours old. It has to dry out. It will always have a sticky texture and some people don’t like that. It’s never dry like wheat bread it. Let me know how it turns out next!

  8. Clairebelle

    I have seen a question about this recipe in a bread maker but could not find a reply? I tried it yesterday on the Gluten Free setting but it collapsed in the middle 🙁 I know you don’t use a bread machine but would the quantities be any different do you think? I tired to use a program with little kneading as I know Rye Flour doesn’t need kneading!
    Many thanks,
    Clairebelle

    1. virtuousbread

      Hi Claire and thanks for writing

      I have never made this in a bread machine (never used a bread machine so a very bad person to respond…). Indeed you don’t have to knead it so you may as well try in the oven? What does the bread machine instruction say? Jane

  9. Clairebelle

    Hi, thank you for your reply. I did have another go using the quick Wholewheat program which has a 15 min rest followed by a short mix then a longer proving time and cooking tome. It was a 3 hour program rather than a 2 hour and, although it has slightly collapsed in the middle it was much improved on my last attempt and totally delicious 🙂 🙂 x

  10. Karen

    Hi, thanks for this recipe. I’ve made this tonight for the first time, it’s very easy to make. It didn’t rise very much, I put it in the airing cupboard to rise for just over 2 hours (our kitchen is very cold, I was worried it wouldn’t rise). Having read the comments above I wonder if the dough wasn’t wet enough. Also I think the crust is very hard (I haven’t cut it yet, trying to wait 48 hours! ), I baked it at 200 deg C for 45 mins, so will try with a hotter oven next time.

    1. virtuousbread

      and how was it? If it did not rise very much, just leave it longer. Remember it’s when there are little holes all over the top of the loaf that it is ready for the oven!

  11. Kathy

    THe first time I made this bread, it did not rise at all.
    Now I have my 2nd attempt going and it is rising a little
    more than the first, but not rising to the top of the bread pan.
    I doubled the yeast. The flavor of the first loaf was good, but I would like it to rise.

    1. virtuousbread

      Hi there, I would not double the yeast – I would just be patient! Rye is slow and on a cooler day or in a cooler kitchen it can take a long time. Make sure your yeast is alive, proof it in warm water first if you want to (although you don’t have to) and just be patient. it will rise. trust me!

  12. Jill

    Just come back from spending New Year In Iceland. Sampled the most fabulous warm rye bread with winter herring. The bread had been baked in cardboard ex- milk/fruit juice containers and in the hot volcanic earth near the active geysirs for 24 hours. They use the natural geothermal heat to bake the bread. A long time to wait for a delicious loaf ,however !

  14. Mike

    I made rye bread for the first time using this recipe using Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour. I Was quite pleased with the results, Certainly nice and edible but not quite as light as I would of hoped for. I know a loaf like this is never going to be super light. Tonight I made another loaf but this time I added more water, probably about 310 -320grams and put it into my silicone bread tin with a mug of hot water to rise for two hours in the microwave (I did this with the first loaf). When I opened the the microwave door to my great surprise the loaf had risen to double the size. I have, I think created the perfect wholemeal rye loaf except next time I’ll put some seeds in to make it a little more healthy and tasty. Thank you very much for the recipe but I’m curious as to what rye flour you used, seeing you are in UK. Perhaps My rye flour is very dry and super absorbent, or maybe it’s because I used whole rye.

  15. Steve Lancaster

    Just to let you know that after three attempts I have got this bread to rise as it should! At first I thought it was not enough yeast or too much salt, but as you keep saying the key really is to use loads of water, much more than I’m used to with wheat bread. I needed 320ml of water to 300g of Doves Wholemeal Rye to get a really soft jelly-like dough. In fact the rise overflowed my 1lb tin so I will have to put it in a larger one next time. Thanks for the recipe, first time I’ve ever tasted a light rye bread and its lovely.

  16. joanie

    I needed the simple rye recipe in cups and ounces…tried converters but have to guess at amts…help

      1. joanie

        Thank you for the converter information, now I have to try rye bread again. My first attempt was heavy as a mill stone.

  17. Ashley

    Hi there, I’m on to my second loaf of bread and felt adventurous so I tried your wine idea.. Your instruction said to wait til the yeast fully dissolved before adding more wine/water. I’m using dry yeast and after 15 mins I could still see the yeast so I left it, got distracted and came back an hour later to find the yeast still not dissolved but mould growing. Is this normal? Will it cook out? I kept going with the instructions regardless and am now over to the next day of rising. The last bread didn’t rise much at all but I’ve read your comments saying to be patient so I’m waiting longer with this one. Thanks for all your help! I hope I can get it to work! 🙂

    1. virtuousbread

      Hi there, I am certain it is not mould but a kind of a beige sludge that will eventually form on the surface of water (wine) when you leave it long enough. An hour is not enough to grow mould so don’t worry! How did it go?

  18. Ashley

    Oh actually, I also added bi-carb to the second loaf to see when it would rise (in with the second lot of water) and that’s when I saw the mould!

  19. Ashley

    The bread turned out really nice thanks, my husband loves it. I have just adjusted it a bit to how we like it. I’m now on to my third bread and starting to feel like a professional haha.. Back to water again but the wine was a very welcome and interesting change.. You’re right by the way.. The bread does taste better a couple of days later!

  20. Piet van der Merwe

    I am going to try this recipe, my previous attemps failed totally. What about adding chillies and some garlic(just a tiny bit) for taste?

  21. Emily Johnson

    Hi, I have been scouring round the Internet for the best rye sourdough bread recipe and this is the best I’ve found that is simple, but its not a sourdough recipe. I’m trying to learn the bakers percentages as I am going into baking bread professionally, and im dyslexic. And I’m trying to get my head around the Detmolder 3 stage process. I know what I will be asking is different than your recipe because I am trying to make a sourdough using rye flour at the moment. So, my question is, can and how can I convert your recipe to use with my rye sourdough starter? I hope all of this makes sense.
    Thanks Emily

    1. virtuousbread

      Dear Emily

      hi and thanks for that. i have a sourdough receipe for rye on the website too (it is my favourite bread in the world). I understand the drag of having to read through a lot of science, but if you start here:

      I have tried to make it as “unsciencey” as possible. Then if you go here:

      http://www.virtuousbread.com/bread-and-conversation/please-dont-get-freaked-out-about-sourdough/

      and here:

      http://www.virtuousbread.com/bread-and-conversation/how-do-i-know-when-my-sourdough-is-ready-for-baking/

      You will find out how some basic info on sourdough. If you go here:

      http://www.virtuousbread.com/bread-and-conversation/making-sourdough-starters/

      you will learn to make a rye starter and if you go here:

      http://www.virtuousbread.com/how-to-make-bread/recipies/sourdough-bread-the-way-we-make-it-at-virtuousbread-com/

      there is a really easy rye sourdough recipe. Remember, there are a million ways to do anything and what I have led you to is only one way!

      Where do you live? If you are in the UK, come and take a sourdough class with us. It’s the easiest way to learn and I guarantee all the mystery will be solved. Link to the classes is here:

      http://breadangels.com/courses/

      type “sourdough” into the search bar and they will pop up.

      Thanks for writing! Jane

  22. Emily Johnson

    Hi Jane,

    Thank you for that advice. I live in Staffordshire in the UK. I will have a look at those websites you have shown me. I already have a Rye Sourdough Starter, I’m was just stuck on my Sourdough, but now that you’ve given me some links, I have a direction to go in.

  23. Liz

    This was really easy. I’ve made it twice and I’ve had two pretty good results. Good in that the sense that they were tasty and had risen okay. However the better one was definitely the first one in which I accidentally put nearly twice as much water as recommended. I’m trying it again now with extra water. I’ll see how it goes!

  24. Liz

    So at loaf no. 3 I can say that I seem to need twice or nearly three times as much water as suggested in the recipe. This might be because I’m using a wholemeal rye? (I’m also using the yellow tin of Allison’s dried yeast). My loaves also take quite a long time to rise (three hours minimum even in midsummer). But the result is a really great texture and a delicious loaf!

    1. virtuousbread

      THanks so much for the comment…all flour is different which is why water is only ever a guide and especially with rye you need to get comfy with a sopping wet dough! I am so pleased you persevered. The enzyme level that naturally occurs in the flour also impacts the speed of the rise. In the UK where I sometimes live my rye moves much more quickly than in Mexico even though here it is usually much hotter. Different flour!

  25. Gabriella

    On my way to the store now. Will let you know how this one turns out. Beautiful day in South Africa Lowveld near Kruger Park and I am going to bake my first rye. I am off any wheat or white flours for 10 days now. Here we go. Love and light Namaste to all.

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