Soft, buttery, easy to slice, citrus-y loaves for rye lovers. My roommate said, “This tastes like bread you get in a restaurant.”
Happy fourth of July! Of course, on this super American holiday, I’m posting a recipe for Swedish rye bread. Oh wellsss. There are enough food bloggers building American flag cakes with strawberries and blueberries today. So here’s something brown. And really meant for winter baking. But delicious nonetheless.
Swedish Rye Bread
Ingredients
1 and 3/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon (I package) active dry yeast
Pinch of light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
1/4 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar (I used raw coconut sugar)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon salt (I used Himalayan pink salt. You can use sea salt or kosher salt too.)
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
Grated zest of 1 orange
2 and 1/2 cups rye flour (I used Arrowhead Mills organic rye flour)
2 and 1/4 to 2 and 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
Melted butter, for brushing (about 1/3 tablespoon)
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, stir 3/4 cup of the warm water with the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes or until foamy.
- Stir in the remaining 1 cup water and all the other ingredients until a soft, shaggy dough just clears the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and springy, 1 to 3 minutes for a machine mixed dough and 4 to 7 minutes for hand mixed dough. Dust with more flour 1 tablespoon at a time, just enough to prevent sticking.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly greased deep container. Flip once to coat with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, but no more.
- Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Without working the dough any further, divide it in half and shape each half into an oval loaf. Place them side by side on the parchment paper, several inches apart. Lift the sides of each loaf up and pull them together down the center, then gently flip over seam side down. This creates a well rounded loaf.
- Brush both loaves with melted butter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Using a serrated knife, slash the loaves with 3 diagonals, no more than 1/4 inch deep. Bake on the center rack for 25 minutes, rotate the baking sheet, and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Remove the loaves to a cooling rack.
Notes
Recipe barely adapted from Beth's Basic Bread Book
12 comments
The family recipe I grew up with did indeed have orange as an ingredient. I looked for same and after a long search found your recipe.
Thanks. A tip, if you use water that you’ve boiled halved potato in, the shelf-life of any baked goods are extended greatly. I store my large biscuits I make in a bag in the cupboard. They always get eaten up within 4 days, but they are as if fresh from the oven only room temperature.
That’s a really cool tip! Thank you for sharing, I will try it next time I made bread 😀
The orange zest and the smaller quantity are what I was looking for when I Googled Swedish rye. My grandmother and my great-aunt both made wonderful Swedish rye, but their recipes were for 5 loaves, and there are just two of us in a pandemic world!
When I use plastic wrap over my dough, it always sticks and deflates the dough. Why can’t I cover it with a clean tea towel? That’s what my grandmother always did.
You can!
I really enjoy the flavor of this recipe, and it’s easy to make. I’ve baked this recipe twice, and it tends to flatten out like biscotti. How can I get more height to the loaves?
Hi Allison,
Is the dough fully risen before it goes in the oven? If it’s not, it could be the yeast or the temperature. Try putting it somewhere really warm, like next to a heater, on top of the fridge, or even over a bowl of hot water.
Mine did the same thing, flattened like biscotti…
Try increasing your oven temperature or make sure it hasn’t over-risen before putting it in the oven. Those are the two most common causes of flattened bread. Hope that helps!
I’M making your Swedish Rye bread this morning. I am confused, ingredients say 1+3/4 cup warm water. Then direction says stir 3/4 cup of warm water. Shouldn’t that read 1 3/4 cup warm water?
Hi Judith,
The rest of the water (1 cup) goes in with the rest of the ingredients in step 2, after the yeast has bloomed, but I can see how that’s not entirely clear. Thanks for pointing it out! I’ll update the instructions. Hope it comes out well for you!
daring to be different -love that! Bread is perfect for all of those summertime sandwiches!