by Kathy Hamman Miller

Baking bread from scratch can be time consuming, but that does not mean it’s difficult. Most of the time involved is simply letting the dough rise and bake. The actual hands on time is small.

Thanks, Helene Matecki, for sharing your recipe! Check out the benefits of eating rye bread. This makes two loaves.

Bread Ingredients:

3 to 3 ½ c. bread flour

2 cups to start and 1 1/2 to finish up with

2 pkg. yeast

1 c. room temperature sour dill pickle brine

¾ c. hot water

2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. dried dill weed

1 Tbsp. caraway seed

1 teaspoon dill seed

1 ½ c. rye flour

1 1/2 cups The rest of the bread flour

Bread Topping:

1 egg white, beaten with 1 tsp. milk

1 Tbsp. dill seed

Directions:

Measure 2 cups of the bread flour into a large mixing bowl. Add yeast, pickle brine and hot water stirring to form a thin batter. Add shortening, sugar, 1 egg, salt, dill weed, caraway seed, and 1 teaspoon of dill seed.

Beat for 3 minutes, then add the rye flour and beat it into batter. Stir in the balance of the white flour, ½ cup at a time. First dough will be rough and stickier than a white dough. Sprinkle additional white flour to control stickiness.

Knead 8 minutes. Dough should be smooth. Round the dough into 2 rounds. Cover loosely and let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Shape into loaves and place on sheet trays or greased loaf pans, let rise 45 minutes. At that time, slash top of each loaf into a design, parallel cuts or tic-tac-toe if desired. Brush with egg-milk wash and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon dill seed.

Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 50 minutes. Tap bottom of loaf; if it sounds hard and hollow, it is done. If not, return to oven for 5 to 10 more minutes. Cool on rack.

A question I thought you might have is would it make a difference if you used all purpose flour instead of bread flour with this recipe? You can substitute, however, I found if you use bread flour you’ll get a tighter crumb and a loaf that holds its shape, if you use the all-purpose flour you’re looking for a slightly more open texture and will have a bit more tenderness. I used the bread flour with this try and liked it.

Sturdy enough to even make grilled Reuben sandwiches with! I used the light rye with this recipe, also known as the white rye version, which is the lightest version of rye flour, the bran and the germ are completely removed. The medium version contains more of the bran leading to a darker flavor and color.

Dark rye is usually milled, depending on the producer, from the entire rye kernel, sifting out some of the endosperm. You can choose what your family would enjoy the most.

Wait, there’s one more. Did you know that Pumpernickel flour is made from the entire rye kernel, making for a darker even purplish hue in breads and baked goods. Enjoy!