Russian Rye Bread - Rizhsky Khleb

One of my favorite breads. This was my first time trying out this rye bread recipe. I will say that it's exactly the taste and texture I was looking for! A crisp crust and a soft, tender inside with a tight "crumb." I did take the advice of the original written recipe and let the dough rest when called for. I did the entire bread in my mixer using my dough hook. I will write out exactly what I did but, if you want to follow other methods, you can check out King Arthur Flours website (click here) and their full written recipe. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do! Diane

Russian Rye Bread - Rizhsky Khleb

Ingredients:
1 1/4 Cups Water, at the temp your yeast calls for.
2 Tablespoons Dark Honey
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 Cups Medium Rye Flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon Caraway Seeds
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
3 Cups Unbleached, **All Purpose Flour

*plus an additional 1 teaspoon dark honey for sponge
*plus an additional 1 Tablespoon butter for bowl

Directions:

• To make the dough with a mixer: Pour the warm water into a mixing bowl and add a *teaspoon of the honey.
• Stir in the yeast and rye flour. Let this sponge work for at least 20 minutes, until it's expanded and bubbly. I cover my mixing bowl with a tea towel.
• Add the remaining dark honey, salt, caraway seeds, melted butter, and enough of the unbleached flour to create a dough that begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. I only ended up adding 2 1/2 cups AP Flour because of our humidity level. At this point, cover the dough bowl with a towel, and let it stand for about 5 minutes. Remove the towel.
• Turn the mixer on knead ('2' setting on my mixer), and let the dough hook knead until it's smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Halfway through, turn the mixer off, cover the dough bowl with a tea towel and give the dough a rest while you *butter your mixing bowl (about 2 minutes.) Then uncover and let knead the final 5 minutes.
• Shape the dough into a ball, place it in the buttered bowl, turning once to coat, flip over dough, turn again and cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, or until it's not quite doubled in bulk.
• Punch the dough down, and divide it in half. Shape each half into a rectangle place them into two lightly greased loaf pans, cover, and let rise for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Bake the bread for about 45 minutes, or until the crust is dark brown, and the interior temperature of the loaves measures 190F to 200F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a wire rack.
• I always thump the bottom of the bread first to hear if it has a hollow sound indicating its fully baked. I then insert my thermometer in the middle and bottom of one loaf to get my reading - I only test one loaf. I am of the feeling that letting all that steam escape will dry out the bread. You also do not want to cut into any fresh baked bread until its cooled or again, it can dry out faster.
• Store, well-wrapped, on the counter for 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Recipe Adapted from: King Arthur Flour
Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home