Lots of years ago my friend's very swedish mother in law would visit and make rye bread and bring ma a loaf. I asked for the recipe and was told "there isn't one"...I begged and finally one time when Mrs Faust was making rye bread I was invited to learn. As she dumped stuff into a bowl, I got out a measuring cup and measured it.
And this bread turned out just like her's.
Here's my "method!

Here's the Rye bread I promised. Makes 6 loaves.
Cook 4 medium potatoes (peeled), drain saving the water and put through a
sieve (or mash)
proof 2 pkts of yeast (or 3 1/2 teaspoons) in 1/2 cup warm water with a t. of sugar. Mix 4 c. of buttermilk, 3/4 c. dark molasses, 1/4 cup of shortening (she used Crisco, I use butter) and 1 t. baking soda and
1T.salt. Add 3/4 c. brown sugar and 3/4 c, of the potato water. Add enough
rye flour to make a dough ( still able to be stirred, but getting pretty
stiff).Add the yeast mixture and mix well Add enough white bread flour to
(as Mrs. Faust said)work it up, That is until it is stiff enough to knead.
knead about 6 to 8 minutes, let rise till double, punch it down and shape
into loaves. this works best in bread pans due to the long cooking time--if
you don't have 6 bread pans, just "free form" the rest and maybe take it
out of the oven a little sooner. Butter top of loaves and raise until it
almost cracks on top (this is a very heavy bread!) Bake 350 for 1 1/4
hours. mrs Faust used to divide the dough in half and add about a t. of
anise seed to -one half of the dough--I like it--almost like a tea bread..
Good Luck--I'm getting hungry just reading the recipe--it's really a
fabulous bread!
Give a shout if you have a problem
Linda C--

This is a much lighter bread both in color and texture.....From another Swedish friend.

Swedish Rye Bread (5 loaves)
2pkg dry yeast
1 cup warm H2O dissolve these three ingredients
1tsp. sugar

(meanwhile)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup whiter sugar
1tsp. salt (scant)
1/4 tsp. fennel seed
1 cup shortening (I use oleo)
1/2 (scant) molasses
4 cups warm H2O
(combine this), add yeast mixture
Stir in 4 cups Rye Flour
Work in 8 or more cups of white flour (I use 10 cups)
The dough should be soft, but of course it should be workable
Knead for 5 minutes
Mix well--cover and let rise in warm place until double--- stir or punch
down
Dump out on lightly floured counter
Divide into 5 sections---shape
Place in greased pans--let rise
Bake at 275 -300 degrees until done

I've been using this recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum and it's great. Just leave the seeds out if you don't like them.

Note: Adapted from "The Bread Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Specialty flours and barley malt syrup are available at select well-stocked markets, health food, cooking and baking supply stores, as well as online.

Sponge (dough starter)

3/4 cup (4 ounces) bread flour

3/4 cup (3.3 ounces) rye flour

1/2 teaspoon (0.06 ounce) instant yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons (0.6 ounce) sugar

1/2 tablespoon barley malt syrup (or malt powder or honey or sugar)

1 1/2 cups water, at room temperature

Make the sponge: In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl, combine the bread flour, rye flour, yeast, sugar, malt syrup and water. Whisk until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl. The starter will have the consistency of thick batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set the sponge aside while you combine the flour mixture.

Bread assembly

2 1/4 cups (12.4 ounces) bread flour

1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoons instant yeast

2 tablespoons (0.5 ounce) caraway seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons (0.3 ounce) salt

1 1/2 teaspoons (0.25 ounce) vegetable oil

1/2 cup ice cubes

About 2 teaspoons (0.5 ounce) cornmeal for sprinkling

1. Make the flour mixture: In a large bowl, whisk together the bread flour (reserve one-fourth cup if mixing by hand), the yeast, caraway seeds and salt.

2. Remove the plastic wrap from the sponge, and gently scoop the flour mixture over the sponge to cover it completely. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside at toom temperature to ferment until the sponge bubbles through the flour mixture in places, 1 to 4 hours.

3. Mix the dough: If using a stand mixer, place the fermented sponge/flour mixture, along with the oil, in the mixer bowl and mix with a dough hook over low speed (Speed 2 on a KitchenAid) until the flour is moistened enough to form a rough dough, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium (Speed 4) and continue to mix until the dough is very smooth and elastic, and springs back when pressed with a fingertip, about 10 minutes. If the dough is at all sticky, turn it out onto a counter and knead in a little extra bread flour.

If mixing by hand, add the oil to the bowl and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, stir until the flour is moistened. Knead the dough in the bowl for 5 minutes, enough to develop the gluten structure a little, adding as little of the reserved flour as possible to keep it from sticking. Use a curved bench scraper to scrape the dough and gather it as you knead it in the bowl. At this point, it may be a little sticky. Cover the dough with the inverted bowl and set it aside to rest for 20 minutes, then knead the dough until it is very smooth and elastic, an additional 5 to 10 minutes. If the dough is still sticky, knead in a little more flour.

You don't specify light or dark rye, sourdough, sandwich....? I'd suggest looking at the recipes at King Arthur Flour for a good variety of options.

If you've never made rye bread before, you may find it a bit sticky (especially if there is a fairly large percentage of rye flour in it), which is a characteristic of the dough. Because of this stickiness people often add too much flour to compensate, so take care during kneading not to add too much flour. You can oil your hands, or dip them in a bowl of water during kneading to help with the stickiness so you don't add too much flour and end up with "bricks". Another trick for this is to put the dough in a large zip-lock freezer bag, push out as much air as possible and zip shut. Now you can knead the dough from the outside of bag and add flour if necessary.

When it comes to seeds... Hubby loves the flavor of caraway seeds but doesn't like the seeds in the bread, so I grind the seeds in a coffee/spice mill, or my suribachi and pestle. People associate the flavor of caraway with rye bread more than rye flour. Add caraway seeds to white bread and they will mistaken it for rye.

-Grainlady

Here's my recipe from the Bread Lovers Bread Machine cookbook by Beth Hensperger. I don't bake the bread in the machine, I just use the dough cycle and then bake in the oven. This makes a small loaf and is easy and yet very flavorful.

1.5 lb. loaf
Sour Cream Rye

2/3 cups water
2 TBLSP balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup sour cream (I use "lite")
2 TBLSP dark honey or molasses
2 TBLSP vegetable oil
(add these all together in bottom of bread machine.)

1 3/4 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cups dark rye flour
1 TBLSP instant potato flakes
1 TBLSP + 1 tsp. gluten
1 tsp. caraway seeds (I use ground caraway. Leave out if you don't like caraway taste)
1/2 tsp. ground coriander (can leave this out too if you want a very plain tasting bread)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. SAF yeast or 2 3/4 tsp. bread machine yeast

Not sure how to describe making the dough without the bread machine. But to bake in the oven, grease the bread pan and bake at 475 for 15 min. then turn oven down to 350 and bake 15-30 min. more, until bread sounds hollow when tapped and crust is done. I have also made this free-form.

Oops, that's a typo! Initial oven temp should be 425! That's four TWENTY five.

Also, can paint crust with water for more chewiness. I do.

Jut realized I didn't post the rest of recipe. Sorry. Here it is.

4. Place the dough in a 2-quart bowl, lightly greased with oil. Press down the dough and lightly oil the top. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Set the dough aside to rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

5. Turn the dough out onto a slightly floured counter (using bread flour) and press it down to flatten it slightly. Form the dough into a ball about 5 1/2 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches high and set it on a cornmeal-sprinkled baking sheet. Cover it with a large container or oiled plastic wrap. Set the dough aside to rise until almost doubled, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

6. Prepare the oven: Have an oven shelf at the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it before heating the oven. Place a cast-iron skillet or sheet pan on the floor of the oven to preheat. Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

7. With a sharp knife or single-edged razor blade, make 4 slashes one-fourth- to one-half-inch deep in the top of the dough. Mist the dough with water and quickly but gently set the baking sheet on the hot stone or hot baking sheet. Toss one-half cup of ice cubes into the pan beneath and immediately shut the door. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400 degrees and continue to bake until the bread is golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean or the loaf reads 190 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 30 to 40 minutes. Halfway through baking at the lower temperature, with a heavy spatula, lift the bread from the pan and set it directly on the stone, turning it around as you do for even baking.

8. Remove the bread from the oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Each of 12 servings: 192 calories; 6 grams protein; 38 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 2 grams fat; 0 saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 2 grams sugar; 293 mg sodium.

I use Ann T's recipe. I've made it as free-form loaves and as sandwich buns. Most of the time I add at least a tablespoon of caraway seeds because I like the taste. Sometimes I'll add about a tablespoon each of dill seed and dried minced onion pieces. I really like the flavor of dill rye. I usually don't do any kind of wash, just a spritz of water before placing the loaves in the oven. I mix & knead the ingredients in my bread machine and then shape the dough by hand. For free-form loaves, I'll bake them directly on my oven stone.

Because of my husband's salt-restricted diet, I use just about 1 teaspoon of salt and reduce the yeast amount by half also. But even with the lessened salt content, it is a very tasty bread.

Rye Bread
Recipes From Thibeault's Table
=========
1 1/2 cups rye flour
3 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat
2 teaspoons yeast
2 to 3 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon molasses
2 tablespoons melted butter
Approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water

Egg Wash

Stir together all the dry ingredients. Add the molasses, butter and 1 1/4 cups of water. Mix until dough comes together. Add more water if needed. Knead until dough is smooth and supple. Dough should not be too stiff.

Oil a large bowl and roll the dough to coat it with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap.

Let rise until double, approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Knock dough down, divide in half and form two loaves. Free form or in a loaf pan.

Dust the loaves with a little flour and cover with a tea towel.

Heat oven to 350.(Ann's note: This is what the original recipe calls for. But I actually heated it to 500 because I was baking the bread on a stone not in a loaf pan.) [I usually bake the bread or rolls at about 375.]

Slash loaves and brush with an egg wash. Bake on a stone or on a parchment covered baking sheet for approximately 45 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 190.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ann's Rye Bread Recipe

I love the caraway seeds in rye bread, Dad didn't, so much. I told him it was too bad, if he wanted me to share, he'd eat it my way. LOL Actually, I divided the dough in half and added caraway to one loaf and left his without.

Ann T's recipe is very good, I like it a lot. When I don't have sour cream, I make this one which calls for yogurt, I always have that because I make my own several quarts at a time. This is a dark pumpernickel rye from Dorie Greenspan. Carol/Readinglady first pointed me toward it, and for that I thank her. I've found prune lekvar in cans occasionally, but it's easy to make it using the directions in the recipe. I will admit that Dorie Greenspan completely lost me on the shaping and the resting in the sling, LOL. I cut the recipe in half, toss the wet ingredients in the bread machine after melting the chocolate, butter and shortening. I follow with the dry ingredients, top it off with the yeast and salt, set it on dough. When it's done kneading and rising I shape, rise and bake. (shrug) It works for me, but I'll give you the whole package deal, in case you want to do it that way. (grin)

Pumpernickel Rye Bread

1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon instant espresso
2 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate,
coarsely chopped
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1 stick (4 ounces) [1/2 cup] unsalted butter,
cut into small cubes
5 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
2 cups plain yogurt, at room temperature
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup prune lekvar* (also sold as prune butter
in specialty markets and some supermarkets)
2 tablespoons ground caraway seeds (grind
whole seeds in a spice or coffee grinder)
1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups coarse rye meal or medium rye flour
6 cups (approximately) high-gluten flour, bread flour,
or unbleached all-purpose flour
Melted butter, for greasing the mixing bowl

* Prune Lekvar: Put 3 cups (packed) pitted prunes in a medium saucepan, cover with water, and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the prunes are very soft, about 10 minutes; drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the liquid. Place the prunes and liquid, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, and 1/3 cup sugar in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until puréed. Scrape the prune butter into a bowl and stir in 1/4 cup very finely chopped walnuts. Packed in a tightly sealed jar, the prune butter will keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks. Makes about 1 cup.

Brush a large (about 8-quart) bowl with melted butter; set aside.

Mixing and Kneading

Put the boiling water and espresso powder into a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir to dissolve espresso. Add the chocolate, molasses, and butter and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter and chocolate melt. Pour the mixture into another large (about 8-quart) bowl.

Meanwhile, whisk the yeast and pinch of sugar into the warm water; let rest until creamy, about 5 minutes.
Using a wooden spoon, stir the yogurt, shortening, lekvar, caraway seeds, and salt into the butter-chocolate mixture. When the ingredients are well blended and the mixture is just warm to the touch (no hotter than 110 degrees F), stir in the yeast and the rye meal. Using lots of elbow grease, stir in enough of the high-gluten flour, 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time, to make a very moist dough. (You’ll probably use almost 6 cups of flour.)

When it is too difficult to stir the dough, turn it out onto a work surface well dusted with high gluten flour and knead until smooth and elastic but still soft and moist, about 10 minutes. The dough may seem a little pasty
at first ��" because of the rye meal ��" but its texture will change with energetic kneading. While you’re working, add only as much additional flour as you need to keep the dough from sticking to the table and your hands.

(You can make this dough in a heavy-duty mixer fitted with a dough hook. Once the yeast and rye meal have been added to the other ingredients, mix on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, for about 2 minutes. Add about 5 cups of the high-gluten flour, 1 cup at a time, and beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and beat in as much additional flour as needed to make a soft dough that will clean the sides of the bowl, then beat for about 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.)

First Rise

Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to the buttered bowl. Cover the bowl with buttered plastic wrap and top with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until it has doubled in volume.

Second Rise

When the dough is fully risen, deflate it, turn it over, cover as before, and let it rise for about 1 hour, or until it doubles in bulk again.

Rolling and shaping

Deflate the dough, transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, and divide it in half. Work with one piece of dough and keep the other covered with a towel or plastic wrap. Lay 2 clean kitchen towels on the counter and sprinkle them with flour; keep close at hand.
On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a rectangle about 8 inches by 14 inches. Starting at the short end farthest from you, roll the dough into a tight roll, pinching and sealing the seams you form with each roll as you go. Stand the roll on end and push your fingers down into the loaf, tucking some of the dough into the loaf as you burrow your fingers down into it. Then squeeze the end of the dough to elongate it, pinch it to seal, and fold each corner into the center, creating two triangles ��" it’s like making hospital corners on a bed. Tuck the end under the bread, attaching it to the bottom seam, and repeat the borrowing, squeezing, folding, and tucking with the other end of the coil. Rotate and plump the dough to get a nicely shaped, rounded oval. Place the loaf, seam side up, diagonally on one of the floured kitchen towels and form a sling by joining the opposite corners of the towel, slip an S-hook through the hole, and suspend the sling from a cupboard or door knob (or tie the ends of the towel together to form a sling and suspend it). Shape the second piece of dough in the same manner and tuck it intoa sling.

Rest

The loaves should rest undisturbed in their slings for 40 minutes.

The Topping and Glaze

Sesame and/or caraway seeds )optional
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon cold water

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. If the loaves are to bake on a baking or pizza stone, preheat the stone too and generously dust a peel with cornmeal. Of they will bake on baking sheets, brush or spray one or two large, preferably dark steel, baking sheets with vegetable oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. For added flavor, use some sesame and/or caraway sees in combination with the cornmeal to dust the peel or sheets. (To create steam in the oven, you’ll be tossing ice cubes and water onto the oven floor. If you don’t think your oven floor is up to this ��" it can be tricky with a gas oven ��" put a heavy skillet or roasting pan on the oven floor and preheat it as well.)

Whisk the egg white and water together and push the mixture through a sieve; reserve.

Release the slings and transfer the loaves, smooth side up, to the prepared peel or baking sheet(s), keeping the loaves at least 3 inches apart. These loaves are very big and unusually soft, so handle them carefully. Give the loaves a last plumping with your hands and using a sharp serrated knife or a single-edge razor blade, slash the top of each loaf 3 times: The slashes should run horizontally across the loaf at a slight angle and should be about 1 inch deep. Paint each loaf with a generous coating of glaze, taking care not to paint the slashes. Sprinkle the loaves with caraway and/or sesame seeds, if you’re using them.

Baking the bread

Put 4 ice cubes in a 1-pint measuring cup and add 1/4 cup cold water. Put the loaves into the oven, immediately toss the ice cubes and water onto the oven floor (or into the pan), and quickly close the oven door to trap the steam produced by the ice. Bake the loaves for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 35 to 40 minutes more, or until the loaves are deeply browned and the bottoms produce a hollow sound when rapped. (The internal temperature of the loaves should measure 200 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.) Remove the loaves and cool on a rack. The loaves must cool completely before they can be cut, so plan to wait 2 to 3 hours after baking.

Storing

You can keep the bread in plastic bags at room temperature for 2 days or wrap the loaves airtight and freeze them for up to 1 month. Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature.

This is a moist and sweet rye bread, very good with bean soup.

Annie

OOOOOH! I actually yipped when I saw so many answers to my request. Thank you one and all for recipes AND suggestions.

I'm adding another vote for the Sour Cream Rye loaf that LPink posted. I've made it several times and we loved it. I used Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream because I always have it my fridge. I made it in the bread machine but baked free form oval loaves on a stone.

Lee

What a coinkydink.. I just removed to loaves of caraway-rye bread from the oven, came downstairs and saw this.

I love caraway rye bread with lotsa seeds in them.. Great for dunking in chili or spreading garlic butter on.

Basically I just do a whitebread recipe and sub a little less than half the white flour for a light rye flour.
It's sure cheaper than buying it at the grocery store here.

Re: seeds--the flavor of caraway is wonderful in rye bread, but those of us with diverticulosis (or diverticulitis) need to avoid seeds. BUT you can buy ground caraway seed. It's a way to add the flavor in powdered form, so that the bread is safe for those with problems with seeds.

Recipe? I'd highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of "Uncle John's Bread Book"--it's out of print, but you can still occasionally find a copy if you look hard enough. It's a great resource, it's the recipes from an old, German, family bakery. It's my 'go-to' reference for bread recipes and every one I've made from it has been fantastic.

I love Rye breads, but never tried my hands on them. Will try any of these recipes soon, Thanks for sharing :)