Here's my revised pumpernickel recipe - the loaf in the picture is one I made yesterday. Here's how it looks cut:

{{gwi:1505870}}

I left out the seeds in this one, and it made kneading a bit easier, although I would prefer to have them. DB doesn't like caraway, and I decided that flax was not a good substitution, after someone told me it was a laxative. Anyway, I'm very happy with how the second attempt turned out. I might try to sneak some ground caraway seeds into the next loaf. The recipe is for one loaf - if I made two I would have to freeze one, and I don't have room in my freezer for that.

Lars

Lars that is down right lovely..........recipe please.charlotte........am sure Lee would like it also
we are both back into breads

Thanks for posting this, Lars. I buy pumpernickel at the Publix deli all the time but would love to make it.

(Charlotte, see the link in the first line of Lars' post.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I know what's on my "To Do" list for this weekend!!!
Maybe Friday since I have it off work too. This would be awesome with the Reuben casserole (steelmagnolia posted).

OR YOU COULD JUST SEND THE REST OF THAT LOAF TO ME....

(grin)

Deanna

I've never thought I liked pumpernickel bread, maybe because I don't care for molasses, or maybe because the only time I tried it, was a packaged purchase. You know, not a deli baked item. This sure looks good.

Looks very good, Lars!

I know you've mentioned that you can eat yogurt so I thought I'd post the pumpernickel recipe I use. I've been making it for years & don't remember exactly where the recipe came from but I 'think' it's from one of Beth Hensperger's books??

Yield: In my family, it's traditional to make pumpernickel in very large oval rustic loaves. It could also be baked in two pullman pans.

1-1/2 Tablespoons Yeast
1 Teaspoon Molasses
1 Cup Warm Water
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Tablespoon Salt
1/2 Cup Wheat Bran
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (I use hard red WW rather than the white WW for this recipe)
1-1/2 Cups Pumpernickel Flour (Pumpernickel is to rye flours what whole wheat is to wheat flours. If you see a recipe calling for "rye" flour...that's the same as all-purpose wheat flour)
2 Cups Plain Yogurt, at room temperature
4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted & Cooled
3-1/2 to 4 Cups Unbleached AP Flour (I use bread flour)
2 Tablespoons Bran for sprinkling

1.) In a small bowl combine the yeast, molasses and warm water. Stir to dissolve & let stand until foamy, about 10-15 minutes.

2.) In a large bowl or a stand mixer...combine the cocoa, salt, bran, whole wheat flour, and pumpernickel. Add the yogurt, butter, and yeast mixture. Beat hard for 1 minute.

3.) Add the unbleached AP Flour 1/2 cup at a time to form a soft dough that just barely clears the sides of the bowl...careful not to add too much flour.

4.) Need for about 4-5 minutes in a stand mixer or about 10 minutes by hand. The dough will be quite sticky at first & smooth out as you knead. Again, careful not to add much flour as you knead.

5.) Place dough in a large greased container, turn dough to coat the top with oil, & cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled (1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours).

6.) When doubled, gently roll the dough onto a floured board & shape as desired.

7.) Cover loosely with plastic wrap & let double, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Just before baking, slash decoratively & sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of bran.

8.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

9.) I bake my pumpernickel on a stone & use steam but most recipes don't call for this step.

10.) Bake about 45-50 minutes. Let cool on rack.

This bread has a slight sourdough-like tang from the yogurt. It makes fantastic ham sandwiches and, of course, reubens. It's also yum with date/orange cream cheese.

/tricia

Thanks Tricia. I saved that recipe. It looks like it would be a lot less sweet than the recipe I used, which almost tasted like cake to me. I do like a strong molasses flavor, however, but I'm still at the experimental stage. The pumpernickel I had in Texas was fairly close to what I made and was also very sweet and dense. I noticed that your recipe uses a smaller percentage of rye (pumpernickel) flour, but perhaps it can achieve enough flavor by using pumpernickel flour instead of rye flour. I will try it and see what I think, especially since I generally prefer a sourdough flavor.

Lars

Lars! Just wanted to thank you for posting your recipe... I made it today and it came out great -- best pumpernickle I've ever managed to make, wonderful texture. I baked mine in a loaf pan since I like it for sandwiches... Only change I made was to use 1.5 cups of bread flour rather than the 1 and 3/8ths of AP flour.

DH and I have been devouring slices slathered with butter...

Emily

Lars, I made your recipe except that I also used bread flour instead of AP and it was wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing.

Tricia, When you say that ".......If you see a recipe calling for "rye" flour...that's the same as all-purpose wheat flour" are you just saying that you can substitute all purpose whole wheat flour for rye flour? Because it is my understanding that Rye flour and Whole wheat are two different grains. Whole wheat still contains the germ and the bran and becomes white when it is processed to remove the germ and bran. The same with Rye flour. It is pumpernickel when the whole rye is ground with the germ and the bran and it becomes Rye flour when they are removed. So the comparison of Whole Wheat to White and Pummpernickle to Rye is just that one is more processed than the other.

Ann, fortunately I think Lars understood my ill-worded description of WW & AP versus pumpernickel & rye. lol And, yes :) rye & wheat are two different grains.

/t

Interesting that people are making this recipe. I actually found it to be easier than other types of bread because the rising time is shorter and it needs less kneading. BTW, it makes great Melba Toast as well, but it's very good just with butter - probably because of the sweetness. The second time I made it, I used an instant read thermometer (Note to self: buy a replacement battery), and this led to me to baking the bread for a longer period of time. I actually baked the second one for 50 minutes and the internal temp was 205°, and so I think 45 minutes probably would have been enough. However, it came out fine after 50 minutes and a temp of 205° - better than the first one.

Lars

Good to know about the baking time Lars. When I made it yesterday I was on the phone when I put it in, and the phone serves as my clock in the kitchen... So I have no idea how long I actually had it in for -- I took it out when it looked and sounded (when I thumped it) ready to me, and just happened to get lucky -- it was perfectly cooked! I actually left out the 1 Tbs of sugar by accident, and so it wasn't very sweet, but still makes great toast with butter! Mmmmm. Think I'll go make myself a slice now!

Emily

I make a pumpernickel that was on the King Arthur flour site (King Arthur and Williams Sonoma are to me like what the Sears catalog was to my Mom). It is fabulous, and makes the best toast and Reubens. However, it does use caramel coloring (instead of molasses, which I don't care much for), and Deli bread flavor powder (which I believe "sours" the loaf), and diastatic malt powder. But I have all that stuff on hand, so I make it quite often. Scrumptious.
Lars, your loaf is absolutely gorgeous. One thing I noticed with my recipe is that is seems too "wet," and often rises too much to the side so I get a short squat loaves.
Sherry