If you are looking for a recipe for a super simple and almost fail-safe Danish Rye Bread - then you are landed on the right page. The special about this recipe is that it do not require a Sour Dough which is a very typical, and for some people a very important, ingredient. However, even though the traditional Danish Rye Bread is based on a Sour Dough I must say that this recipe I have posted below does a very job and is fully comparable with the traditional rye bread. I would even say that this bread could easily get the same amount of points in a blind-taste-test among Danish people.
Sour Dough or Fresh Yeast
The reason why the traditional rye bread is based on a Sour Dough is because it is a great leavening agent and because it gives the bread a sour and special taste. A Sour Dough is for some people an important part of the rye bread baking process. Even though a sour dough is quite easy to make, the only disadvantage is that it requires about 4-6 days preparing. I have made a complete guide how to make your own sour dough which you can find here on my blog - just use the search field on the front page.
One of the key features with a Sour Dough is, as mentioned above, the great leavening properties. However, it is quite easy to substitute the sour dough with normal yeast. In the recipe below, I have used fresh yeast, which makes it super easy to make a homemade Nordic rye bread. Of course, I also have the traditional rye bread recipe posted here on my blog. This bread requires a sour dough. Again, you can find the original rye bread recipe by using the search field on the front page.
I know that it can be difficult to get fresh yeast some places in the world. In this case, I am quite sure dry yeast can do the job as well. However, I have not tested this recipe with dry yeast yet. If you have any experience with dry yeast and rye bread I would love to hear from you in the comment section below.
Rye Bread from the Nordic Countries
I have done a lot of traveling around the world both private and with my job. I am a person who love to experience new cultures, meet new people especially the ones with a different background then myself. Very simple, I love spend time abroad, if it is business or pleasure, it does not matter. However, when I am traveling around the world there is always one little thing I am missing from back home and that is the Rye Bread. The white and light toast bread, which is the most common type of bread and eaten every day by thousands of people around world, is just not my preferred substitute when I am used to the healthy rye bread.
What is Rye Bread?
Rye bread is a very common type of bread eaten in the Nordic countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway but also some places in Germany. I am also quite sure this bread has found its way to other places in the world. Rye bread will, to the Nordic people, always be something very important and most a part of the daily diet. Once you have tried making your own rye bread I can also recommend to making some of my Rye Bread Chips, which are fantastic delicious as a morning snack or just before dinner.
Instructions for rye bread without sour dough
As I have mentioned several times, this rye bread is very easy to make. I normally always start by measuring out all the ingredients in small cups and bowls - this way the next steps are just super simple.
In a large bowl; add the lukewarm water and dissolve the fresh yeast. Then add all the grains, salt and yogurt and stir to mix. Finish the preparation of the dough by adding the different flours and knead everything into a nice and sticky rye bread dough. You can with advantage use a kitchen machine for this kneading step. After this kneading, set the dough aside and let it rise for about one hour.
Spray coat two bread pans with cooking oil or butter and pour half of the rye dough into each of them. Let the dough rise for another 30 minutes somewhere warm. Before baking the bread, brush the top of the bread with water and sprinkle it with some sunflower seeds. Preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F). Once you put the bread in the oven, lower the temperature to 160 C (320 F) and bake the bread for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Danish Rye Bread (Without Sour Dough)
2 bread
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Danish title: Rygbrød uden surdej
Cuisine: Danish
Category: bread
Ingredients:
50 g (2 oz) fresh yeast
6 dl (2 1/2 cups) water
125 g (4 1/2 oz) sunflower seeds
100 g (3 1/2 oz) flax seeds
400 g (14 oz) cracked rye kernels
200 g (7 oz) whole wheat flour
750 g (1 2/3 lb) rye flour
1 liter (4 1/5 cups) yogurt, natural
150 g (5 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
25 g (3/4 oz) salt
pumpkin seeds, for decoration
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl; dissolve the fresh yeast in the lukewarm water
2. Add the all different seeds, salt and yogurt. Stir to mix.
3. Add all the different types of flour and mix everything using a wooden spoon or a kitchen machine. The rye bread dough should be quite sticky.
4. Set the dough aside some place warm and let it rise for about 1 hour. It is a good idea to cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel.
5. Pour the dough into two bread pans. If the pans do not have a non-sticking coating, it is a good idea to spray the inside of the pans with some cooking oil.
6. Let the rye bread rise some place warm for another 30 minutes.
7. Brush the top of the bread with some water and sprinkle with sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 200 C (400 F). Place the rye bread in the oven and turn the heat down to 160 C (320 F). Bake the bread for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let the bread cool off on an oven grid or similar.
Lauren
Awesome - I dint have cracked eye kennel and used rolled oats and some whole grain wheat flour instead. Really easy to make and a great taste.
Joyce
Hi Laura, Did you substitute rolled oats for cracked rye 1:1?
Constantino Casasbuenas
Dear Kim,
Few months ago I was looking for baking bread WITHOUT using sourdough. I tried and it went well. Then, later I thought that it was important to read your recipes on Rogbrod WITH sourdough. I tried it and it has been fantastic. Your recipe got very good reactions from my family and from several other families here in Chía, North of Bogotá.
Thanks!
Constantino
Kim Nielsen
HI Constantino. Thanks for your nice comment. I have both recipes for traditional Nordic rye bread with and without sour dough. I personally use both types of recipes - they are both great.
wen
Hi, If I grind whole rye berries a little bit, does this the same as the cracked rye kernels? Thanks.
Kim Nielsen
I've never tried that. But yes, I think that might work just fine.
Sophia Rantzau
Hello Kim, I love your recipes and can’t wait to start making them. I am going to make your rye bread for the 26th December and have just realised I need to make the sourdough. Does it need 5 days or can I get away with 3?
Kim Nielsen
In that case I would make the rye bread recipe where I don't need sour dough. You can find the recipe on my blog.
Siri
Hello! Very nice recipe! I had a few problems can you give some advice?
I followed the instructions but my bread was raw in the middle, even when the outside was done...
I also couldn’t get the bread out of the pan. I used oil as you said! :(
Thank you again!
Kim Nielsen
When the bread is raw in the middle it sounds like the oven wasn't hot enough when it was baked. Do you have an oven thermometer so that you can check the actual temperature in the oven? It might be too low even though the setting is correct on the front of the oven.
Michelle
I made rye bread today using your recipe here and it turned out delicious. I used the non-sourdough process since I don't plan ahead enough. Next time maybe I'll make a sourdough starter but this one turned out so good that I might not! I did buy the rye berries whole since that's all I could find. I grinded them in my smoothie blender for a few minutes and that broke them up a bit. I have some hard chunks of rye in my bread but that's not unlike the bread I ate at bakeries in Copenhagen. Thanks for sharing this.
Kim Nielsen
I'm happy that you like this recipe. Even though, it is made without sour dough the results actually turns out great.
Toki
I made this bread but with a few substitutions—more rye instead of wheat, didn’t have rye berries so I substituted hemp seeds but only 30g—
Anyways, it turned out fabulous!! I absolutely love it. My loaf was 1117g though after baking. It’s DENSE! Next time I’ll add less salt though.
Asha
Can I replace white flour with something healthy, don't prefer to use white flour.
Thanks
Asha
Kim Nielsen
You can place a larger potion of the white flour with whole-grain flour. However, a rye bread is based on flour but it also contains a lot a good grains.
peter phipps
brilliant recipe: superb bread texture and flavours could not be bettered, and so simple to make. It does four loaves, easily frozen for storage
KRoss
Kim, thank you so much for this recipe. I've yearned for my rugbrød for seven years now, and finally found a recipe I can share with my husband and children on an everyday basis. Texture and taste are truly amazing. I use active dry yeast, 4.5 tsp. with addition of 2 tsp sugar to activate the yeast in the 2.5 cups of lukewarm water. I use buttermilk, but have successfully used Greek yogurt even. I just have one problem, it takes me about 3 hours to bake. It's worth the wait though. I hope to adjust the liquids in the dough to cut the baking time, though!
Kim Nielsen
You are welcome - I'm happy that you like the recipe. I really like that you have made your own adjustments on the recipe. This is also the way I like to work in my kitchen. A recipe is only a guidance and absolutely open for changes. :-)
Kat
Thank you, Kim for posting this recipe! Finally made this yesterday after months of craving 'roggebrood' (as the Dutch call it), but never able to find a good one where I love in the U.S. Used the active yeast conversion KRoss noted (thank you!) and it turned out perfect. Not too dense, filled with yum seeds and kernels, and a hearty lovely rye flavor.
I was a bit worried about having whole rye berries, not cracked rye, and finding that the blender-method didn't work for 'cracking' them, but they softened up in the two rises of the dough.The only 'problem' I had was that it made enough dough for three loaves...which is a lovely problem to have :)
Dora Jensen
Dear Kim, we are a Danish family living overseas and for the coming Christmas we plan to bake this rye bread without sourdough. We only have access to whole rye berries, do you recommend to soak them before mixing with other ingredients and if so then for how long?Concerned otherwise it will be too hard for the bread texture. TAK på forhånd
Kim Nielsen
Hi Dora. That is a good question I have never tried using whole rye berries. However, I would suggest soaking them for about 15 hours. Maybe chop the grains a little bit so they become more "cracked rye". Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Shafi
Hi, how do you check if the bread is done? I read one comment above that it took twice as long as your recipe indicates.
Kim Nielsen
Hi. Yes it can be highly depending on your oven and how good it is to distribute the heat. I normally "knock" on the bread and if it sounds hollow I consider it as done. It is hard to describe - I hope it makes sense. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLicving.com)
Stephen Peasland
Hi there!
First of all, I’d just like to say “thank you”, for these excellent bread recipes. I’ve been making your bread without sour dough for a couple of years now. However, as usual, I don’t quite follow your recipe.
I love the taste of all sour dough breads and have been baking them for many years. I also have to say that I now don’t use a sour dough starter!
Let me explain.......
I make my own kefir and use that as my ‘sour dough’ starter. I decided that my kefir had yeast, as well as the many other gut friendly microbes that make it so good for you. I just let the kefir ‘brew’ for a few days longer and use it as half of my yogurt. The flavour is amazing. I add 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar to the kefir and add the yeast to it for a time before beginning the bake. The first rise is longer - up to 2 hours, but the rest is the same as your wonderful recipe.
Thanks again
Steve
Somerset, England
Kim Nielsen
Hi Steve. Thanks for your comment. I'm happy that you can use my site and my recipes. I have never heard about kefir as a 'sourdough starter'. However, you explanation makes sense. I have to try that someday. I sounds like an easy way to do it. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Sara B.
Hello - thanks so much for publishing this recipe. It's very easy and the breat is great (approved by my Danish partner!).
I was wondering if you have any recommendations on how to make the bread darker (without necessarily addign syrups - I saw it used in other recipes but I am not sure about it). Maybe a slightly different mix of flours?
I have tried by using some stout beer mised with the water (bread cooking now, not sure yet about the final result ;) )
Thanks a lot again!
Kim Nielsen
Hi. I'm glad that you like the recipe for rye bread and that you can use it. In denmark we have something called gravy browning (kulør). If you can get something similar you can use it to make the bread more dark. I hope that it can help you. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Sara
Thanks so much, Kim. Will check if I can find it. Using half part of stout beer and half of lukewarm water helped already a bit. I will bake again this weekend :)
My Danish boyfriend loves it!
Kim Nielsen
Hi. I'm glad that you like the recipe for rye bread and that you can use it. In denmark we have something called gravy browning (kulør). If you can get something similar you can use it to make the bread more dark. I hope that it can help you. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Bea
I made half of the recipe with rolled oats instead of the rye kernels, and the mixture came out a bit too wet, but it worked! The taste is so good! I'll def have another go. Thank you!
Kim Nielsen
You are welcome. I'm just happy that your can use the recipe :-) Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Becky
Hi - really wanted to try this recipe, but cannot find fresh yeast anywhere - I was able to find rye chops - so 1 out of 2 isn't bad! Can you suggest a substitute using instant yeast and what the proportion would be? Thanks so much! I would love to try this as it sounds lovely with the yogurt!
Kim Nielsen
You can easily substitute the fresh yeast with instant yeast. You just multiply the fresh yeast amount with 0.33 meaning that you would need about 16 grams (3/5 oz) instant yeast in this recipe. I normally use Google to convert between fresh yeast and instant yeast. Regards Kim