Bread Machine Dark Rye

        I just wanted to share with you a recipe that I concocted the other day when I was craving some rye bread. It is fairly straight-forward, and although I have never made bread without my trusty bread machine, I am sure you could very well make this recipe that way. If you try it, let me know! 

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups sprouted wheat flour (I like to do this myself and then grind it in our mill)
• 1 cup rye flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup molasses (I use blackstrap - it has three times the minerals and a lovely dark color)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or whatever other vegetable oil you want)
• 1 1/4 cups warm water

Method:

• Put all of your ingredients except the warm water into your bread machine. 
• Turn it on standard (white bread) cycle, and start it.
• Watch to see how much of the water you will need, and add it accordingly. You should have a ball of dough that is slightly sticky, but doesn't really stick to the sides. You can add up to a quarter cup of rye flour if you put in too much water, just as an FYI. 

• Let the dough cycle run, and when it's finished, take the dough out and knead it a few times on a floured surface. Place it into a greased bread pan, and put that in a sunny area with a damp cloth over the top (so it doesn't dry out). 

Before rising

Rising

After rising

• Once the bread is doubled at least in size, bake it at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the crust is browned and a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean.
• Let it cool, in or out of the pan, before cutting it up.

        This bread has a delightful light texture and flavor, great for sandwiches, french toast, or simply warmed with a slice of butter. My favorite way to eat it (besides with butter) is to make a sauerkraut, pastrami, and New Zealand sharp cheddar sandwich. To make this, melt cheese on two slices of bread, put a slice of pastrami or roast beef on one, put a large amount of homemade sauerkraut on top of that, and top the whole business with the other bread and cheese. My mom told me, "I don't like rye bread, I don't like pastrami, and I don't like sauerkraut, but this is amazing!!" It is pretty tasty, I must say, :) We ate a whole loaf in two and a half days.

        If you *happen* to make this, let me know in a comment how it turned out! I'd love some more input, as always. ;)

Blessings,

Reyna