Dark Rye Bread

I've been in the mood to make bread for a while; it's the sort of recipe where you have to pay attention and watch the clock. Unfortunately, my rising time went from 2 hours to to 3 1/2 hours, as one of our cats had to be rushed to the vet. No worries, he's fine, he just has a pretty nasty eye infection. He'll be right as rain soon enough, and the bread still turned out fine.

This recipe shows just how nerdy I really am: it's from the Game of Thrones cookbook. It sounded good, and I had an adventure with caraway seeds. 

Ingredients:

2/3 cup warm water

1 3/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 pkg)

3 tbsp molasses

2 tsp canola oil

1 cup rye flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp caraway seeds, toasted and crushed

2-3 cups bread flour

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp strong coffee

I omitted the coffee and used about 1 cup total of water, 4 tbsp molasses, and only 2 cups bread four. Just a warning.

First, toast the caraway seeds. Pour them dry into a pan with the burner turned on high. Once they begin popping, you know they're finished and pour them into a bowl.

Combine the water, 1 tbsp of the molasses, and the yeast in a large bowl. Stir the mixture until the yeast dissolves and allow to sit for 10 minutes, until foamy.

While it's getting foamy, crush the caraway seeds with the back of a spoon.

Add remaining molasses, oil, and the rye flour, whisking until combined.

Now add the salt and caraway seeds and enough flour to form a sticky dough, about 2 cups. (I needed an additional tablespoon of molasses and 1/3 cup of water for the dough to absorb all of the flour.)

Spread flour on the counter (and your hands) and knead the dough for 5 to 8 minutes, working in extra flour.

Place back in the bowl an sprinkle with flour. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise for two hours.

While it's rising, prepare a pan (I don't have a loaf pan, unfortunately) with cooking spray and parchment paper. After the two hours, knead again and then form into a loaf-like shape. Let it rise for 30 more minutes, spread honey and coffee mixture over top, and then bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees. 

I did like it, but I think I'd like it more without the caraway seeds, because it is a sweet bread and the seeds are bitter. Good, but not amazing. Still, though, I love making bread, so it was a win for me no matter what.

Keep stirring, loves!