Rye Bread

Rye Bread + Homemade Strawberry Jam = reason to wake up in the morning.

See?  Happy girl. 

I don't even need to preface this recipe, it's that good, and we all know it.  This recipe comes from Grandma Manning.  Here's a picture of her baking it in her sweet little kitchen.

The Recipe

• 1 pkg. yeast, softened in 1/4c water.
• 4 c. warm water
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 2 c. (or more) rye flour
• white flour

1. Mix yeast, water, salt, sugar, and oil.
2. Add 2 c. rye flour (add more if you prefer it darker)
3. Add enough white flour to make a very stiff dough.  (For me it was a little under 8 cups)
4. Let rise in a warm area until almost doubled in size.
5. Shape into round loaves (usually 2 large loaves or 3 smaller).  Let rest 20 minutes.
6. Grease and flour your pans. (this is the cutest part of the recipe.  A sauce pan will give you the classic grandma's rye bread shape.)  Flouring the pans makes a unique blotched look on the lower crust like this: 

 Bake for 1 hour at 375.  If it gets too dark, lower temperature to 350.  Experiment!