Aunt Blanche's Rye Bread

As a young boy, I grew up in a home where homemade bread was always the norm.  Being Swedish, rye bread in particular was made often.  This recipe was obtained by my father, 24 years old, in 1938.  He worked for a bakery in my hometown of Kane, Pennsylvania (northwestern part of the state).  He gave this recipe to his sister, my Aunt Blanche.  I believe my father made this recipe but the card has her name on this, which is why I call it Aunt Blanche's Rye Bread.  It's deep, dark, sweet texture is reminiscent of what I remember eating as a young boy. 

This recipe makes 6 loaves so you will be able to enjoy some yourself and share some with your loved ones.  I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

3 packages dry yeast dissolved in a 3/4 c. warm water along with 3/4 t. brown sugar
3 1/4 c. warm water
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. Mazola or any corn oil
1 c. dark molasses
dash of salt
3 T. fennel seed (optional)
4 c. rye flour
enough white flour to stiffen (about 9 cups) - I used bread flour due to the higher gluten content

 

In a one cup measuring cup add 3/4 c. warm water, three packages dry yeast and 3/4 t. brown sugar.  Stir to activate yeast.  The yeast will start to foam and grow.

 

In a large pan, add 3 1/4 c. warm water.  Dissolve 2 c. brown sugar in the pan.  Add 1 c. corn oil, 1 c. molasses, the activated yeast mixture and a dash of salt.  If adding fennel seed, add at this time.  (I chose not to use them for this recipe).  Stir until these ingredients are combined.

Slowly add 4 c. rye flour and mix with a spoon or spatula until combined.  Begin adding the white flour to stiffen the mixture.

At some point, the dough will be too thick to stir with a spoon or spatula, so you will need to use your hand to combine with the rest of the flour.  Depending on the humidity, you may need to use more or less flour.  In this application, 9 c. bread flour seemed to give the dough a perfect consistency.

 

Turn out dough onto a surface floured with the same white flour.  Begin kneading maybe 10 minutes or until dough comes together and does not stick to your surface.  Place dough into a large greased pan and cover with a wet towel or plastic wrap to allow it to begin to rise.  The dough needs to double in volume before it is ready to be punched down and formed into loaves.

Once the dough has risen, punch the dough to deflate and divide into six equal portions.  Grease six bread pans and form the dough into loaves.  Place the loaves into the pans.  Using a fork, make four indentations into each loaf.  Cover the loaves with plastic wrap and allow them to rise to the rim of the pan before baking.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place bread into the oven and set your timer for 45 minutes to an hour.  Each oven calibrated differently so check after 45 minutes.  Each loaf should be browned and it should sound hollow when you tap it.  Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.  Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes before removing from pans.  Allow each loaf to cool further.

When the bread comes out of the oven, you may want to brush butter over the top to give it extra flavor and a nice sheen.