Rye bread made without yeast. A rye soda bread recipe that will make you fall in love with rye flour.
I have a quick love letter to write today, and I hope you'll indulge me.
It's part love letter, but really, I want to let you know which cookbooks I use in my kitchen several times a week. If you reach for a cookbook on a weeknight, or if you reach for a cookbook more than once a week, it's a good sign.
I have a coffee nook in my kitchen, well, I'm a tea drinker, so I should call it a tea nook, but it was clearly designed as a coffee station. Anyway, since I have no need for a coffee maker, espresso machine, or any of those other coffee tools in my nook, I keep a small selection of cookbooks on the counter.
It's well-thought-out; it's the books I love the most and use the most. Not just beautiful books that inspire me, it's incredible books that make me want to get in the kitchen and cook that very instant. Often, the pages have food splatters and can be a bit sticky, but that's even better for me.
The cookbooks that I use the most are written by Heidi Swanson from 101cookbooks.com. I first discovered her when I moved to California, and upon first meeting, I believe I told her that she taught me everything I know about California cuisine.
Heidi taught me how to shop at and how to love farmer's markets, and she taught me about Deborah Madison and all the other great chefs in California that are paving/had paved the way for eating REAL food. Because of Heidi, my top factor when choosing food is where was it produced and how was it produced.
I reach for her cookbooks after every farmer's market haul. Her stuff is vegetarian, yes, but it's the most flavorful, unique vegetarian food I've ever had that makes you never miss the meat, honest!
In full disclosure, my husband and I are part-time vegetarians. While most people do 'meatless Monday' and take one day off each week from meat, we actually only eat meat one day a week or so. It's not uncommon for us to call instant pot mac and cheese with a salad a Monday night dinner, and enjoy a my orzo pasta salad with feta or my pesto tortellini salad later in the week. Our one meat day might include my honey garlic chicken thighs.
But did you notice a theme? My vegetarian meals rely heavily on pasta. Not Heidi's.
Heidi's recipes are inventive and far from your standard vegetarian recipes. I own all of her books, and I cook from them often.
Super Natural Every Day is the one I grab the most, though I am working my way through the very beautiful Near & Far.
Her dish called Otsu is something I make for company, especially company that has food allergies. Plus, it's my belief that she invented baked oatmeal, and the world is a much better place for it.
More details about this rye bread made without yeast:
Today, I'm sharing with you her recipe for rye bread. It doesn't have any yeast, and is technically a rye soda bread. It bakes up so crunchy, crusty, and beautiful that it took my breath away the first time I made it years ago.
As I baked this rye bread recipe for possibly the one-hundredth time to photograph this for you, it still took my breath away when it emerged from the oven.
I can't help but run my finger over the indentations made with the knife before baking--that's where the real CRUST emerges.
Soda bread made without deep slashes is now dead to me--this is the only way forward.
Honestly, I can't believe I get to count Heidi as one of my friends. She inspires me so much. A woman who can make bread with just 4 ingredients that tastes this good is an angel.
I keep rye flour in my house now to make this rye bread whenever I have soup or stew on the stove. It comes together so quickly, and serving homemade bread with a meal makes me feel like I've got my life together.
For some strange reason, my daughter isn't that into carbs, unless gnocchi is involved, and she frequently licks the butter off bread and leaves the bread.
However, she loves this rye bread. The dark color scared her at first, so I served it with the dill butter that Heidi recommends in the book, and it sold her. Most commonly, I serve it with salted European-style butter.
Is rye bread gluten free?
No, it's not. I wanted to answer that question, because I know it will come up.
It's important to me that Camille learns to love bread and carbs, because there are so many B vitamins in whole grains. I am so grateful this rye bread recipe helps me accomplish that goal.
Rye flour can be a tough sell when it comes to whole grains, but I've been working it into my pancakes for two recipe, and I'm considering adding some to my small batch crepes recipe, too.
Ok, onto the recipe now. I hope you love this homemade rye bread recipe made without yeast. It will quickly go into your Fall rotation for serving alongside soup, and I'm sure it will find its way out again for St Patrick's Day since it's technically soda bread.
Rye Bread
Homemade rye bread made without yeast.
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups (9.75 ounces) rye flour
- 1 ¾ cups (8 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 cups (475 mL) buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400, and ensure a wire rack is in the middle position. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Sift the flours, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.
- Make a well in the center of the flours and pour in all of the buttermilk at once. Stir just until a dough forms.
- Scoop the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 30 seconds to bring it together.
- Using your hands, press the dough into an even flat disk.
- Sprinkle the top of the dough disk with about 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.
- Next, make 4 deep slashes into the dough, about two-thirds of the way through. Be careful not to cut all the way through.
- Bake for 30 minutes, and then move the dough to the top rack of the oven. Bake for another 20 minutes to crisp up the surface.
- Let cool on a wire rack completely before serving with salted butter.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 228Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 723mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 4gSugar: 3gProtein: 8g
Julie says
I am reading this on the bus on the way to work. It is going to distract me all day. I love soda and rye bread. I can't wait to get it in my belly.
Martha says
There are no directions in the recipe, only the ingredient list.
Christina Lane says
Thank you so much, martha. I'm in a beta group for a new recipe card display function, and it's being glitchy. Fixing it now!
Carla says
I’d love to give this yeast/free rye bread a try for my first time making a bread, other than a sweet bread. My question is about how large in diameter is the loaf before you bake it? I do not have a small baking sheet so have nothing for comparison. I’m looking forward to making this bread! Thank you!
Kacie says
All I have wanted lately is carbs (I think from lack of sleep) and this is calling my name! It looks easy enough for me to bake in my sleep deprived state, too! I think I’ll try it when my mom comes to visit next weekend, she loves rye bread. :)
Susanna says
Soda bread bring such good memories of a wonderful road trip in Ireland!! I each such good soda bread and OMG... the butter! I was AMAZING!
It was my first time eating soda bread and each home made recipe I tried was absolutely delcious. I was told it was very easy to make at home and by looking at this recipe it really seems.
Thanks for sharing it!
Christina Lane says
What a wonderful trip! I'm so glad you're on team soda bread with me :) I hope you enjoy this one!
Katie says
Hey this looks amazing is there any way I could make it vegan by using an alternative milk? Do you have any suggestions I love sofa bread!
Christina Lane says
Hi Katie,
I'm sorry, I don't know about substituting buttermilk since it's in such a high quantity here. You can try almond milk + lemon juice, but I'm worried the resulting bread won't be anywhere near the same :(
Kay says
I used almond milk and lime juice as suggested, totaling 2 cups. While the dough is rather hard to press and shape (much more mushy), inside the bread is still soft and nice. My family enjoyed it with maple syrup and avocado dip ;-) thank you for sharing!
Jackie R. says
I love this recipe! I make it vegan by using soy milk plus lemon juice and it works fine. I think soy might work better than almond due to the higher fat content. I also don't knead it. The first time I tried making it, I thought that it should have the texture of dough rather than batter. I added way too much flour and ruined it! Now I just leave it in the batter stage and plop the whole thing in the center of parchment paper on a baking sheet. I make it into a vague circle and smooth the top a little bit. I've tried scoring it with a knife, but it's too loose for that to work. I just cut the bread after it's done using a bread knife. It actually saves a few steps and the texture of the finished bread is perfect anyway.
Christina Lane says
Wow, thank you so much for letting us all know how it can be vegan-ized! That's awesome :)
Ila says
Thank you for posting - I've been looking for a small batch homemade bread recipe and this looks perfect. Was wondering if one could substitute any other flour besides rye (whole wheat flour) since I usually don't keep in my pantry.
Albert Jaramillo says
Your directions don't follow the video. Missed brushing the top with more buttermilk and a couple of other comments that are really helpful hints & tips. I am not a baker so all types of "extra" info is helpful - who knew that putting flour on top brings out the rye flavor? Never would have guessed.
Christina Lane says
Hi Albert,
You have a great eye! The written recipe instructions are correct; the video is not correct. My fault entirely. For each video, it is filmed once 'straight on' and once overhead. When I was being filmed overhead, I accidentally did this step out of order. The written recipe instructions are always going to be correct, and in this case, my words in the video are correct, too. You just happened to notice that flour was already on the pan in the video when it should not have been. Thank you! I hope you still made this and had a great crusty loaf of bread to enjoy! Either way, the bread is delicious!
Lorraine says
Are you using dark or light rye flour? And would it make a difference?
Christina Lane says
My label actually doesn't specify, sorry! It just says whole grain rye. I wish I knew the answer to this for you.
Alli says
This turned out wonderfully! I have similar motivation with healthy bread for my vegetarian toddler. She loved this bread (as did my husband and I) and it is SO pretty and SO easy!
Christina Lane says
Thanks so much, Alli! I'm so glad to hear it :)
Marty says
Made this tonight - delicious, but it made a lot for just two. Can the recipe be cut in half? What would be the baking time for a half sized boule?
I've just discovered your books and site, Christina, and have been really enjoying them. Perfect for empty nesters!