Yogurt Rye Bread

As most of you know, I make my own bread. I tend to have to make it every other day or so, so I get bored with making it sometimes. Being bored brings me to experiement with my recipes so the other day I thought I'd try something totally new. I had some amazing organic rye flour that had been sitting in my pantry for too long and seeing as I often find rye bread too dry I thought I would try adding some yogurt to it. It turned out AMAZING. So good and so moist. I practically ate the entire loaf myself. Naturally I thought I should share the recipe so here it goes.

Yogurt Rye Bread

1 1/2 cups water

2 1/2 tsp yeast

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. melted or softened butter

1/2 cup plain yogurt

3 cups all purpose four

1 cup coarse rye flour

1 tsp. salt

First off I dissolve the yeast in the water in a glass measuring cup. Once it's all dissolved, pour it into a mixing bowl (I use my kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook, but you could do it all by hand of course). Add the honey, butter, and yogurt and mix till combined. Add the flours and salt and mix till combined then knead until it forms into a nice ball. You may need to add more flour if the dough is still really sticky. I usually knead it (or let the machine knead it) for about 4-5 minutes.

Then let the dough rise for an hour or more or until doubled in bulk. Punch down and let rise again for another 15 mins or so. You can repeat the punching down and letting rise for 15 minutes a few times if you want. Knead and shape the dough into a loaf shape and place in a well greased loaf pan.

Let rise until doubled, or until it reaches a desired height, usually about another hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a medium dark brown.

Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from the bread pan to prevent it from getting soggy.