Pumpernickel Bread
Rye-bread lovers unite over this incredible recipe! Store-bought pumpernickel bread doesn’t even come close to the taste, texture, and crust of this bread. We fell hard for this recipe when we tasted the results. Sliced and smeared with salted butter was irresistible; we all wanted the crusty ends and fennel- and caraway-flecked top. Serve it at breakfast, layer it with smoked fish or egg salad and have it at lunch, or cut it into squares, toast it, and serve it with beer or wine as part of a cheese and charcuterie board. The loaves keep for several days, and they freeze well, too. Here’s a tip: iInvest in black baker’s steel baking pans if you can - they make a difference in achieving crusty, deeply colored loaves. Uses [KitchenAid® Stand Mixer](https://yummly.app.link/k3bnNNhsd1) and [Sifter + Scale Attachment](https://yummly.app.link/WVsBbRrsd1).
Ingredients
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons whole fennel seeds
Olive oil (for brushing)
Vegetable oil (for greasing pans)
3 Tablespoons unsulphured blackstrap molasses
1 cup water (at room temperature)
2 cups Dry Hard Apple cider (1 pint at room temperature)
1 Tablespoon instant yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour (+ 2 Tbs)
5 cups dark rye flour
Step by step
Special Equipment: KitchenAid® Stand Mixer; KitchenAid® Sifter + Scale Attachment; 2 standard loaf pans, preferably black baker’s steel; bench scraper; instant-read thermometer
Attach the KitchenAid® Sifter + Scale Attachment to your KitchenAid® Stand Mixer fitted with the dough hook. First, weigh half of the rye flour (320 g/11 oz/2 .5 cups) in the ingredient hopper, and then turn the mixer to low speed, open the ingredient valve, and sift it into the mixing bowl. Repeat with the remaining rye flour. Turn the mixer off.
Close the ingredient valve and weigh the all-purpose flour, cocoa, salt, sugar, and yeast, taring the scale between ingredients. Turn the mixer to low speed, open the ingredient valve and sift in the in flour mixture. Mix the flours until well combined, about 1 minute.
With the mixing running, slowly add the apple cider, water, and molasses.
As the flour gets absorbed, turn the mixer to medium-low and knead the dough until it looks stringy and sticky, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, brush each loaf pan generously with vegetable oil. Set aside.
Remove the bowl from the mixer, and turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough. Using a bench scraper, divide the dough evenly into two pieces. Using lightly floured hands, shape each portion of dough into an oblong loaf. Fit each loaf into a bread pan. Brush each loaf with olive oil. Scatter 1 teaspoon each of fennel and caraway seeds over each loaf, pressing the seeds ever so lightly in place. Using the tip of a very sharp paring knife, make three diagonal slashes on top of each loaf, cutting to a depth of 1/4-in/0.6 cm. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and set aside to ferment at room temperature until the dough has expanded, 60 to 90 minutes. The dough should rise to just below the top of the pan.
While the dough is rising, position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC/gas 6.
Bake until the loaves thump when tapped with a finger, or an instant-read thermometer registers between 200ºF to 205ºF/93ºC to 96ºC when inserted into the center of the loaf, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the loaves out onto a wire rack and cool thoroughly before slicing. The bread can be made 1 day in advance. Store the loaves at room temperature for up to 5 days in tightly sealed plastic bags. Double-bagged with all the air squeezed out of the bags, the bread can be frozen for up to one month.