Best 4 Old World Dark Bread Recipes

OLD-WORLD RYE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Beat in the molasses, butter, rye flour, cocoa, caraway seeds, salt and 2 cups all-purpose flour until smooth. Stir in enough remaining all-purpose flour to form a stiff dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours. , Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape each piece into a loaf about 10 in. long. Grease 2 baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves on prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. , Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

DAN'S OLD FASHIONED WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• Pour milk in a heatproof bowl, and gently warm in a microwave oven set on Low until milk is about 100 degrees F (38 degrees C), about 15 seconds. Mix in the sugar and honey, and stir to dissolve. Mix in the yeast, and let stand until the yeast activates and forms a creamy layer on the milk, about 15 minutes.
• Place 4 cups of bread flour and the salt into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer; pour in the yeast mixture, and mix on slow speed with a mixing paddle until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute; dough will be very wet. Add the butter, and mix in the remaining 2 cups of bread flour, or as needed, until the dough begins to gather itself into a ball. Change the fitting from the mixing paddle to a dough hook, and machine-knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 4 minutes.
• Transfer the dough onto a well-floured work surface, and knead until you see the surface of the dough begin to break during folding and kneading. Roll dough into a ball, and place into a lightly floured large bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and set into a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Spray 2 9x5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.
• Punch down the dough, remove to the floured surface, and knead for 2 more minutes; cut the dough in half with a sharp knife. Form the dough into logs, adding more flour if necessary, and place the loaves into the sprayed pans. Cover the pans with a kitchen towel, and place into a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 more hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place the bread loaves into the preheated oven, and turn the heat down to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake until the tops are golden brown and the loaves make a hollow sound when thumped, about 25 minutes. Cool the pans on baking racks for about 5 minutes before turning the bread loaves out to finish cooling on racks. Cover the loaves with a kitchen towel as they cool.

OLD-WORLD RYE BREAD

Steps:

• In large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour, the mashed potatoes (dry), brown sugar, salt, 3/4 teaspoon caraway seed and the yeast. In 1-quart saucepan, heat buttermilk, water and oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until very warm (120°F to 130°F); stir into potato mixture until blended. Stir in rye flour and enough remaining all-purpose flour to make dough easy to handle.
• Place dough on lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead about 8 minutes or until smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with shortening or cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover; let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. (If using fast-acting yeast, do not let rise 1 hour; cover and let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.)
• Grease large cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll dough into rope, about 3 inches thick and 25 inches long. Curl dough into coil shape; tuck ends under. Place on cookie sheet. Cover; let rise in warm place 30 to 45 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 400°F. Brush water over dough; sprinkle with cornmeal and additional caraway seed. Bake 23 to 28 minutes or until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack; cool.

BLACK BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve coffee in 1/4 cup warm water. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine remaining 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons warm water and molasses. Sprinkle yeast over top, stir, and let stand 5 minutes.
• Add honey, flours, cocoa, and salt to yeast mixture. Attach bowl to stand mixer fitted the dough-hook attachment and beat on low speed 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-low and beat until dough is smooth and slightly tacky, about 3 minutes (or knead by hand 15 to 20 minutes).
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; knead by hand, turning dough over, 4 to 5 times before shaping into a ball. Transfer dough, smooth-side up, to a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Set one half aside, loosely covered with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Shape remaining half into a 9-inch rectangle, with a short side parallel to work surface. Fold top third of dough towards center, then fold bottom third of dough on top, pressing gently to seal. Turn dough 90 degrees and repeat folding process, pinching seam and sides closed. Place seam-side down and roll dough back and forth with palms of hands to form a loaf about 12 inches long with tapered ends. Repeat shaping process with remaining half of dough. Sprinkle a clean cotton cloth with cornmeal and place loaves on top, spacing about 6 inches apart. Loosely cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees, with a pizza stone on rack in lower third and a skillet or baking pan on lowest rack, 30 minutes. Transfer loaves to a pizza peel or unrimmed baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. Brush tops with egg white. Using a lame (baker?s blade), razor blade, or serrated knife, make four diagonal cuts, 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, across each loaf. Slide loaves from peel onto stone. If not using a stone, slide loaves onto a parchment-lined baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. Quickly pour boiling water into preheated skillet to create steam. Bake until loaves are dark brown and hollow-sounding when tapped on bottoms, about 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer loaves to a wire rack; let cool completely.