This authentic Danish rye bread recipe (rugbrod) is easier to make than you may think. It’s packed with nutrients, has a fantastic texture and old-fashioned flavor and is just plain delicious! Whether you prefer a bolder or milder flavor, you’re completely in charge of that in determining how long you allow the batter to ferment.
Be sure to also try our German Bread (Vollkornbrot) recipe!
I love breads of all kinds, but there are two kinds that I especially love: Ones that are perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside (eg, baguettes) and whole grain breads that are very dense and hearty like the kind I grew up with in Germany (eg, Vollkornbrot, Roggenbrot, Schwarzbrot, etc) and this Danish rye bread.
Smorrebrod
In Germany and throughout Scandinavia dense whole grain breads are particularly popular. You’ll see them served cut up in squares for a variety of hors d’oeuvres (for example, topped with gravlax/smoked salmon, a dollop of crème fraîche or hard-boiled eggs and a sprig of dill), served for breakfast with a tray of sliced cheeses and cold cuts, enjoyed for open-faced sandwiches or simply slathered down with good butter and jam.
In Denmark this rye bread (rugbrød) serves as the basis for their smørrebrød (ie, smorgasbord) wherein it is served buffet style with any number of fine toppings and is also a common accompaniment for many meals. Traditional options include herring, pickled vegetables, liver pate, smoked salmon, and sliced hard-boiled eggs. This Danish Rye Bread recipe is just what you need to create your smorrebrod!
I’ve known many people who have visited Denmark or Germany, fell in love with this type of bread and returned home to their countries unable to find it there. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere here in the U.S. except for German specialty stores and World Market stocks a very small selection of dense German breads. Though specifically Danish sourdough rye bread I haven’t found anywhere here for purchase.
The good news is you can make it yourself and I’m going to be posting several recipes for this wonderful style of dense, hearty European bread.
We’re going to start with a favorite among many, Danish Rye Bread. And while this bread is also popular in Germany, it claims particular importance in Denmark, indeed it’s practically one of its national foods, so we’re going to go ahead and ascribe this bread to the Danes. (Plus it will make the maternal side of my husband’s family happy, they’re fiercely proud of their Danish ancestry. And I have some Danish ancestry myself, so we’re all happy.)
Fermenting Danish Rye Bread
Danish rye bread is a sourdough bread that traditionally takes 2-3 days to make. Here is a super simple version that cuts the fermentation time down to as a little as 24 hours without the need to tend and feed it. This version calls for a yeasty beer. Beer and bread are cousins, both traditionally made from the same two ingredients, water and grains. The alcohol in this bread is burned off during the long baking process while the beer contributes to a fabulous texture and consistency (and flavor, depending on which beer you use).
The bread dough is allowed to ferment for 24 hours at room temperature (or 48 hours depending on how sour you like the bread). This fermentation process neutralizes the phytic acid in the grains, a naturally occurring substance that binds nutrients so that the body cannot properly absorb them. Not only does phytic acid acid bind the nutrients of the grains themselves, it binds the nutrients of anything else you eat with the grains. Fermenting the bread dough increases its nutrients and makes the bread easier to digest. And even after sourdough is baked it continues to sour and only gets better in flavor over time.
This wonderfully nourishing bread is packed full of whole grains, seeds and nuts. The grains are included in the form of flour (rye and wheat), cracked rye berries and whole rye berries. Tons of similar styled breads incorporate these various forms of whole, cracked, coarsely ground and finely ground grains (eg, spelt, einkorn, wheat, kamut, etc) into the same loaf for a wonderful balance of textures, and that’s where a good grain mill really comes in handy. Not only can you grind your own fresh flour on demand with all the nutrients still intact (as opposed to flour that’s been sitting on grocery store shelves for ages), you can get exactly the kind of grind you need.
I buy my grains all in bulk, take out what I need to last me for a few weeks at a time and store the rest in a dark, cool place. I don’t even buy flour anymore, I grind all of my own flours, cornmeal and make my own baking mixes.
For today’s Easy Danish Rye Bread I’m using my German-made KoMo Classic Grain Mill, another stellar example of German engineering and the pride and joy of my kitchen.
With a 12-year warranty, the quality and construction of the KoMo is amazing, plus it’s gorgeous and something you’d want to display on your counter. You can grind your grains as fine or coarse as you like. I use it nearly every day to make my own flours, cornmeal and mixes and cannot recommend it highly enough.
Check out my video below where I talk about some of the KoMo Classic Grain Mill’s features and show it in action in making today’s Danish Rye Bread!
Danish Rye Bread Recipe
Let’s get started!
If you’re grinding your own rye and wheat flour and cracking your own rye berries you’re in great shape! If you don’t have a grain mill you can easily find rye flour in grocery stores and you can “crack” the rye berries yourself by very briefly pulsing them in a good/powerful blender or food processor or smashing them in a bag with a meat mallet or other heavy object.
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a stand mixer bowl. Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water and let sit for 10 minutes. Add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
Give everything a stir manually to combine, then attach the dough hook on the stand mixer, set it to the bread setting (#2), and knead for 10 minutes. The dough will be very sticky, loose and not remotely malleable (ie, incapable of being shaped).
Scoop the dough into a very large non-metallic bowl. The dough will bubble up so use a very large, deep bowl with plenty of head room. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place (ie, room temperature) for 24-48 hours, depending on how sour you want the bread. I’ve done both with great results. If you’re only letting it ferment for 24 hours we recommend first soaking the whole rye berries overnight before using them (drain thoroughly).
After 24 hours the dough will be nice and bubbly with a very gooey texture.
For sourdough it’s recommended that you line your loaf pans so the acid in the dough can’t react with the metal. I use and love the Parrish Magic Line bread pan made of heavy gauge aluminum with straight edges (made in the USA). It’s a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.
Scoop all of the dough into the loaf pan, patting it down. It’s a lot of dough but it’ll fit in there, just pat it down (be sure you’re using a 9x5x3 loaf pan). Brush the top with some water and sprinkle some oats evenly over it.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 100-120 minutes or until the center is done. For best and most accurate results use an instant read thermometer and aim for an internal temperature of at least 210 degrees F.
Let it sit for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan. Let the bread cool completely before slicing it. Your rugbrod is ready!
To prolong its shelf life I recommend storing it in the refrigerator or freeze part of it if you know it will take you a while to go through it.
In order to get nice thin, clean slices that look like something you bought at a professional bakery, I recommend a slicer. Chef’s Choice Slicers are consistently ranked at the top and they get excellent reviews. I also use a slicer for meats and cheeses. Whenever I find chunks of cooked ham, turkey or cheese on sale I get those and slice them myself – it’s cheaper than buying them at the deli. At the very least you’ll need an excellent bread knife and for that my favorite knife, hands down, is the Cutco 9 3/4″ Slicer. It glides smoothly through bread and meat like no other.
Enjoy!
For more delicious breads from around the world be sure to try our:
- German Bread (Vollkornbrot)
- Lavash
- Injera
- Dosa
- Naan Bread
- Crumpets
- Olive Rosemary Focaccia
- Skillet Cornbread
Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød)
Ingredients
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 1/2 cups dark rye flour
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cup cracked rye berries (very briefly pulse whole rye berries in a strong blender or food processor until they're broken up into coarse pieces OR smash them in a heavy duty bag with a meat mallet or other heavy object)
- 1/2 cup whole rye berries
- 1 1/4 cup whole flaxseeds
- 1 1/3 cup sunflower seeds or combination of sunflower seeds ,pumpkin seeds and/or chopped almonds
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup dark beer (see note)
- 1 cup buttermilk or kefir (vegan: 1 cup almond milk mixed with 2 tablespoons cider vinegar) (I often use homemade kefir in place of buttermilk)
- Traditional rolled oats for sprinkling
Instructions
- Stir the yeast and sugar into the lukewarm water and let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast is frothy.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeast mixture, beer and buttermilk. Stir to combine.
- Fit the stand mixer with a dough hook and knead on the bread setting ("2") for 10 minutes. The dough will be very sticky, loose and not remotely malleable (ie, incapable of being shaped).
- Scoop the dough into a very large non-metallic bowl with plenty of head space (the dough will bubble up). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm place (room temperature) for 24-48 hours, depending on how sour you want the bread to be (be sure to ferment it for at least 24 hours to ensure enough of the liquid is absorbed). If you're only letting it ferment for 24 hours we recommend first soaking the whole rye berries overnight before using them (drain thoroughly).
- Line a 9x5x3 inch bread loaf pan with parchment paper (SEE NOTE). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Scoop all of the dough into the lined bread pan, pressing down as needed. (It's a lot of dough but it will fit.) Brush the top with water and sprinkle over evenly with the rolled oats.
- Bake on the middle rack for 100-120 minutes or until the center is done. For best and most accurate results use an and aim for an internal temperature of 210 degrees F.
- Let the loaf cool for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan. Let the loaf cool completely before slicing. Keep stored in an airtight container. To prolong its shelf life I recommend storing it in the refrigerator or freeze part of it if you know it will take you a while to go through it.
Notes
* You can substitute water or more buttermilk for the beer
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet January 28, 2016
Monica says
This is the second time I’ve made this bread. I used molasses instead of sugar and used Greek yogurt mixed half and half with whole milk for the buttermilk and beer as the taste of the beer didn’t appeal to me the first time baking this bread.
The taste is amazing. It had to bake the full two hours to get to the internal temperature.
My only question is how to soften the crust? Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Monica, thank you for the feedback! The crust is hard right after it’s baked but will soften once it’s sat a little while in a bread tin/container.
Ingrid Faber says
This recipe is my favorite! Easy to make and the results are fantastic. I grew up in Norway, so I love this type of bread. We are currently hosting a Danish student and I made some for her and she was so touched. The hardest part was finding the grains as our local Coop did not have them, but luckily on the internet I was able to find what I needed. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad it’s been a success, Ingrid, thank you!
Guzzwell Jane says
Curious to know if I can substitute additional cracked rye and/or rye berries for the seeds and nuts?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Jane, probably but I’m not sure if a direct 1:1 substitute will be too dense or not.
Ally VB says
Oh, and I forgot to include in previous post that:
– I usually oil the bread pan with a tablespoon or so of sesame or vegetable oil. This eliminates any need for parchment paper (per above comments/questions)
– I used a dark lager and it came out great. I will be interested to test with different beers like stouts and malts to see how the flavor changes.
Ally Vander Bee says
Excellent recipe! I had been using a different one, but I think both the taste and texture of this one is much more authentic. I will be sticking with it. The first time I made this I used the metric amounts (because that’s how this type of bread was meant to be made), but the second time I used the US cup measurements and checked for accuracy. Beware! The conversions are way off. The US cup measurements come out to a net difference of one cup LESS solids in your liquid/solid ratio. I actually like this better, because the bread is much softer and easier to chew. I just wanted to leave that morsel of wisdom in case any ex “EU-pats” start out like I did. Thanks Daring Gourmet!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Ally, thanks so much! Thanks also for the feedback about the conversions. It’s a built in software mechanism that automatically converts US standard to metric and I wasn’t aware that it was so off. I’m going to adjust the metric by reducing the some of the dry ingredients. Thanks again!
George Zahn says
This looks AMAZING and I really would like to try it. One suggestion is to add “overnight” or “24 hours” to your total recipe time at the start, just so folks know there is a sponge involved. Thanks!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, George! The ability to add that custom time was actually just added to the recipe software by the developers so I’ve just updated it – thanks for the reminder.
Ian Bryant says
For the dark beer I am thinking of using Guinness, is that too dark?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Yes, Ian, as long as you like the flavor of Guinness it will work well for this bread.
Greg from San Diego says
Bread turned out very well and according to my wife very close to one we had during our visits to Germany.
I am going to toast sunflower seeds because we are nuts for them and see how well this bread keeps without any shortening.
Thanks again, Greg
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m glad you both enjoyed it, Greg, thanks for the feedback!
Greg from San Diego says
Does it need any oil or butter?
Do you toast sunflower seeds?
Thanks!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Greg, no oil or butter and toasting the seeds isn’t necessary unless you prefer a more pronounced sunflower seed flavor.
Brian Hintze says
This looks great, but I do not have a stand mixer. Can I make this bread just mixing with a spoon or my hands? I’m not against a bit of work to make this bread!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Brian, absolutely. It’s not a standard bread dough, it’s a very thick batter so you’ll probably want to use a large, sturdy spoon.
Michael Bricknell says
Hi Kimberley,
I have made this recipe on 3 or 4 occasions now and I keep having the same problem, with a large air pocket forming just below the crust.
On the latest occasion, just last night, I have managed to reduce the size of the hole by piercing the loaf 10-15 times just before it goes into the oven.
Would you have any ideas as to why this is happening?
My only remaining ideas are:
– that the crust is forming to quick, so I need to spray the top of the loaf with water before putting it into the oven; or
– the recipe has too much yeast for the warm climate I am in (I live in Sydney, Australia).
Any guidance you could offer would be greatly appreciated. The bread tastes so great, just need to get rid of this pesky hole haha
Thank you,
Michael
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Michael, over-proofing in a warm, dry environment is the likely culprit. What you’re describing is known as “flying crust” or “tunnel crust” and there are a few reasons that can happen. Here’s one reference: https://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/baking-101/yeast-breads/common-yeast-bread-issues/air-holes-or-tunnels-inside.aspx You did the right thing in de-gassing the dough by piercing it a few times and are already on your way to a perfected loaf. Next time also decrease the proofing time. Good luck!
Michael Bricknell says
Thanks so much Kimberly, you are a superstar! I will try those helpful solutions in the link you provided. Hope you have a great week, Michael.
Deborah Paredes says
I made the bread and it tastes too salty to me. Is 3teaspoons of salt maybe too much?
Sammie says
I’ve been baking for over ten years and was so excited to try this recipe. I followed the directions exactly. The result was inedible. After two hours in the oven, the bread still wasn’t above 200 degrees. I kept adding time in five-minute increments. When the internal temperature reached 205, after more than three hours I took the bread out of the oven. After cooling it, I cut into it. The center was like pudding. Even after slicing it 1/4 inch and putting the slices in the toaster oven, the center did not cook. An absolute waste of two days time and materials.
Cori Landon says
That’s really strange. I have made this bread at least 5 times exactly as written and have never had a problem (I LOVE this bread, one of our family’s favorites). The first time the interior was a little on the moist side but that was before I got an instant read thermometer. I also hadn’t let the batter sit long enough. I’ve been baking bread for over 20 years and I will say that this kind of heavy bread utilizing whole and cracked berries in a wet batter is a much different animal than most typical breads and definitely takes some practice to get right. For the inside of your bread to have ben like “pudding” though after more than two hours in the oven just doesn’t makes sense. How many hours did you let the batter sit to allow the grains to soak up the liquid? That step is critical. Still, after over two hours of baking would have firmed up any flour/grain-based mixture, at least to the point of being dry even if not actually sliceable.
FELICITAS OEFELEIN says
Wonderful bread! It’s the first bread I ever baked 😊😂success…
I’m originally from Germany and live in Brooklyn and love these hearty breads. I did add some pine nuts and rosemary and on top some
Hemp hearts. Very very tasty.
I also baked it in my steam oven which was great. Thanks for the awesome recipe
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Felicitas, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and I’m super impressed that this was your first bread-baking experience – well done and thanks for the feedback!
Mike says
Just want to clarify for Anonymous, I do not suggest leaving out 2 cups of lukewarm water, I suggest leaving out one tablespoon of water. My sourdough starter is made up of equal parts flour and water, so when I added 2 tablespoons of starter (in addition to the 2 cups of water, 1 cup of beer, and 1 cup of buttermilk) I actually added more water than the recipe called for. Of course, I also added more flour than the recipe called for (2 tablespoons starter = 1 tablespoon flour + 1 tablespoon water). For someone who wanted to strictly adhere to the hydration of the recipe as written, the solution is to use 3/4 cup AP flour minus one tablespoon AP flour (if using a starter made from AP flour) or to use 2 1/2 cups dark rye flour minus one tablespoon dark rye flour (if using a starter made from rye flour). Make the same adjustment for the water: use 2 cups minus one tablespoon of lukewarm water and keep the amounts of beer and buttermilk the same as written. The addition of the starter barely made an impact on the final hydration, so I did not bother to make the adjustment. I was only suggesting a method to be used if, for some reason, other bakers felt the need to strictly adhere to the hydration of the original recipe.