Best Austrian Pumpernickel Bread Recipes

STEAKHOUSE-STYLE PUMPERNICKEL BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Set aside.
• In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients: both flours, cocoa powder, yeast, sugar, and salt. Stir together.
• In a separate bowl mix the warm water, molasses, and oil together.
• Add the wet into the dry ingredients until your dough comes together.
• Knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky, roughly 6-8 minutes. You can do this by hand or use a stand mixer.
• Grease the bowl with a little oil place in the dough. Cover the dough and allow to rise until it has doubled in size, roughly 60-90 minutes.
• After proofing, knock back the dough before shaping into 2 loaves and placing in your prepared loaf pans.
• Cover again and place in a warm place till doubled, roughly 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
• Bake for about 40 minutes. The dough should sound hollow once tapped on the base.
• Cool on a rack before slicing. Store bread at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen for up to 8 weeks.

PUMPERNICKEL RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare the preferment. Combine in a bowl, cover and leave to ripen for 16 - 24 hours.
• Prepare the scalded rye. Pour the boiling water over the rye grains and leave overnight.
• Prepare the rye soaker. Combine in a bowl, cover and leave overnight.
• 11.30am - Add one litre of water to the scalded rye soaker, bring to a boil and simmer for approx. 1 hour until soft.
• 12.30pm - Strain the rye and discard any remaining water. Set aside to cool.
• 1pm - In a large bowl combine 700g of sourdough (the rest goes back into the fridge for your next bake), the cracked rye soaker, the cooked and cooled rye berries, the 550g extra cracked rye, the water (150g), salt (22g), maple syrup (120g) and mix until the dough comes together well. Mix for a few minutes (I just do this with my hands). Once this is done, cover the bowl and leave to rest for 30 minutes.Note: The dough should not be wet. It should stick together well and not fall apart. It should peel off the side of the bowl easily and stick on a spoon when held up.
• 1.45pm - Oil a large and a small loaf tin (I use a silicone brush to do this), then place the dough into the baking tins. Again, just use your hands to do this and even out the dough surface across the tin. Fill the tins only half full. Cover the tins - if you are using Pullman forms, use the Pullman tin cover, otherwise use a polythene bag to ensure the dough doesn't dry out.
• 2pm - Leave to prove for 3 hours (depends on room temperature, so do keep an eye on the dough during this time). The dough will have risen, probably not quite to the top of the tin, but it should have visibly risen.
• 4.30pm - Preheat the oven to 150°C.
• 5pm - Brush the top of the dough with a little water. Fully wrap the baking tins with two tight-fitting layers of tin foil to avoid the steam escaping and the dough drying out during the long baking process. Note, that I cover even the Pullman tin in these additional layers. Place the wrapped tins at the bottom shelf of the oven and bake for approximately 14 hours (best done overnight).
• 6pm - Turn down the temperature to 120°C.
• 7am - After baking, turn off the oven and leave the baking tin in the cooling oven for another hour.
• 8am - Take the loaf out of the baking tins and wrap in a kitchen towel for another 24 hours.
• Cut into thin slices and enjoy with butter and jam or smoked fish for a hearty breakfast!

HOMEMADE PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the molasses, butter, chocolate, vinegar, salt, rye flour and 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Shape into a round loaf. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. With a sharp knife, make three shallow slashes across the top of loaf. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes., Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

PUMPERNICKEL BREAD II

Steps:

• Mix well bread flour, rye flour, cornmeal, salt, yeast, cocoa, and brown sugar. Add milk, oil, and molasses. Mix thoroughly. When mixed well enough that the dough holds together, knead by hand 15-20 minutes.
• Cover, let rise in bowl 30 minutes. Punch down, form, and place into 9 1/2x5 inch pan. Cover with damp cloth and let rise about 1 hour.
• Bake in preheated 375 degree F (190 degrees C) oven 25 to 30 minutes, covering top with aluminum foil last 10 minutes.

BREAD MACHINE PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Basic cycle; press Start.

CLASSIC PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let sit in a warm place until the yeast mixture turns bubbly (about 5-10 min.).
• In a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer with a dough hook), combine remaining 1 cup water, molasses, salt, shortening, caraway seeds and yeast mixture. Beat until smooth.
• Slowly beat rye flour into the yeast and molasses mixture. Mix in the all-purpose flour and mix until it is a soft, smooth dough ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. If dough is too moist, add a little more flour. If dough is too dry add a little more water.
• Knead the dough for 5 minutes.
• Lightly grease (or spray with cooking spray) a large bowl. Add the dough, turning once to coat the entire surface of dough with oil. Cover dough with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
• Punch down dough. Separate dough into 2 equal parts. Form 2 round, slightly flattened loaves. Score a 3/4 inch deep 'X" into the tops of both loaves with a sharp knife.
• Grease (or spray) a large baking sheet; sprinkle with cornmeal. Put the loaves on top and then cover with a clean cloth and let rise until doubled - about an hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degress F. Bake 30-35 minutes or until crusts are dark brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped.
• Remove from baking sheet and cool on a rack before slicing.

PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Brush a large bowl with butter; set aside. Combine 1/4 cup warm water with sugar; sprinkle yeast over top. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat espresso, chocolate, molasses, and 1 1/2 cups water over medium. Cook, stirring often, just until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool until warm but not hot (below 110 degrees).
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, combine both flours, caraway, and salt. Add the chocolate mixture then yeast mixture. Mix by hand, using the hook, to combine. Turn mixer on medium and mix until dough comes together in a smooth, springy ball around the hook, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove a small piece of dough and stretch it. If the dough holds together in a thin "windowpane" without breaking, the gluten is sufficiently developed. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until incorporated, about 4 minutes. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead a few times to form into a ball. The dough will be slightly sticky; don't be tempted to add more flour. Transfer to buttered bowl, turning once to coat, and cover loosely with buttered plastic. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• When dough has doubled, turn out onto a work surface. Pat dough out into a rectangle, roughly 10 by 12 inches with short side facing you. Fold bottom edge two-thirds of the way up the rectangle, and top edge down to cover. Rotate dough 90 degrees and repeat the fold. (This is called a business-letter turn.) Return to buttered bowl and top with buttered plastic. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled in size again, about 1 hour. Remove from bowl, gently deflate, and work into a round boule about 6 inches in diameter. Place a clean dish towel in a medium bowl and generously dust with flour. Place boule, seam-side up, in bowl. Loosely fold floured towel ends over dough to cover. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees and place a 9- or 9 1/2-inch enameled cast-iron pot in oven with the lid to preheat. When dough is ready, carefully remove the lid, pull back corners of towel, and flip bowl upside down to transfer bread to the heated pot, seam-side down. Quickly slash an "X" in the top of the bread with a serrated knife and using an oven mitt, cover with lid. Return pot to oven and bake 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until bread feels hollow when tapped and internal temperature registers 205 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes more. Immediately turn bread out of pot onto a cooling rack. Let cool at least 2 hours before slicing.