This high altitude tested pumpernickel bread is a dark rye bread, flavored with molasses and caraway seeds. It’s dense and hearty, delicious toasted and buttered, and served along side a bowl of soup or scrambled eggs.
You might also love these recipes for peasant bread, Irish brown bread, and no knead seeded bread.
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What is Pumpernickel Bread?
Pumpernickel bread is a slightly sweet, dark rye bread originating in Germany. Traditionally, the bread is made with dark rye flour and a sourdough starter instead of yeast. It’s baked or steamed in lidded pans for a long period of time (up to 24 hours), with the long bake time contributing to the dark color in the bread as the sugars caramelize. Today’s recipe takes a faster approach, using yeast to leaven the bread and molasses to give it color, so you can enjoy fresh bread in just a few hours.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Hearty and Wholesome. I love a dense, hearty bread with a chewy crust. This bread is wonderful toasted and enjoyed alongside scrambled eggs for breakfast, or dunked in soups and stews.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Flour. You’ll need a few different flours, all purpose flour, bread flour and rye flour. I already have a medium rye flour on hand, so that’s what I used, but you can also use dark rye.
- Wheat Bran or Wheat Germ. While these two ingredients are not the same thing, and are not always interchangeable in recipes, you can use either one to add a little more heartiness to the bread.
- Yeast. I recommend using Red Star Platinum Instant Yeast. I use it for all my bread recipes, and it’s a wonderful yeast to bake with.
- Caraway Seeds. The rye flour won’t give your bread as much rye flavor as the caraway seeds will. For the best flavor, stock up on a jar of caraway seeds to add to your bread.
- Molasses. I used two types of molasses, original molasses (which I buy at my grocery store) and a very dark, unbelievably thick and sticky black treacle (which I found at World Market). Instead of the black treacle, you can also use blackstrap molasses.
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all the flour with the wheat bran/germ, brown sugar, yeast, salt, and caraway seeds.
- Add the molasses and the softened butter, then add 1 1/2 cups of the warm water. Stir into a shaggy dough.
- With your stand mixer and dough hook attachment, knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes until smooth, and the dough wraps around the dough hook. Only add the remaining water if the dough seems too stiff as it kneads. On the other hand, if the dough is too soft and loose, add a little more flour, a few tablespoons at a time.
- Scrape the dough into a greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place (such as inside your oven with the “bread proof” setting turned on), to rise until doubled in size. This may take about 90 minutes, longer if you’re at a lower altitude, less if you’re at a higher altitude.
- Prep a 9×5 inch bread loaf pan by greasing the inside of the pan with butter then dusting it with flour. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, then gently press the dough out into a rectangle measuring approximately 9×15 inches. Roll the dough up into a log, then place the dough into the prepared pan, with the seam side down, and the ends tucked down.
- Set the bread aside to rest for 10-20 minutes, just until the dough fills the pan and is starting to rise above the top edge.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the bread for about one hour, until a deep golden brown, and a digital instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the bread reads 195F.
- Turn the bread out of the pan onto a cooling rack, and cool completely, at least several hours, before slicing.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
After letting the bread cool, slice and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. The bread may become more crumbly after several days, due to its hearty texture, but is still great toasted.
For a darker color, you can adjust the ratio of original molasses and black molasses. Some recipes also use 1-2 tbsp dark cocoa powder to deepen the color of the bread. Adding more of these ingredients, though, may also give the bread a slightly more bitter flavor.
Yes, this recipe will work well in the “small” pullman pan. I have not tested it with the lid on during baking.
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High Altitude Pumpernickel Bread
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ cups (204g) bread flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup (112g) medium rye flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¼ cup wheat bran or wheat germ
- 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) instant or rapid rise yeast
- 2 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 4 tsp caraway seeds
- ¼ cup original molasses
- 2 tbsp black treacle molasses (or blackstrap molasses)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ – 1 ¾ cups water, warmed to between 110-115F
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all the flour with the wheat bran/germ, brown sugar, yeast, salt, and caraway seeds.
- Add the molasses and the softened butter, then add 1 1/2 cups of the warm water. Stir into a shaggy dough.
- With your stand mixer and dough hook attachment, knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes until smooth, and the dough wraps around the dough hook. Only add the remaining water if the dough seems too stiff as it kneads. On the other hand, if the dough is too soft and loose, add a little more flour, a few tablespoons at a time.
- Scrape the dough into a greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place (such as inside your oven with the "bread proof" setting turned on), to rise until doubled in size. This may take about 90 minutes, longer if you're at a lower altitude, less if you're at a higher altitude.
- Prep a 9×5 inch bread loaf pan by greasing the inside of the pan with butter then dusting it with flour. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, then gently press the dough out into a rectangle measuring approximately 9×15 inches. Roll the dough up into a log, then place the dough into the prepared pan, with the seam side down, and the ends tucked down.
- Set the bread aside to rest for 10-20 minutes, just until the dough fills the pan and is starting to rise above the top edge.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the bread for about one hour, until a deep golden brown, and a digital instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the bread reads 195F.
- Turn the bread out of the pan onto a cooling rack, and cool completely, at least several hours, before slicing.
Notes
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/
First time making pumpernickel bread and it was delicious!