High Altitude Icelandic Rye Bread (Rúgbrauð)
This Icelandic rye bread has a dense, tight crumb with a moist, chewy texture and sweet flavor. It's baked in a perfectly square loaf in a lidded pullman pan, and is traditionally served in thin slices with butter and smoked, cured or pickled foods.
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
- 9-Inch Pullman Loaf Pan with Lid (see recipe notes)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 4 ¾ cups (540 grams) rye flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 ⅓ cups buttermilk (see recipe notes)
- ⅓ cup golden syrup or honey
- 2 tbsp original molasses (not black strap)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Prepare your 9-inch pullman pan by brushing the bottom and sides with the softened butter. Be sure to grease the inside of the lid, too. If you don't have a lid, see the recipe notes below.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the buttermilk, golden syrup/honey and molasses, and stir together with a spatula into a smooth, sticky batter.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and secure the lid.
- Bake the bread for about 80-90 minutes. Remove the lid to check the temperature - the bread is done when the internal temperature reads 195 F with a digital instant read meat thermometer.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack. Let cool for about an hour, then slice thinly and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
For today's recipe, you'll need the "small" pullman loaf pan (which is 9x4x4) with a lid. If you already own this pan, but don't have the lid, you may not be able to buy the lid separately. Instead of using a lid, simply spray a piece of aluminum foil with non-stick baking spray and wrap it over the top of the pan. When you place the pan in the oven to bake the bread, set a heavy baking sheet on top of the pan to weigh down the foil. This will work exactly the same as the lid.
If you don't have buttermilk, you can use whole milk, and replace 1 tbsp of the milk with apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar.
Store leftover sliced bread in an airtight bag or container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. Leftovers are great toasted.
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