European Black Bread (Bread Machine)

Awesome bread! Added 1T vital wheat gluten w/vitamin C & used Smart Balance soft spread for the margarine. Used a tablespoon of molasses and 2 t sugar. Added a teaspoon fennel seed as well. Used the ABM to mix the dough - rose beautifully. Shaped by hand & rolled in oat bran. Slashed loaf 2/3 of the way through second rise. Baked at 350 degrees F for 38 minutes. Beautiful dark brown loaf with tender loaf with chewy crust that smelled & tasted terrific! Amy gave us a lovely bread here - will be on our regular rotation. Plan to use a cornstarch wash next time I make with - but will always keep the oat bran dusting on the bottom. Served with Recipe#23222 and slices of Maluarosa cheese. Delicious! BTW - this is AWESOME bread toasted for tuna/salmon salad as well as pastrami sandwiches!

I'm not sure just how to rate this bread. Beautiful high round loaf. Wonderful texture, Just lovely. But . . . not too much rye flavor. I didn't have oat bran so substituted whole wheat flour. Shoulda subbed more rye flour instead. It didn't quite have the rye tang. Next time, a little more vinegar AND a little more salt. Maybe another tsp of onion flakes. I did add a tsp. of instant coffee, as suggested in some other recipes. The 2 tablespoons of cocoa is OK but I think next time I will halve that. I didn't have any caraway seeds; don't know why, I have every other spice or herb you can think of. And I used more like 2 tsp of dry yeast. This recipe is definitely worth working on. Thanks for posting. . . Janet

i was looking for "black forest rye" like we used to be able to buy in the supermarket where we lived - very dense - anyway, i doubled this and made it by hand instead of a bread machine - it made one very nice big loaf - smelled like chocolate as it was rising and tasted delicious, sliced very thin and toasted :) - i think i will quadruple this bread recipe next so i can share with my neighbour - my five children and I had this for breakfast, and they are asking for more but we ate up every crumb (my husband had his this morning before work and loved it, too...) Thanks for a great recipe, recipe fairy!

Like mianbao, I made this by hand. I made it as a free-form loaf, which worked pretty well. I did overcook it a bit (trying to do too many things at once) but it was stil very tasty. The store was out of rye flour so I had to get pumpernickle rye, which I'm sure changed the flavor a smidge. I also subbed the margarine for olive oil. It rose well and has a very nice dark flavor. The caraway added a nice bite and the onion flakes are suprisingly noticeable with oniony tang. The bran added to the texture, giving it a bit more rough-grained rustic texture. Thanks, I will try this again!

This was great bread!I did it on dough cycle, shaped it in round loaf,let it rise, then baked. Thanks.Linda