Light Rye Bread

Since we are running out of all purpose flour and on the other hand, having lots of rye flour, we have decided to bake some rye bread this week. Rye is a cereal grain and is closely related to barley and wheat. It is definitely much more healthier than all purpose flour. As human usually associate healthy food with bad taste and vice versa, surprisingly this healthy bread tastes good. It is wonderfully light, soft inside with a crusty crust. A perfect bread for any sandwich or you can just enjoy the bread by itself.

While searching for some rye bread recipe, we have noticed that some unique ingredients required for any rye bread are molasses and cocoa powder.

Ingredients:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cup of warm water
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup rye flour
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/8 cup vegetable oil
• 1/8 cup cocoa powder

Steps:

1. Combine yeast, warm water and molasses in a large bowl. Stir until all well mixed.
   
2. Stir in salt, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, rye flour and then 1 cup of bread flour. Blend well.
3. Gradually add the remaining bread flour until the dough is not so sticky and not too hard to mix.
4. Place the dough on a lightly flour surface and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until the dough become smooth and elastic. Add flour as needed to make the dough less sticky.
5. On another large bowl, grease the bowl with a small amount of oil. Place the dough in the bowl and flip the dough to cover the dough with oil.
6. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap/damp cloth and allow the dough to rise for an hour and half in a warm place until it has doubled.
7. After an hour and a half, remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Gently press down in the dough to release the air from the bread.
8. Shape the dough into a 8 inches log and place into a lightly 9 x 5 grease loaf pan.
9. Cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and let it rise for another 45 minutes or until the dough raises approximately 1 inch above the pan.
10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the loaf pan in center of oven for about 45 minutes. After 20 minutes of baking, loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil.
11. You can test if the bread is done by thumping the bottom of the bread and it should sound hollow.
    
12. Let the bread cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before slicing it.