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Danes love rye bread
If you’ve been to Denmark before, you’ll know that there’s nothing the Danes love more than dense, seeded rye bread. And this isn’t what Americans call rye bread, which is typically not filled with seeds and tastes like caraway. Instead, it’s a bread with a very dense and moist texture, which doesn’t sound as good as “fluffy” bread, but we can promise you it’s actually better. It’s just as delicious warm with some salted butter on top as it is piled high with toppings to create Denmark’s national dish, smørrebrød.
Bakeries typically make Danish rye bread with sourdough to get the best taste, but not everyone has sourdough at home. So, we’ve developed both a sourdough version and a yeast version, which you can try out if you want a full loaf of rye bread. You’ll notice that our recipes don’t yield a rye bread that’s dark in color, like many in Denmark are, but that’s because it requires ingredients that aren’t easy to find in the US or the UK. So, we did our best to develop a recipe that tastes just as delicious, even if it’s a bit lighter in color.
Are rye bread rolls better than loaves?
Today’s recipe is for rye bread rolls, which, as I’m sure you can guess, aren’t too different from a loaf of rye bread. But, in our opinion, they actually might be better! They’ve got that same dense and slightly chewy texture, but there’s just more crust. And honestly, who can argue with that? The crust is so flavorful and a little bit crunchy, so it just adds the perfect texture to an already delicious bread. We also love rolls because they don’t take as long to cool down as a whole loaf, and you can cut into them while they’re still a little bit warm.
Full of flavor, fiber, and texture
The reason why rye bread is so popular in Denmark is that it’s both delicious and nutritious. Since it’s so full of seeds and whole grains, it has a lot of fiber, as well as vitamins and other nutrients. It is also very satiating and will keep you full for a while. But unlike other foods, rugbrød being good for you doesn’t mean it tastes boring! It actually has a really nice and nutty flavor from all the added seeds and flours, and it pairs well with both sweet and savory toppings. Many people will tell you that a great way to enjoy a slice of rye bread is to cover it in butter and thin pieces of chocolate, known as pålægschokolade in Danish.
Ingredients you’ll need
To make these rolls, you’ll first need plenty of seeds: whole rye berries, cracked wheat, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds. You’ll then need both dark rye flour and bread flour (all-purpose works too), along with water, Greek yoghurt, salt, honey, and yeast. You can use instant or active-dry yeast, and fresh yeast work too – just follow the instructions on your yeast packet to make sure you’re combining the ingredients in the correct order.
This list does include some somewhat niche ingredients, so you can feel free to adapt the recipe to what you can find! Instead of whole rye berries, use chopped rye, or omit it. If you do leave it out, I would add some extra cracked wheat and seeds just to make up for it. You could also choose to mix in some oats or other seeds instead. If you can’t find cracked wheat, bulghur wheat is a great replacement and can be much easier to find. The Greek yoghurt adds tanginess, which you can also get from buttermilk or Kefir, so feel free to substitute with those. They are a bit more liquidy, so you might have to add some extra flour to adjust.
How to make our rye bread rolls
The process of making these rye bread rolls starts with soaking the rye berries, especially if you’re using whole rye berries. We’d actually recommend soaking them overnight, but a few hours can also do the trick if you’re short on time. Then, simply add the rest of the ingredients. This dough is too wet to knead, and the same goes for our regular rugbrød dough, so you’ll have to do a series of stretch-and-folds. However, rye flour contains much less gluten than regular flour, so you’ll find that the dough doesn’t actually get elastic while you stretch it. That’s totally normal! We simply do this to combine the dough and build up a little bit of gluten so that the final rolls hold their shape well.
Once you’ve let the dough rise, it’s time to shape it into rolls. We simply do this by turning the dough out onto a floured surface and gently shaping it into a rectangle. Then, we cut out square rolls, and carefully transfer them to parchment-lined baking sheets to rise again. You might find that if your dough is particularly wet, the rolls will spread a little bit too much, in which case you can gently reshape them with wet hands. Finally, bake in the oven with some boiling water to create steam, helping the rolls expand. Enjoy!
Rugbrødsboller (Rye Bread Rolls)
These rye bread rolls are full of flavor, fiber, and great texture. If you love seeded bread, you have to give these a try!
Ingredients
- 200 ml boiling water
- 100 grams whole rye berries (you can use cracked rye berries or chopped rye!)
- 80 grams cracked wheat or bulghur wheat
- 70 grams sunflower seeds
- 80 grams flax seeds
- 250 ml warm water
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp honey
- 150 grams dark rye flour
- 150 grams bread flour
- 30 grams Greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Soak the rye berries in boiling water. This will need to sit for at least two hours, and possibly longer; the rye berries should be soft enough to break apart if you press between your fingernails!
- Once the rye berries have softened, add cracked wheat/bulghur wheat, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds to the same bowl as the rye berries and water. Mix together.
- In a large mixing bowl, add warm water, yeast, Greek yoghurt, and honey. Mix together and let the yeast bloom for about 10 minutes – it should be creating bubbles on the surface (if you're using instant yeast, you can skip this step and add these ingredients directly to the seed mixture).
- Add in the rye flour, bread flour, and salt, and mix together until the dough begins to clump together. Add in all the seeds and stir until evenly distributed.
- Cover the dough with cling film or a tea towel and let it rise for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, wet your hands and knead the dough gently together with your hands for about 1 minute. It will be extremely sticky, but try to lift one edge and press towards the opposite side, repeating that move for about a minute.
- Let rest for another 30 minutes; then repeat the same kneading step for 1 minute.
- Rest for an additional 30 minutes; repeat the same kneading step for 1 minute (you will complete three total kneading sessions).
- Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
- Shape the dough by flipping it out onto a well-floured surface. Dust the top with flour, and shape the dough into a square shape, about 3/4 inch (2cm) thick. Cut the dough square into 9 rectangles (you can use a bench scraper or a knife).
- Transfer the rolls to a baking sheet, cover with cling film or a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
- While they are resting, place a deep baking dish/roasting tray on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 390F (200C).
- Towards the end of the rising time, boil a kettle with about 200-300ml of water.
- When the rolls are done rising, brush with water and sprinkle additional sunflower seeds/flax seeds on top of the rolls (optional!)
- Place the rolls in the oven and carefully pour the boiling water from the kettle into the roasting dish/baking tray on the bottom rack. This will create a lot of steam, so be careful!
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the rolls develop a golden color; it will be hard to tell how done the rolls are due to the dense dough, so you can always check with a thermometer. If the inside of the roll is at least 203F (95C), the rolls should be baked through.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy with savory or sweet toppings – either will be delicious!
