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Raisin-Pecan Rye Bread
There's something very right about the combination of rye flour, raisins, and pecans. The subtle, earthy flavor of rye, the nuttiness of the pecans, and the offsetting sweetness of raisins combine to make a bread whose flavor seems to hit all parts of your tongue and taste buds at once. This dense, moist bread is delicious spread with butter (toasted or not); or serve it with Roquefort or another assertive cheese.
Ingredients
Biga (starter)
- 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/3 cup cool water
Dough
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar, light or dark
- 1/2 cup medium or light rye flour
- 1/2 cup pumpernickel
- 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup currants or raisins
Instructions
- To make the biga: Stir together the yeast, flour, and water. The dough will be very stiff and dry. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rest at room temperature overnight.
- The next day, combine the biga with the remaining ingredients (except the pecans and fruit) in a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, mixing to form a shaggy, sticky dough.
- Knead the dough until smooth (even though it's smooth, it'll still be very sticky), then place it in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest for 1 hour; it will become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, gently deflate it, and knead in the nuts and fruit.
- Shape the dough into a slightly flattened ball and place it on a greased sheet pan, or into a greased 9" round cake pan. Cover the pan with a proof cover or some lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the loaf rise for about 90 minutes, until it's puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the bread for about 50 to 55 minutes (tenting it lightly for the final 15 minutes), until its interior registers 190°F to 195°F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Remove the bread from the oven and cool it on a rack.
- Store, well-wrapped, at room temperature for 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 1 slice, 68g
- Servings Per Batch 16
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 202 cal
- Calories from Fat
- Total Fat 5g
- Saturated Fat
- Trans Fat
- Cholesterol 4mg
- Sodium 191mg
- Total Carbohydrate 30g
- Dietary Fiber 7g
- Sugars 9g
- Protein 10g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
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Reviews
A pleasant success using excess sourdough starter (that had just peaked) instead of the described biga. I measured the starter at same total weight as the biga and roughly the same proportion of flour to water (no commercial yeast). Since my starter was active, I did not do any overnight fermentation. I subbed the pumpernickel flour with whole wheat since that's what I had, but I'd do all rye next time if I can't find pumpernickel. I started by adding the water to a stand mixer, adding the starter until well mixed, then added the called-for yeast (wasn't sure omitting was a good idea but might try reducing it, given active starter, next time?), flours, sugar, salt; dissolved the salt into the barely melted lukewarm butter and mixed all until smoothish but still sticky. I did add a little flour as it mixed to help with smoothing. 1 hr rise, then added 1/2 cup walnuts & 1/2 chopped raisins, 90 min rise. Baked 350 (no convection) 52 min on parchment on a baking stone w/a little steam, tented as suggested. Came out at 204 internal temp, moist but not gummy. Very nice with slightly open crumb and a balanced raisin-to-nut ratio. Thank you!
Perfect texture and excellent balance of flavor. So worth the wait! This recipe is going in to my permanent collection to bake again.
This bread was wonderful. I have a bag of rye flour that needs using, so I came to my favorite place for baking recipes, and KAF didn't fail me. I did have a slight problem with the bread sticking to the pan where a group of raisins was in contact with the bottom of the pan, but otherwise it was wonderful. I baked mine in a toaster oven and it took about five minutes less than the recipe called for. Next time I am going to try it in a regular loaf pan to make french toast with it.Amanda, you can also always line your pan with a parchment paper sling to help ensure easy removal of the loaf. (Check out the article on our blog about this for more details.) Happy baking! Kye@KAF
The bread came out so tasty! I used walnuts instead of the pecans and vegetable oil instead of the butter.
I think my husband wasn't sure about fruit with rye and pumpernickel but trusted my judgement and was very glad he did. I followed the recipe straight through, but found I only had 10" cake pans and it seems to me that forming dough into just a ball on a baking sheet doesn't allow the bread to rise as much as spread. So I baked it in a large bread pan and it came out absolutely perfect. I'll have to try it toasted another time because it was gone before I got a chance to try it toasted. We absolutely loved this bread!
Wow! What a fabulous loaf of bread. The flavors are delish! Great warm out of the oven or toasted. This is a winner!!! I used all medium rye in place of the pumpernickel. Baking a second loaf now. I did bake it in my dutch oven--came out PERFECT!
This is an unprepossessing-looking bread, but the flavor is terrific. Next time, I think I'll bake for less time at a higher temperature with steam to get a crisp crust.
This bread was fabulous. I used all rye flour (instead of rye and pumpernickel) and it was delicious. I've made it with an overnight rise and also for the 90 minutes and found no difference. I've also tried soaking the raisins in advance and found it made no difference in the final product.
This is a dangerously good bread! I found this bread looking for a good breakfast bread to eat with morning tea. Overall this is a beautiful bread that I would definitely make again. Even with the use of whole wheat flour, this bread baked up moist and springy and not too dense. Slices well thin or thick and toasts perfectly. The currants/raisins add so much natural sweetness that I would use one less tablespoon of sugar next time, maybe even 1/4 cup less raisins. With excellent results I used: all rye flour instead of part pumpernickel, KA whole wheat flour in place of all purpose flour, 1tbs molasses in place of 1 of the tbs sugar, oil in place of butter, currants ipo raisins, 1/2 c sunflower kernels ipo pecans. I baked this in my 10 inch cast iron pan for 30 minutes uncovered and 15 minutes tented. My oven runs a bit hot.
