Pumpernickel Bread

I used the King Arthur Flour classic pumpernickel bread recipe but omitted the caraway seeds. 

Ingredients at the ready

The instructions were straight forward but this is like no dough I’ve ever made. Well, unless you count cookie dough because that’s what this mixed up like.

Spectacularly thick. I couldn’t get my 6-qt 575 watt mixer to knead the dough properly. It just wouldn’t grab on the dough hook. The recipe said to knead it for 10 minutes and I kept having to stop, pull the dough from the bowl’s sides, and start again.

Eventually I was able to dump it in my dough bucket to rise. Good thing they recommended I dust the top with flour as that was the only real proof I had that the dough had risen. It was just as craggy after an hour as when it went in...but the flour had cracked which was one of the hints they gave for success.

Here it is after shaping. Still looks like cookie dough.

So heavy and dense 

 After baking for an hour, it rose slightly in the dish.

Yes, it’s done 

The good news is that they warned that this was a heavy bread so at least I was expecting it. Once cool, I sliced it incredibly thin, toasted it lightly, and made open-face tuna sandwiches. They were great! Rich, slightly sweet, slightly funky flavor. Can’t wait to try it toasted with cream cheese in the morning. Maybe I’ll thaw some lox too. 

Is it my favorite bread? No. Too distinctly flavored for everyday. But as a special occasion bread? Definitely worth the effort.