Polish Rye Bread {Chleb Żytni}
My very first post had to be about bread. My very favorite food. Crunchy on the outside and moist and tangy on the inside. In an average Polish home bread is eaten 3 times a day, breakfast, second breakfast (aka lunch, normally eaten on the go, at school/work) and supper (the evening meal). There is a dinner in between, a hot meal of the day, the meat and potatoes kind of meal. I know, that’s a lot. We love food.
If you’ve ever been to a European bakery you will know, that there is a gazillion varieties of bread. Wheat, rye, pumpernickel, with seeds, no seeds, white, dark, round, oval… you get the picture.
My all time favorite is rye-wheat with sunflower seeds. This is what I’ve made for you today. I’ve come up with two variations, but you will not need a science degree to make either. The longer version needs a starter (I will teach you how to make one next week), and the shorter version just needs yeast. Starter is what gives bread the tanginess of sourdough. Both are tasty and great vessels for smoked meats or cheese.
Polish Rye Bread
Polish Rye Bread {Chleb Żytni}
Ingredients
- 1 ½ c rye flour
- 2 c unbleached bread flour (cause why would you want your flour bleached)
- ¾ c starter* - you may skip this
- 1 tsp bread yeast
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- ½ c of seeds of choice (I added sunflower and pumpkin seeds) - you may skip this
- 400 ml of pretty warm water if you're using starter (or 500 ml, if no starter)
Instructions
I combine all ingredients in a Kitchen Aid dough mixer with the regular cake mixing attachment (not the hook), but it can be hand mixed it in a bowl, no kneading required. Mix just until combined. You should be able to move the spoon or spatula through the dough. The consistency should be pretty wet. Feel free to add water if too dry. Again, this is not science. It will come out.
Transfer dough into a 9 x 5 inch baking pan (I like non-stick, but if you’re using glass or ceramic baking dish, I’d grease the inside), cover with a clean dish towel and let rise until the top of dough reaches the edges. Depending how warm it is, it may take 2-4 hours.
Bake at 460°F for 10 minutes, reduce temperature to 390°F and bake for another hour, or so (if you feel it’s getting too burned and it’s not been an hour, take it out).
Take out and let cool, if you can stand not digging in, cause it will smell unbelievably delicious. If you will need to store it, wrap in a paper towel and place in a plastic ziplock bag.
Notes
Eat & share, cause that’s what we do. Congratulations, you are now part Polish.
How did it turn out for you?
Please let me know in comments below.
Smacznego!
Love,
Anna
* to make your own starter, go to my recipe here.
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could this be done in the bread machine?
I can’t see why not, I have not tried it in a bread machine… but honestly, this recipe is so easy it’s not worth getting is all out and set up… no kneading necessary, just mix, pour into loaf pan and let rise 🙂
My bread is so tasty but it is too dark on the outside and not quite done on the inside. Turn the oven down a bit next time and cook longer?
Thank you for posting Polish recipes!!!
My pleasure!😋
Just made this bread, we have eaten half of it already, it is so delicious! We didn’t have any rye flour so we made it with all purpose, worked great. My grandparents came from Poland, my aunts used to make several of the dishes on your site. Brings back such nice memories. I’m excited to try more of your recipes, thank you!
Awesome! I hope you keep cooking!❤️
Super excited to try this recipe, but if using a sourdough starter, do you still add the bread yeast?
Patrycja, yes, still add bread yeast. Good luck!!
Yes!
Good bread!
Yey! Thanks Megan! 🙂
This is my new favorite bread recipe. So easy and quick to make. I started when everyone was baking bread during the pandemic, and have now just continued the sourdough starter so we have a fresh loaf weekly.
That’s another one of your recipes that I will try. Looks delicious! I have made a Polish Sauerkraut Bread that I found a recipe for. That was awesome too!
I haven’t made this bread yet, but I did make your chicken noodle soup. It was excellent. I even homemade the noodles. Your directions were fantastic. It is the only way that I will make chicken noodle soup. Just to let you know I also made the soup in the instant pot. turned out great. Many thanks for the recipe.
Your bread sounds great. I am looking for an onion rye bread
recipe. Hope you have one.
barb
I have a recipe for onion rolls in the BREADS section, not for for bread, sadly.
I just made this bread and it’s delicious! Brings back childhood memories. Thank you, Anna! Now, I have my own “grown” bread starter, could I skip adding bread yeast to it and make it on the starter alone? If so, how should I alter the recipe?
Bread may come out too wet, so continue adding yeast.
Thank you, Anna! I was able to achieve delicious bread from this recipe without yeast. Just the process is much longer and couple tries. The process took almost 18hrs but it was worth it!