This dark rye bread machine recipe is my favorite rye bread recipe. It’s hearty and has a nice rye flavor. It makes fabulous corned beef sandwiches. It also goes well with soup or stews.

Last updated September 22, 2023 – Originally posted September 30, 2017

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I made this bread for the first time today. It was absolutely delicious and I will make it again. ~ Carol

Dark Rye Bread Machine Recipe

I first had dark rye bread from a mix. I loved it!! The color. The taste. The heartiness. It was wonderful!

Coming up with a recipe for it was a challenge though. Eventually, after some experiments and using the recipe in The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook as inspiration, I developed the below recipe.

This dark rye bread machine recipe makes hearty bread with a nice rye flavor. The Man of The House (TMOTH) uses it to make great corned beef sandwiches. It also goes well with soup or stews.

Rye Flour

A Field of Rye

Rye is a cereal grain that contains a good amount of fiber. TMOTH really doesn’t enjoy whole wheat bread, however, he likes rye bread. So rye bread is a good choice for us in terms of nutrition.

Rye flour comes in light, medium and dark. For this recipe, you’ll use dark rye flour.

Wheat Bran

This recipe also includes wheat bran. It’s another great fiber source.

What is it? Wheat bran is the outer layer of the wheat kernel.

I found this in the Bob’s Red Mill section of the baking aisle.

Making Dark Rye Bread

This makes a two-pound loaf of bread. Use the basic setting with a medium crust.

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first. With my Zo, I add the liquids first.

Make sure you check on the dough after five or ten minutes of kneading.

Pop the top of the bread machine and look to see how the dough is doing. It should be a smooth, round ball. If it’s too dry add liquid a teaspoon at a time until it looks right. If it looks too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks right.

Dark Rye Bread Recipe

Again, this makes a two-pound loaf of bread. Use the basic setting with a medium crust.

1 ½ cups water
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons molasses
2 ⅓ cups white bread flour
1 ⅓ cups dark rye flour
⅓ cup wheat bran
3 Tablespoons unsweetened, Dutch-process, cocoa powder (I happened to have dark cocoa powder on hand, but regular will work too. )
4 teaspoons vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons salt
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

See below for metric measurements, as well as nutrition information, for this bread machine recipe for dark rye bread.

Dark Rye Bread Machine Recipe

This is my favorite rye bread recipe. It’s hearty and has a nice rye flavor. it makes fabulous corned beef sandwiches. It also goes well with soup or stews.

4.50 from 2 votes

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Course: Bread Machine Recipes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: rye

Yield: 14 slices per two-pound loaf of bread

Calories: 163kcal

Recommended Equipment

Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme 2-Pound-Loaf

Zojirushi Bread Machine

Bread Knife

Measuring Cup

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (354.88 ml) water
¼ cup (59.15 ml) olive oil
2 Tablespoons molasses
2 ⅓ cups (291.67 g) white bread flour
1 ⅓ cups (136 g) dark rye flour
⅓ cup (19.33 g) wheat bran
3 Tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process, cocoa powder (I happened to have dark cocoa powder on hand, but regular will work too. )
4 teaspoons vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons salt
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

Instructions

This makes a two-pound loaf of bread. Use the basic setting with a medium crust.
Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first. With my Zo, I add the liquids first.
Make sure you check on the dough after five or ten minutes of kneading.
Pop the top of the bread machine and look to see how the dough is doing. It should be a smooth, round ball. If it’s too dry add liquid a teaspoon at a time until it looks right. If it looks too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks right.

Notes

This is a recipe for a two-pound machine. Use the basic setting with medium crust.

This recipe was developed and tested using US customary measurements. Metric measurements are calculated automatically.

Nutrition

All information presented within this site is intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on breadmachinediva.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. I try to provide accurate information to the best of my ability; however these figures should still be considered estimates.