Easy Overnight Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød)
Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød) is dense, hearty, and packed with rye flour, whole grains, and a variety of nutritious seeds. A true staple of Nordic cuisine, this richly flavored, slightly tangy bread is the foundation of smørrebrød (Danish open-faced sandwiches) and a key part of the Scandinavian diet.
If you've ever tried to find authentic rugbrød in the U.S., you know it can be a challenge. Most store-bought rye bread here is closer to deli rye or pumpernickel, lacking the depth and texture of traditional Danish rye. But the good news? You can make it at home-easily!
If you keep a sourdough starter around, you might also want to consider trying my recipe for Sourdough Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød) which is also really delicious!
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Ingredients
For the Soaker:
- 7 grain cereal - provides the hearty backdrop of the bread. Traditional rugbrød recipes call for rye chops which are just coarsely chopped pieces of rye grains. Because rye chops can be hard to find in the U.S., this recipe calls for a 7 grain cereal mix instead (feel free to use rye chops if you have access to them! They work just as well here). 7 grain cereal mix is simply a combination of several different coarsely chopped grains including wheat, rye, triticale, oats, oat bran, barley and/or brown rice. I often use the Bob's Red Mill brand, but have also had good luck with this mix from Nuts.com.
- Sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds - bring texture, flavor and nutrients to this hearty, substantial loaf.
For the Dough:
- A combination of bread flour and rye flour - is key to providing the gluten structure this bread needs to keep its shape.
- Instant yeast - serves as the leavener. Please note that instant or rapid rise yeast and active dry yeast are two different things. The essential difference between the two is that instant yeast can be mixed right in with the dry ingredients whereas active dry yeast is designed to be proofed in warm liquid prior to adding it to the recipe. Instant yeast is also more reliable, effective and fast-acting.
- Molasses - not only sweetens and flavors the dough, it also helps deepen the dark brown color of the final loaf.
- Water
- Salt
- Butter - for greasing the pan.
The Equipment
- a sturdy stand mixer
- a 13 x 4 inch pullman pan with lid
How To Make Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød)
The Night Before:
- 8-12 hours before you plan to make the bread, combine the rye flour, bread flour, instant yeast and cold water together in a large bowl (I just use the bowl that goes with my stand mixer since that is where it will eventually go....one less bowl to wash). Hold back on the molasses and salt for now. Stir to combine as best you can (mixture will be thick), and then knead briefly with your hands until you have a cohesive mixture. The dough will be very thick and clay-like in texture. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature.
- At the same time, mix the soaker together: Combine all the ingredients for the soaker together in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature.
The Morning of Baking:
- 8-12 hours later, finish mixing the dough: Grease a 13 x 4 inch pullman loaf pan with butter and dust with rye flour, including the lid. Set aside. Combine the dough, molasses, salt and the soaker (do not drain the soaker. Go ahead and put in the water and the soaked seeds) in the work bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low for 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally. Increase the speed to medium and continue to mix for another 2-3 minutes. The dough will be very sticky at this point.
- Scrape or spoon the dough into the prepared pan and smooth out the top. Damp fingers or a moistened spatula can help with this if you are having a hard time getting the top smooth.
- Dust the top of the loaf with a thin, even layer of rye flour and place the pullman lid cover on top of the pan. Let the dough rise for 1½ -3 hours at room temperature or until it is about ½ inch from the top of the pan. The time that it takes for your dough to rise will largely depend on the temperature of the dough and your kitchen.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake the loaf with the lid on for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 400 degrees and continue to bake, covered, for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the pan from oven and carefully slide the lid off. Reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and bake, uncovered, for an additional 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and immediately turn the loaf out onto a metal cooling rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Return the bread to the oven for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely before slicing, at least 3 hours or overnight if you can wait! Rye bread is even better a day after baking.
- Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely before slicing, at least 3 hours or overnight if you can wait! Rye bread is even better a day after baking.
Expert Tip
- Wait a day before enjoying your bread! Unlike wheat breads which are best eaten shortly after cooling, both the texture and flavor of rye bread improves after a rest of 12-24 hours. Once the bread has cooled completely, wrap it loosely in foil and cut into it the following day.
Recipe FAQs
Rugbrød simply means "rye bread" in Danish. It is a sturdy, dense loaf that is comprised of rye flour, chopped rye grains and is often studded with sunflower, pumpkin and/or flax seeds. It is often baked in a 13 x 4 inch pullman pan with a lid. This helps the rye bread bake properly and gives it its characteristic square shape.
It can be stored loosely wrapped in foil at room temperature for about 5 days.
Yes! Rugbrød freezes very well. Tightly wrap the bread (either a whole or partial loaf or slices) in plastic wrap and then either tightly wrap it in foil or place it inside of a freezer bag. It will keep for a couple of months.
I have had many readers tell me they have split the dough into two 9 x 5 loaf pans instead of using the pullman pan with excellent results. Use a heavy baking sheet as a "lid" for the covered portion of the baking and keep the baking times and temperatures the same.
If you have a smaller mixer, it may be difficult to get all of the dough in the bowl at one time. If that is the case, simply mix half of the overnight dough, molasses, salt and the soaker and then mix the second half. Combine all of the dough together in the loaf pan for baking.
Rye breads, particularly those baked here in America, often have a variety of ingredients added to them to enhance their color (making them darker in appearance) and flavor. Common additions include caramel coloring (no thank you), stout beer, cocoa powder, espresso powder and molasses. Rugbrød, in contrast, has very little additional flavoring, perhaps just a little molasses for sweetening. It is meant to be a very straightforward bread so that it can serve as a neutral base for a variety of different sandwich toppings.
Sometimes I will come across a rugbrød recipe that calls for flavor enhancers such as caraway, fennel or anise seed in the dough, but this seems to be more of an exception than the rule.
How and What to serve with Rugbrød
When it is served, Rugbrød is typically sliced thin (a little less than a quarter of an inch) and buttered liberally with salted butter. There is actually a word in Danish, tandsmør, which means "tooth butter". It refers to buttering your bread generously enough so that when you bite into it you can see your teeth marks in it.
It may be enjoyed as is, simply slathered with butter, or it can be piled with additional ingredients to form the base of smørrebrød , the famous Danish open-faced sandwiches. Check out this post about How to Make Smørrebrød at Home for everything you need to know about making these deliciously beautiful open-faced sandwiches with your rugbrød!
Related Recipes
Looking for more Scandinavian rye bread recipes? Give these a try:
If you tried this Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød) recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Recipe
Easy Overnight Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød)
Ingredients
For the Soaker:
- 2 ½ cups 7 grain hot cereal mix such as Bob's Red Mill brand or rye chops see note below
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- ½ cup flax seeds
- 2 ⅔ cups cold water
For the Dough:
- 2 cups dark rye flour I use the Bob's Red Mill brand, plus more for dusting the pan and loaf
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
- 1 ½ cups cold water
- 4 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup molasses
- Butter for greasing the pan
Special Equipment Needed:
- Stand mixer
- Pullman pan with lid (13 x 4 inches in size)
Instructions
- For the Soaker: Combine all the ingredients for the soaker in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight, approximately 8-12 hours.
- For the Dough: Combine both flours, yeast and water in a separate bowl. Stir to combine as best you can (mixture will be thick), and then knead briefly with your hands until you have a cohesive mixture. Dough will be very thick and clay-like in texture. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight, about 8-12 hours.
- Grease a 13 x 4 inch pullman pan with lid with butter and dust with rye flour, including the lid. Set aside. Combine the soaker, flour mixture, salt and molasses in the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit mixer with paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes until everything is thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Increase speed to medium and mix for an additional 2-3 minutes, stopping to occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mixture will be quite sticky.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Smooth out the top and sift a thin layer of rye flour over the surface of the dough. Place lid on pan and let the dough rise for 1½ -3 hours at room temperature or until it is about ½ inch from the top of the pan. The time that it takes for your dough to rise will largely depend on the temperature of the dough and your kitchen.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake the loaf with the lid on for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 400 degrees and continue to bake, covered, for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the pan from oven and carefully slide the lid off. Reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and bake, uncovered, for an additional 45 minutes. (The loaf should have an internal temperature of 205-210 degrees F on an instant read thermometer at this point). Remove from the oven and immediately turn the loaf out onto a metal cooling rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Return the bread to the oven for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely before slicing, at least 3 hours. Rye bread is even better a day after baking. If you can wait until the following day, let the completely cooled bread sit at room temperature loosely wrapped in foil overnight before slicing. The bread will keep at room temperature for 3-5 days loosely wrapped in foil. Freeze for longer storage.
I've made this recipe a few times (and it's always great!). Now that I have a sourdough starter I was going to try the sourdough version. However, I'm really confused about how different the two recipes are. This one calls for 2.5 cups of cracked grains and the sourdough version calls for vastly less (75 grams). Is there a mistake with the sourdough recipe?
Followed exactly, but the bread stuck to the lid, and ripped part of the loaf off. Finished per recipe, bread is a bit gummy, but flavor is excellent. Returned to oven for another 20...
Hi Janet,
Thank you for your feedback, and I’m sorry the loaf didn’t bake through properly for you. Oven temperatures and baking pans can vary quite a bit, and this bread sometimes needs a little extra baking time to fully set in the center. The loaf is done when it is deeply browned and the internal temperature reaches about 205–210°F.
I went back into the post to clarify the baking instructions and add additional doneness cues so that the recipe is more consistent for everyone. I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment.
I followed instruction 100%, but it was not baked completely, the center was sticky and feels uncooked. Not sure what I did wrong
Thank you for your feedback, and I’m sorry the loaf didn’t bake through properly for you. Oven temperatures and baking pans can vary quite a bit, and this bread sometimes needs a little extra baking time to fully set in the center. The loaf is done when it is deeply browned and the internal temperature reaches about 205–210°F.
I went back into the post to clarify the baking instructions and add additional doneness cues so that the recipe is more consistent for everyone. I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment.
Use a Pullman loaf pan with lid ( USA PAN ) I purchased on Amazon . Ben baking this bread several times and it withstands the 15 min 500 degree heat very well . Just did a new loaf yesterday - it’s a regular in my house . Hope this helps Happy baking 🙂
I was doing bake sourdough and I was interesting to do the bake with rye fluor but how to get the information or may be receipt to make the right way with rye bread.
Thank you
Hi Kiki,
If you are looking for a sourdough version of this recipe, I have one right here that works great! https://true-north-kitchen.com/sourdough-danish-rye-bread-rugbrod/. Happy Baking!
Kristi
My dough rises to within 1/2 inch of pan but the it sinks down when baking what am I doing wrong?
Hi Gerda,
This usually means the dough was slightly over-proofed. Rye dough has very little gluten structure, so if it rises a bit too long it can’t support itself once it hits the heat and will sink. Next time, try baking the loaf when it’s a bit below the rim of the pan rather than letting it rise higher. Rye ferments quickly, especially in a warm kitchen, so checking it earlier can make all the difference. Hope this helps!
Kristi
My husband and I made this yesterday after our brother-in-law treated us to some rugbrød. Delicious! We live in an arid location, however, and found the seeds in the bread very crunchy. The soaker seemed quite dry when we mixed it in with the dough. Next time we will add a bit more water—maybe 1/4 cup—to the soaker. We put the loaf in at 450° and immediately turned the oven down to 400° for the remainder of the baking time since our pan was not rated a higher temp than 450°. We deemed it done when the internal temp of the loaf hit 195°. We did not use the lid of the Pullman pan. I want to try the rye sourdough! Is there a reason you prefer the paddle attachment to the dough hook for mixing the dough? Thanks!
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for your feedback! You can definitely add a bit more water but I think the likely culprit is not using a lid on the Pullman pan. The lid traps steam during the first part of baking which helps keep the seeds soft. If you don't have a lid you can fashion together a makeshift one with a sheet pan or something similar with something a bit heavy on top. I use the paddle attachment because of how loose the dough is. You could use the hook if you prefer. I think it would work just fine! Please report back if you give it another go. Happy baking!
Kristi
One more question: Have you ever tried the recipe with King Arthur’s 1:1 gluten-free flour? Thanks, wondering what might happen…chaos?
Hi Lynn,
I haven’t tested this recipe with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, and I am inclined not to recommend a direct swap. This bread relies on the structure and fermentation of wheat flour, and gluten-free blends behave very differently—especially in long, overnight rises. Hope this helps!
Kristi
Hi,
Just finished baking the rugbrod bread,
It all went well as I followed your instructions but when the bread came out of the oven it had a quite deep indent along the whole length of the bread, about 1/4 of an inch, I wonder what I did wrong? maybe too much water in the 7 seed mix?
Regards
Leif
Hi Leif,
Thanks so much for baking the rugbrød and for taking the time to leave a comment! A slight indentation along the length of the loaf is actually quite common with this style of dense rye bread and usually isn’t a sign that you did anything wrong. The most likely cause is either slightly too much moisture in the dough (which can happen if the seed soaker absorbs less water than expected) or a loaf that was just a touch over-proofed, causing it to settle a bit as it baked. Rugbrød doesn’t have much oven spring, so it tends to show these small structural changes more than wheat breads. The good news is that this is mostly cosmetic and shouldn’t affect the flavor or how the bread slices. If you’d like to minimize it next time, you can hold back a tablespoon or two of the water in the seed soak, or bake the loaf when it’s just shy of fully risen rather than right at the top of the pan. Hope this helps!
Kristi
I have a 9 x 5 x 2.5 inch pan. Quantity-wise how much dough should I put in if I am expecting it to rise to the top? I'm assuming this recipe is based on the quantity for the Pullman tin which is larger so just wanting to know how much space to leave for a decent rise?
Hi William,
If baking it in a regular pan, I just split the dough in half and bake 2 loaves in 2 pans. It may not rise all the way to to the top as the pan is a bit wider than the pullman, but you'll still get a really nice couple of loaves! use a baking sheet or something similar as a "lid" during the covered part of the baking. Everything else can remain the same.
Kristi
I just made it and it is probably the easiest bread recipe I've ever made. And, it's delicious! Having said that, the recipe calls for baking at 500 degrees at first. Where do you find a pullman loaf pan that can handle more than 450 degrees? If you can, please provide link/store information. Thank you!
Hello,
I'm so glad you enjoyed the bread! If your pan is only rated for 450 degrees, set your oven temp to 450 instead of 500 and give it an extra 5 minutes of baking time at that temp before proceeding with the rest of the temperature changes/baking times. Thanks so much for your comment and question!
Kristi
What brand of Pullman pan do you use?
Hi Mona,
I use the USA pan. It's only rated to 450 degrees, however, so if you want to stay within the recommended temperature range, simply bake the loaf at 450 for the first part of the covered bake (when the recipe calls for 500) and add an extra 5 minutes. Proceed with the rest of the recipe as directed. Hope this helps!
Kristi
This a wonderful way to make a great Volkornbrot.
I made this today. WOW. So delicious. Definitely looking forward to making this again. This is a keeper!
Thanks for your comment, Paul!
Kristi
I have made this bread 2 times now. Both times, it came out perfectly. I think of it as being kind of a sophisticated bread. I don't have a 13 inch long pullman pan and would love to know the directions 8 inch pullman pan. Congrats, Kristi.
Thanks, Cate! I'm so glad you are enjoying it! I have never tried it in the smaller pan, but I would suggest keeping the first two baking times the same and then shortening the time at 300 degrees to 35 minutes. Please let me know if you try it!
Kristi
Hello,
I also would prefer to make a smaller batch or use two smaller Pullman loaf pans. Would you suggest dividing the recipe in half or baking two loafs? Also what should the temp of the bread be when done? If I am shortening the last temp time I’d like to be sure it’s not over or under baked. And dine temp would be helpful.
Hi Gina,
Thanks for your question! Most readers report using two smaller Pullman loaf pans. The loaf should register 200-210 degrees F when it is done. I would recommend the same baking time, but reduce the temp for the first portion down to 450 degrees rather than 500. Hope this helps! Enjoy the recipe!
Kristi