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.
Erin says
I have made this twice now. I slice and freeze and eat as toast with thinkly sliced cheese. Making a “mix” x3 for the soaker and flour mixture makes future baking fast and easy. This is my new favorite lunch.
Kristi says
Thanks so much for your comment, Erin! You can't go wrong with the simple bread and cheese lunch. YUM!
Rick Wilbert says
Is it ok that I soaked the seeds one day and made the dough another day?
Kristi says
I think that should be fine! I probably wouldn't leave the seeds out to soak at room temperature for more than a day but you could always cover them and pop them in the refrigerator.
Kristi
Robin says
I took a Zoom cooking class through Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum which focused on this recipe and I’ve been faithfully making it ever since. So simple- except for the workout it gives my stand mixer- SO delicious! I’ve also learned that it’s an incredibly forgiving recipe regarding timing . Thankful for this recipe each and every time I make it!
Lynnea Nilson says
This bread is wonderful and is exactly what I was looking for since we live in rural forestland and I don’t often find specialty stores for this kind of bread anymore. I like to make our own bread from organic ingredients anyway. It’s beyond my expectations - so delicious!! First try, I didn’t have the Pullman pan, so used a large, heavy Chicago metal pan with parchment (half recipe). Used our baking stone as a “lid” lining the top with parchment as well. Worked fine. I then bought the Pullman pan with lid, and baked a second time this week. As mentioned by another poster, it did rise very quickly and overflowed a bit. Appreciate your measurements in grams so it will be easy to change to 80% recipe next time, which will be better anyway as I don’t have the large size Kitchenaid mixer. I ordered (online) rye chops - organic cracked rye from Camas Country Mill in Oregon. This bread is a dream come true, and I’ll be baking it often. I slice thin, divide into packages for the freezer to take out a little at a time. Thank you so much for this recipe!!! I love it!! Lynnea
Kristi says
Hi Sandy,
Thanks for your comment! I'm glad it worked out using your sourdough in place of the yeast. It most certainly is a huge loaf. I will frequently freeze half of it and it works great!
Kristi
Sandy says
This is such a good bread! I made this the first time yesterday using sourdough (100 g) to leaven. It took much longer to rise than it would have with yeast, but turned out amazingly moist. I am in California and used Central Milling’s organic super seed mix. I did want to say that this is a BIG loaf of bread and I’ll probably halve the recipe next time, but I’ll see how well it freezes, first.
Denise Ficher says
I have made this recipe several times and it is absolutely delicious and perfect. I am wondering what would be the best position to put the oven rack in the oven. Lower 1/3? Denise
Kristi says
Hi Denise,
Thanks for your comment! Yes, I bake mine on the lower third rack and I think that seems to work best!
Kristi
Carolyn says
Hi Kristi thanks for this recipe. My Danish husband and I enjoyed it very much. It was easy to make. I would like to try it without the seeds in the soaker part and just use the cracked wheat or rye chops as we have seed allergies in the family. We have had this type of rye bread in Denmark without seeds also. I just need to know how much water then for the soaker recipe. I am sure 2 2/3 cups would be too much. Thanks.
Kristi says
Hi Carolyn,
I have never made this recipe without the seeds so I'm not sure how much to reduce the amount of water. I think I would try substituting additional cereal mix in place of the seeds and leave the amount of water the same. As I said, I haven't tried it but I think that is where I would start. Please let me know if you give it a go!
Kristi
Carolyn says
Made my first loaf yesterday. Turned out great. My Danish husband loved it. If I were to make it with rye chops or cracked rye only and no seeds in the soaker how much water would I need to add. I am sure I wouldn’t need the full 2 2/3 cups of water in the soaker recipe. We have family members with allergies. When we were in Denmark we had dark rye bread without seeds also.
Kristi says
Thanks for your comment, Troy! I'm so glad you are enjoying the bread!
Kristi
Troy says
Thanks for this great recipe. I recently visited family in Denmark and enjoyed eating this bread. After returning i tried finding something similar in Chicago without any luck.
I've never baked a bread in my life but was able to easily follow this recipe. We now make this bread almost weekly!
Elizabeth says
Hi! Thanks so much for the recipe! I'm gonna try it, but I have 2 questions: what type of molasses do you use? Blackstrap, or the more sweeter we normally have at home? And I don't have a any instrument other than my hands to knead the dough. Do I have to knead a long time? Thanks!
Kristi says
I use the milder molasses (usually the Grandma's brand) but either will work in this recipe. The dough is really sticky so kneading with your hands doesn't work so well. But you can just stir it vigorously with a sturdy spoon rather than using a mixer!
Kristi
Julie says
This is really, really good! I used two loaf pans, as I don’t have a Pullman pan - yet. And it worked out great. Finally I have a loaf that can be sliced with the vintage Raadvad bread slicer I bought a few years ago!
Hans Hansen says
Beautiful recipe! I used steel-cut oats instead of cracked rye, and it worked well. I have rye on the way, so I look forward to that.
Quick note: The loaf pan in the affiliate link is only rated up to 450º F. I did 20 minutes at 425 (to leave a margin), then 15 on 400, and then had to do almost 1:30 on 325. I ended up putting the pan back on because it took so long for the bread to heat up internally and I was worried it might dry out. turned out nice and moist inside though.
Kristi says
Hi Hans,
Thanks for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the bread.
Kristi
Patricia Hansen says
Hello:
What wonderfully delicious bread! So happy I found your recipe for rugbrod. I only have 9x5 pans and they worked well following your suggestion.
I sliced one loaf after 3 hours. The center is perfectly moist. But, the exterior is quite crunchy. Almost burned. The exterior of your image of the bread is not as dark.
Any suggestions you might have for the next time I bake this recipe are appreciated.
Regardless, we will enjoy each slice.
Patricia Petersen Hansen
Kristi says
Hi Patricia,
I think I would try reducing the oven temp for the long part of the bake by 25 degrees and to skip the extra 10 minutes of baking outside of the loaf pans at the end. Hopefully this works! Glad you enjoyed the bread regardless.
Kristi