Estonian Dark Sourdough Bread (Print-Friendly)

Hearty dark rye loaf with malt and caraway seeds, ideal alongside cheeses or fish.

# What You'll Need:

→ Sourdough Starter

01 - 3.5 oz active rye sourdough starter

→ Dough

02 - 14 oz dark rye flour
03 - 3.5 oz bread flour (wheat)
04 - 10 fl oz lukewarm water
05 - 1.75 oz dark rye malt or barley malt powder
06 - 2 tbsp molasses or dark honey
07 - 1 tbsp caraway seeds
08 - 2 tsp fine sea salt

→ Topping

09 - 1 tsp caraway seeds (optional)

# How To Make It:

01 - In a large mixing bowl, stir together the rye sourdough starter, lukewarm water, and molasses until fully dissolved.
02 - Add dark rye flour, bread flour, malt powder, caraway seeds, and sea salt to the liquid mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until a thick, sticky dough forms.
03 - Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight, until noticeably expanded and bubbly.
04 - Line a loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly grease it. Transfer the dough into the pan and smooth the surface with a wet spatula. Optionally, sprinkle additional caraway seeds on top.
05 - Cover and let the dough rise for an additional 2 to 4 hours, until it reaches near the top of the pan.
06 - Preheat the oven to 430°F (220°C) and place a pan of hot water on the lowest rack to create steam during baking.
07 - Bake the loaf on the middle rack for 15 minutes at 430°F (220°C).
08 - Lower the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until the crust is dark and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
09 - Remove the loaf from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It tastes like something that took weeks to make, but your effort is measured in hours of patient waiting.
  • The deep, complex flavor comes from the malt and molasses playing against the brightness of caraway—you'll taste something different in each bite.
  • Once you nail this, you have bread that keeps for days and gets better as it sits, making you feel like you've solved something important.
02 -
  • The dark color of this bread comes from the malt and long baking, not from anything wrong; if your loaf is pale, your oven might not be hot enough or your malt was too light.
  • Rye dough never looks polished or smooth like wheat dough, and that's exactly right—it's supposed to be rough and honest, and if you try to make it pretty, you'll overwork it.
03 -
  • If you want deeper flavor, toast your caraway seeds in a dry pan for a minute before mixing them in—the heat wakes up their aromatics in a way that feels almost dramatic.
  • Don't skip the steam in the oven; it's not decoration, it's the difference between bread that's chewy and alive and bread that's dense and defensive.
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