Growing up, everyone in my family loved a good pastrami on rye bread sandwich. Back then, we simply referred to this Jewish delicacy as pastrami on rye. Of course, we made our own sandwiches at home. We also enjoyed pastrami on rye bread when we traveled to New York City each summer to see my grandparents. We loved going to the Jewish delicatessens on the Lower East Side between our trips to the Bronx, to see my Mom’s mother, and our trips to Long Island, to see my Dad’s parents.
When I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1998, I began recreating all of my favorite childhood foods, turning them into the gluten-free classics you find here today, and in my three cookbooks.
As soon as I was diagnosed, I knew I’d need to make a gluten-free rye bread. Since this low-carb bread is made with the high protein, grain-free ingredients that I’ve been using for dozens of years, we can call it a paleo rye bread as well.
You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this healthy bread recipe. It’s great toasted with leftover turkey the day after Thanksgiving. It’s also great for breakfast, toasted with butter, a side of eggs, and some avocado. That’s actually one of my favorite keto breakfasts, and some days I eat it for lunch instead.
This Dark Rye Bread recipe is based on my Flax Foccacia Bread recipe.
Dark Rye Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ¾ cup brown flaxmeal
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons caraway seeds
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine almond flour, flax, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar
- In a small bowl combine eggs, oil, and water
- Stir wet ingredients into dry, then mix in caraway seeds
- Allow batter to sit for 2 minutes to thicken
- Transfer batter into a greased 7.5 x 3.5 inch magic line loaf pan or 7.5 x 3.75 inch fox run pan
- Bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes
- Cool 1 hour
- Serve
To store this bread, wrap in a paper towel, seal in a plastic bag, and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
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As you may notice, the pan for this bread is a bit of an odd size, it’s about 40% smaller than a traditional sized loaf pan. Originally, I baked this bread in a glass luminarc loaf pan. That was discontinued. I switched to a Magic Line loaf pan, that too was discontinued. I’ve now found and tested a new replacement for these loaf pans. I’m recommending the Fox Run loaf pan, which is not as good as the previous two pans, but good enough. The reason I don’t love it, is that the sides are not as high as the other loaf pans, and the loaf is not as tall as the ones I made in the previous pans.
Whatever you do, don’t bake this bread in a regular, traditional sized loaf pan. Because there is only enough batter for the smaller sized loaf pan that is called for in this recipe, it will only partially fill the pan and you will have a very short loaf that is not tall enough to make proper sandwiches.
Here are some of my other easy low-carb bread recipes:
JerryWL says
I have tried this recipe twice and each time using the 7.5 x 3.75 pan I end up with a loaf that is only 1.25”-1.5” high. I followed the recipe exactly. Am I missing something? I was looking forward to a Reuben or pastrami on rye. Can I add yeast to get a higher rise? Any suggestions.
Caitlin says
This recipe is great. I *DID* make some substitutions. I used sunflower seed flour instead of almond flour and I added a bit of guar gum to keep it from crumbling. I doubled the recipe and baked in a normal loaf pan and it was DELICIOUS. Thanks!
Elana says
Caitlin, thanks for your comment and glad this is DELICIOUS!
Chuck says
I don’t see any nutrition facts, Calories and carb amounts for tracking on diet would be great.
Elana says
Chuck, for more on that go here:
https://elanaspantry.com/nutrition-information/
Have a lovely day!
Elana
Nip,Stella says
This recipe called “ dark rye bread” but I don’t see dark rye flour use.I am wondering how do I replace the almond flour and flaxmeal( nuts allergy and can’t take any flax seed).Is there any of your cookbook with using coconut flour and dark rye flour?We are trying to use coconut flour and omit sugar in our diet! Thanks for your input in advance.
Elana says
Stella, thanks for your comment and welcome to Elana’s Pantry, my gluten-free website. There is no rye flour in this recipe since rye is a gluten containing grain :-)
bambi cleary says
I made this replacing the water with strong coffee and this is a WINNER. Love it
Elana says
Thanks Bambi!
Cassie R Hatton says
After much searching and testing recipes for a grain free rye bread, I finally found yours. It is absolutely delicious! My question is, can I double the recipe to make a larger loaf for Ruben sandwiches? If so how long would I bake this? I cannot stop eating it.
Elana says
Cassie, I haven’t tried that for this recipe, but my almond flour recipes in general don’t work well when doubled :-)
Sarah Turner says
Hi! Because of an tree-nut sensitivity, do you know if oat or rice flour would would work well in this recipe? Thanks!
Elana says
Sarah, thanks for your question! I gave up grains around two decades ago in 2001 so not sure how those types of ingredients would work. Here’s a link to a recipe that does not contain tree nuts for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/nut-free-keto-bread/
Enjoy!
Elana
Michele says
Thank you! I made the dark rye bread yesterday and am so happy with it. I have been slowly easing sugar and carbs out of my diet to hopefully feel better – but I love toast in the morning. I didn’t want complicated or yeast-based recipes. I was able to buy all the ingredients online (including a right sized pan) and voila! Perfect texture and pleasing taste. Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!! Thank you so so so much!
Elana says
Michele, you’re welcome! So glad to hear this has perfect texture and pleasing taste :-)