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.
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:
Theresa says
I have been missing my rye bread. Most Paleo breads taste like cardboard to me, but this one is awesome, thank you so much for all your hard work
Elana says
Theresa, thanks for letting me know this bread is awesome!
Dorota says
Hi Elana,
can I use flax eggs instead of the real eggs? I’m sensitive to eggs :-(
Thanks!
Dorota
Elana says
Dorota, thanks for your comment! I haven’t tried that so not sure. Here’s a link to my Egg-Free Recipes page for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/egg-free/
Enjoy!
Elana
Dorota says
Thank you!
Elana says
You’re welcome Dorota! I hope you find something you love :-)
Sammy says
HI Elana,
Just wondering if people have reported that doubling the recipe works in a regular sized tin?
Elana says
Thanks Sammy! Here’s a paleo bread recipe that you can make in a regular sized loaf pan, and it only has 5 ingredients total!
https://elanaspantry.com/rochels-cashew-bread/
Enjoy!
Elana
Christy says
I wondered the same thing.
Liz says
I left comments here before. I wanted to add something that might help people who only have a regular size loaf pan since this is what I use. I am still able to have fairly big slices because of the way I slice the loaf.
First I cut it in half, then I slice it lengthwise. I don’t know if I explained it clearly.
I bake this bread for 2 people only. We like it so much that I have to bake it every day which is fine with me because I have a fresh loaf every day. Thank you again for a wonderful recipe!
Elana says
Thanks Liz! That makes perfect sense :-)
Manuela Pearson says
can I use coconut flour? and if so how much compared to the almond flour?
Elana says
Manuela, thanks for your comment! For more on that please go here:
https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-baking-almond-flour-vs-coconut-flour/
Enjoy!
Elana
Rick says
I’ve tried this recipe twice. I cannot get the bread to rise hardly at all. Great flavor, however. Any suggestions?
Elana says
Rick, thanks for your comment! If you use a larger size pan than I indicate for the recipe, your batter won’t fill it up and your loaf will be flat. An example is if you fill a 1/2 cup with 1/2 cup of water, the water comes to the top of the cup, if you transfer that 1/2 cup of water to a 1 cup measuring cup, it will only fill it halfway. That’s what’s happening to the bread when the pan used it too large. I’m so glad that the bread tasted great!
Ailish says
Hello from Ireland!
Utterly gorgeous bread! I made some changes due to lack of ingredients- mix of pumpkin and sesame seed instead of the flax. Lemon juice instead of cream of tarter.
I ate half of the loaf straight out of the oven with Kerrygold and homemade berry jam ( no sugar or sweeteners- just boiled frozen berries)
Thank you so much for this AMAZING recipe ??
Elana says
Ailish, thanks for letting me know this was AMAZING!
Scott Cole says
Made the dark rye with a twist. 2TBS of Penzey’s dark cocoa. Delicious!
You can double the recipe for a large loaf pan! Thank you!
Elana says
Scott, I’m so glad this bread was delicious!
Nancy says
Heaven came down and left me this Dark Rye Bread by Elana! This was the most delicious RYE bread I have ever tasted and that’s 60+ years!! I followed your recipe and instructions exactly. I just did not have a small enough pan so I used a foil muffin tin. It made 8 “slider size rolls” in 25 minutes. All the family (4) raved about them. Warm out of the oven with a little butter. All 8 were gone in minutes. Made a second batch for lunch and served sliced in half, open face, with tuna salad topped with arugula and avocado. So from a serious RYE bread lover, Thank You, Thank You, Thank you, so much Elana for this easy, but most especially, delicious and grain free recipe.
Elana says
Nancy, your comment made my day! I am so happy to hear this was the most delicious rye bread you have ever tasted!
Ali H. says
Love your idea of using a muffin tin to cook the bread in. Thanks for sharing your alteration!!
Nancy says
Hi Elana:
I was reading your link about almond flour vs almond meal. Thank you so much for clearing up my confusion on that topic.
You also stated at the end of that tutorial the five almond flour brands you recommend. I’m assuming you have tried all of them over the years. Are they ilisted as best quality/results first to last or just random? How does the flour from Nuts.com compare to Honeyville? I’m looking to buy a 25# bag, now that we are back to grain free and would like to get the brand that yields the best results.
Thank you so much for all the hard work you have put into your website and your wonderful books. You are a blessing to me!
Elana says
Nancy, thanks for your comment! Yes, I have tried all of the brands of almond flour listed on my Almond Flour page. I list the brands alphabetically and they all work very well in my recipes :-)