Gluten Free Rye Bread Recipe

Don't know what to do with all that corned beef leftover from St. Patrick's Day? Bake this gluten free mock rye bread and make a reuben! It has all the flavor and none of the gluten 🙂

You have no idea how long I had been craving a Reuben! Or maybe you DO know how long because you've been craving one as long as I have? Well, this bread is gonna cure that craving. It'll give you all the feels of real rye bread without the rye. So you can enjoy that wonderful Reuben or deli sandwich once again!!

Making Gluten Free Mock Rye Bread

I originally made this bread in the summer of last year and I loved it. But me being me, it wasn't absolutely perfect so I couldn't leave well enough alone. I'm really glad I didn't, though, because this newer version is SO much better. And softer!!

Here's the wonderful thing about this dough. If you've made any of my breads before, you've probably already made a version of this dough before. And it's SO simple!

The dough for this bread begins with the same dough that's used for my Fabulous Gluten Free Italian Bread. It has become one of my favorite doughs ever and I've used it for so many different things. I'm notorious for creating several variations of breads from one dough, and I'm not about to stop any time soon.

Making Bread That Tastes Like Rye

Since we can't have rye flour, I needed to come up with something that would make the rye bread at least taste like rye bread. I knew that caraway seeds are in seeded rye bread and that the taste of caraway, although not the true taste of rye, is something we all would associate with rye bread.

But seeds sprinkled throughout the dough would only give it a slight flavor, so I wanted to amp up that caraway flavor. I did that by putting some of the caraway seeds in a coffee/spice grinder and creating a caraway powder. That was added to the dough as it was mixing, along with the seeds.

In addition to the caraway powder and seeds, most dark rye breads or dark breads are made with cocoa powder. Who knew? Cocoa powder doesn't make the bread sweet at all (it's unsweetened). It just gives that slight dark color to the bread. You can leave it out, but to me it makes the bread that much more believably rye.

Just two tablespoons are added to the dough to obtain the color I've created, but feel free to leave it out for a light rye, or add a few more tablespoons if you want a true dark rye (this loaf is more like a German rye). If you do add more than two tablespoons, add that same amount more in milk.

Shaping the Dough

Shaping this dough into a large torpedo like shape is pretty simple. The dough is very sticky, but with a little extra gluten free bench flour (flour sprinkled liberally on the counter), it can be kneaded gently and briefly into a cohesive mass.

You can divide the dough into two and make two small loaves or make one very large loaf. I chose to make a smaller loaf and put the rest of the dough in the fridge for another day. See notes below for more info on keeping dough/bread.

Gently shape the dough into a torpedo (oval) like shape with your fingers. See my step-by-step video here on how I make my gluten free Italian bread for how to shape this bread as well. Of note, because of the cocoa powder in this dough, it is a slightly stiffer dough than the Italian bread.

Place on a piece of parchment on a baking sheet or pizza peel. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof (rise) in a warm, draft-free area until visibly larger in size but not doubled, approximately 1 hour (although this could take longer depending on the temperature of your space).

Baking Gluten Free Mock Rye Bread

Just like almost any loaf of gluten free bread I make, baking this rye bread is no different. Setting up a mock commercial oven and using steam for oven spring (rise) is so normal to most of us now, right?

On the middle rack of your oven, place a baking steel or baking stone. On the bottom rack, place a shallow pan, such as a broiler pan. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Once the oven has been preheated, slide the shaped loaf onto a baking steel or stone (a pizza peel or paddle is perfect for this job), parchment and all. Immediately pour one cup of very hot tap water into the shallow pan and close the oven door.

Bake for 30-35 minutes for a smaller loaf or 35-40 minutes for a larger loaf, or until hollow sounding when tapped.

Remove the bread from the oven (using the same pizza peel) and place it on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing. The crust will soften as it cools. Look at how soft this bread is ⬇⬇⬇ Eeeek!!!!

squished piece of gluten free mock rye bread

The Reuben

I think my favorite sandwich ever has to be a Reuben. Any time they can make a sandwich gluten free by subbing the bread, I always look to see if they have a Reuben on the menu.

If you don't know what a Reuben is, it's a sandwich made with rye bread and is loaded with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing. It's usually grilled, but not always. I will eat it any way you give it to me and love every bite!

Slice leftover corned beef super thin. The best way to do this is to freeze it slightly so it'll be easier to cut very thin. Slather both pieces of your gluten free mock Rye bread with Russian dressing. If you can't find Russian dressing, you can make it from this recipe here (or substitute Thousand Island).

Pile the thinly sliced corned beef high, followed by a good amount of sauerkraut. The sauerkraut makes the Reuben, but if you really don't like it you can still have a great sandwich. It just won't be a true Reuben.

Finally, add a slice of Swiss cheese and top it all with the other slice of bread. Butter the outside of the bread and grill in a skillet or panini press (or leave it as is). Serve with a dill pickle spear.

What are you waiting for? Break out that leftover corned beef, bake a loaf (or two) of gluten free mock rye bread, and make a Reuben!!

3 cups plus 3 tbsp (453 g) Kim's gluten free bread flour blend***
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp (29 g) granulated sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp rapid rise yeast
2¼ cups milk
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp caraway powder (caraway seeds ground fine in coffee/spice grinder)
1 tbsp caraway seeds, if desired
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

THE REUBEN SANDWICH

2 slices gluten free mock rye bread
1-2 tsp Russian dressing
shaved or thinly sliced corned beef
1 slice Swiss cheese
1-2 tbsp sauerkraut
softened butter for spreading on bread slices

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the bread flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and spices/seeds. Using the dough hook, turn the mixer on low and slowly pour in the milk and melted butter. Increase speed to medium high and knead for 5 minutes.
Remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free area to proof (rise) for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight (the longer the dough is chilled, the easier it is to work with). Dough can be left in the refrigerator for up to one week.
On baking day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and dump onto a heavily flour surface. Knead gently until somewhat smooth. The dough is very sticky and loose, so use a bench scraper to help. Cut it in half with the bench scraper if you want to make two smaller loaves. You can also place half of the dough back in the fridge to bake fresh bread on another day.
Shape the dough into a torpedo shape and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet or pizza peel (paddle). Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free area to rise. It won't rise to double in size, just noticeably larger and puffy.
While the dough is rising, place a baking steel or baking stone on the middle rack of your oven and a shallow pan on the bottom rack. Preheat the oven to 450°.
When dough has fully risen, use the pizza peel (paddle) or the baking sheet and slide the dough onto the baking steel (or stone), parchment and all. Immediately pour one cup of very hot tap water into the shallow pan and close oven door. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped and is nicely risen. For a larger loaf (using all of the dough) add 5-10 minutes to the baking time. If the top is getting too dark before bread is done baking, cover lightly with aluminum foil.
Remove the bread from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

TO MAKE THE REUBEN:

Spread two pieces of gluten free mock rye bread with Russian dressing (or Thousand Island). Top one slice with corned beef followed by sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Place other piece of bread on top and spread with softened butter.
Place buttered-sided down in skillet over medium-low heat. Spread other slice of bread with softened butter. Griddle sandwich until browned on one side and then flip over to brown the other side and allow cheese to melt slightly.
Remove from skillet and serve immediately.

To freeze, slice bread and place slices on parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Flash freeze until each slice is solid. Wrap slices in plastic wrap and place in large ziptop bag and freeze for 2-3 months. Remove individual slices and wrap in plastic wrap or place in small baggie to thaw. Frozen bread may be toasted from frozen, however.

***DISCLAIMER: The reason I created my own flour blends is because I could not obtain the results I wanted with flour blends that were available in stores, online, or from other gluten free bloggers. My recipes have been developed to be used with my own bread flour blend that I created after painstakingly testing for, in some cases, YEARS to develop what I believe to be a superior gluten free bread like no other. If you do not use my gluten free bread flour blend for this recipe, I cannot speak for the results you will obtain. While store bought blends may give you a satisfactory result, they may NOT give you the results intended in my recipe.

Gluten Free Mock Rye Bread was originally posted on July 30, 2019 and has been updated with new pictures and a slightly revised recipe.