Make Your Own German Bread

This bread's flavor is enhanced by the addition of a 1/4 cup sourdough culture, but has baker's yeast for the rise. This German "Bauernbrot" or Farmer's Bread is a half day project and tastes quite similar to the bread I used to buy in the bakery in Germany. To get the hard crust, use steam in the oven.

This bread is surprisingly easy to bake at home. It is 100% rye flour and rye berries with some sunflower seeds. Fermented with sourdough, it is a real, "Vollkornbrot" bread. Loved in northern Europe, especially Germany and Scandinavia, learning how to bake this bread is well worth it for some people.

Pumpernickel-flavored Bread

If you are looking for a dense, whole grain loaf, this one is about the closest it comes to tasting like a German bakery bread. Based on Peter Reinhart's "Whole Grain Bread" book , it uses 100% whole grains, pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds for a dense, moist loaf.

See also Seeded Sourdough in Bread Pan.

This "Weizenmischbrot" is 45% rye flour and 55% white flour with an overnight sponge and sourdough starter. A strong aroma and pleasant sour taste make this bread traditional. Make it into rolls or a loaf, whichever you prefer.

More rye recipes:

• Whole Grain Rye with overnight sponge
• Rye Bread, no Sourdough

Although this is not a "German" bread, it is found all over in Germany, in Turkish run stores and kiosks. Fladenbrot is flat, covered with nigella seeds and it has a certain taste not found elsewhere. It can be round or elongated, and is simple to make. This bread is related to the Italian ciabatta. This recipe calls for an overnight sponge.

Eat it with Tsatsiki.

Other White Bread from Germany

• Toastbrot
• Potato Bread

Brezeln or Pretzels, you can only get them in Germany, or so you would think. The dough is easy to make and the only funny step is the lye bath, using food grade lye. Whatever anyone says, you cannot get the same taste without it.

This bread is a 20% rye "Mischbrot," or mixed-flour, sourdough bread, very common in southern Germany. Chewy, but light in flavor, it has all the characteristics of typical, German Brot.

Try these other sourdoughs too:

• Rye Bread with Onion and Caraway
• 80% Rye and Hochzeitsbrot Made with Detmolder 3-Step Process
• Landbrot

Take a look at these sweet breads, some with whole wheat and some with white flours. Fillings are very common in German Sweet Breads, and most are flavored with vanilla and lemon zest.

• Braided Sweet Bread
• Braided Sweet Bread with Whole Wheat
• Sweet, Giant Pretzel
• Mohnbrötchen - Poppy seed-filled pastry.
• Easy Danish Pastries.

For breakfast or brunch, there's no treat like a fresh German "Brötchen".

• Sunflower Seed Rolls are made with rye and white flours and a little sourdough.
• This "Brötchen", aka "Wecke" or "Semmel" is as to Germany as a croissant is to France.
• Bread Wreaths made from rolls are very popular for parties and other celebrations.
• Milchhörnchen, a soft breakfast roll.

If you are a 100% whole grain fanatic, you're in luck. I've tweaked this oatmeal bread recipe to be 100% whole wheat and oats. The whole grain version does best with an overnight rest in the refrigerator, while the regular version takes just three hours from start to finish. Try both and see which one you like!

Bread, it's not just for butter, anymore. Try these delicious spreads and you will be happy you did.

• Basil Tomato Cream Cheese Spread
• Apple, Onion and Walnut Spread
• Herbed Quark Cream
• Sweet Date Spread with Cocoa