Molasses / dark treacle
Molasses is the syrup separated as sugar crystallises from cane or beet; its grades and food uses vary, from Anadama and steamed brown bread to fermentation.
Rúgbrauð (Icelandic rye bread)
Rúgbrauð · Icelandic rye bread · Hverabrauð (geothermal form)
A dense, gently sweet Icelandic rye loaf leavened with baking powder and baking soda, mixed with buttermilk, honey and molasses, then baked under a lid in a Pullman pan.
A modern home formula for Icelandic rye bread
Rúgbrauð is a dense Icelandic rye-bread family. This recipe follows the King Arthur Test Kitchen's home formula: medium rye flour, cultured buttermilk, honey and molasses, leavened with baking powder and baking soda. It uses no yeast proof. The batter goes into a lidded Pullman pan for a long, covered oven bake.
The Test Kitchen calls this formula a contemporary adjustment to a bread traditionally baked low and slow overnight. It also notes golden syrup as a sweetener used in Iceland; this version pairs honey with molasses. The recipe below describes that specific measured adaptation and does not claim that all rúgbrauð uses these ingredients or an oven pan.
Sources for this section
Mix, cover and bake
Whisk the dry ingredients separately from the buttermilk, honey and molasses, then stir the two mixtures together. The source gives no kneading or rise. A lightly greased 9-inch Pullman pan with a greased lid holds the batter while it bakes at 325°F (about 163°C) for two hours; the loaf stays in the switched-off oven for another 15 minutes after the lid comes off.
Cool the loaf completely before cutting thin slices. King Arthur suggests butter, smoked fish, pickled herring and cheese as accompaniments, and says to wrap leftovers at room temperature for several days or freeze them for longer storage. The recipe's measured batch yields one loaf; the source gives no general rule for scaling it or changing pan sizes.
Sources for this section
Rye bread in Iceland
A University of Iceland historical answer says rye bread was probably baked in Iceland by the late Middle Ages, while stressing that its first appearance is hard to date. Rye was imported; its author cites late-15th-century records that probably include rye flour. The author also cautions that the earliest known written uses of rúgbrauð do not necessarily name the dense rye bread readers expect today.
The article points to an 1891 cookbook containing a rye-bread recipe. That is a dated recipe record, not proof that one formula has remained unchanged since medieval times. A local north-Iceland account describes geothermal bread baking as a response to limited fuel and ovens and says the practice continues in the Mývatn region.
Raw flour and baked bread
The batter contains raw flour, which can carry harmful bacteria. Do not taste it before baking. Wash hands, bowls and utensils after mixing, and bake the loaf through the recipe's stated bake. The published formula gives no validated internal-temperature endpoint, so this page does not add one.
Sources for this section
History
Rúgbrauð is an Icelandic rye-bread family, but historical dating is difficult. A University of Iceland scholarly answer says rye bread was probably baked in Iceland by the late Middle Ages, while noting the term's early written uses do not always mean rye bread as understood today. The King Arthur Test Kitchen formula recorded here is a modern home adaptation with chemical leaveners and a covered-pan bake, not an unchanged historical formula.
Ingredients
Yield 1 9-inch loaf · Scaling: source batch only
477 g
4½ cups9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
3.7 mL¾ tsp as recorded
Cultured buttermilk
454 g
2 cups168 g
½ cup170 g
½ cupMethod
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Pathogens in raw flour
Flour is a raw agricultural product and may carry harmful bacteria; uncooked batter should not be tasted.
Hazard sourceBake the batter using the published time and oven setting; do not eat it raw, and wash hands, bowls and utensils after handling the flour and batter.
Control sourceDo not taste the uncooked batter; the recipe contains raw flour.
- Heat the oven to 325°F (about 163°C), with a rack in the centre.
- Whisk the rye flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, honey and molasses.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- Transfer the batter to a lightly greased 9-inch Pullman pan. Smooth the top, lightly grease the lid, and cover the pan.
- Bake for 2 hours. Turn off the oven, remove the pan lid and leave the loaf in the switched-off oven for 15 minutes.
- Turn the loaf onto a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing it thinly.
Conditions
Yield1 9-inch loaf
Active time10 min
Temperature163°C
Places
Iceland
Traditional preparation · Country evidenceThe Test Kitchen identifies this as Icelandic bread; the recipe here is its contemporary home adaptation and does not claim to reproduce one historic household method.
Mývatn
Traditional preparation · Region evidenceVisit North Iceland says rye bread is still baked with geothermal heat in the Mývatn region. This describes a regional geothermal form, not the covered-pan oven method in this recipe.
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Sources
King Arthur Baking Test KitchenInspiration · Method · Food use · History
Icelandic Rye Bread (Rúgbrauð)Ingredient weights, one 9-inch loaf yield, 325°F oven setting, covered Pullman-pan bake for 2 hours, 15 minutes in the switched-off oven, full cooling, serving and storage notes.
The page distinguishes this contemporary chemical-leavened home formula from traditional low-and-slow overnight baking and notes golden syrup as an Icelandic sweetener of choice.
Cited in: A modern home formula for Icelandic rye bread; Mix, cover and bake
Vísindavefurinn, University of IcelandHistory · Geography
Hvenær var byrjað að baka rúgbrauð á Íslandi? (When did people begin baking rye bread in Iceland?)The author says rye bread was probably first baked in Iceland in the late Middle Ages but that it is difficult to date; references to rye flour imports and early written uses of the term rúgbrauð do not always identify modern rye bread.
The article points to a bread recipe in an 1891 cookbook, while distinguishing that later document from a proven origin date.
Cited in: Rye bread in Iceland
Visit North IcelandHistory · Geography · Food use
Bread and sweetsIceland used imported rye and had limited fuel and ovens; geothermal heat has been used to bake bread and is still used in the Mývatn region.
Cited in: Rye bread in Iceland
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSafety
Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to KnowRaw flour can carry harmful bacteria; bake before eating, do not taste raw dough or batter, and clean hands, utensils and surfaces after handling flour.
Cited in: Raw flour and baked bread