Rockin' Rye Bread

An overhead shot of an Onion Rye loaf cut in half with half laying on its end to expose the crumb.

It's no secret we love rye around here! In this hands-on class, we'll teach you to make three varieties of rye bread that Zingerman’s Bakehouse is famous for: our Onion Rye and Pumpernickel, as well as Vorterkaker, a Norwegian 100% rye. Each bread has its own unique personality that you’re sure to love. Our Onion Rye is brimming with flavor thanks to fresh, caramelized onions and lots of poppy seeds baked inside and on top. Our old-world-style Pumpernickel bread is dark, moist, and also full of flavor. Both these ryes are made with the same detailed process and organic rye sour as its cousin, our famous Jewish Rye bread. And Vorterkaker? You’ve never baked a bread like this before. It’s a traditional rye baked into a flat disc and flavored with fennel and anise seeds.

All of the rockin’ rye varieties we’ll make in class are moist and full of flavor, thanks in no small part to our organic rye sour starter. We also use what we call “old” in our recipe. It’s simply rye bread from a previous day mixed with water to make a mush. It adds to the texture of the bread and spiritually connects today to yesterday, recognizing the circularity of our lives. We use more rye flour and less yeast than other bakeries, bake our loaves on a stone hearth, and mist the crust with water right out of the oven. That quick steam makes the thin crust shiny and crispy

No matter which rye bread you like best, your sandwiches will be sending you thank-you notes!

You'll leave the BAKE! class with our recipes, the knowledge to recreate them at home, and all the rye breads you made in class.

In-Person: We'll end class with a rye bread tasting and you'll also go home with some great coupons.

Virtual (2-day): On Day 1, we'll meet for an hour to mix our rye sour, before fermenting it overnight, and answer any questions you may have. On Day 2 we'll mix our doughs and then shape, proof, and bake all 3 rye breads.

Additional Products

Basic Bread Baking Kit

$60.00

Our Basic Bread Baking Kit is great for bakers who are just starting to experiment with bread baking. It comes with 5 tools that will help you get started on your bread baking adventure: a bowl scraper, a bench knife, a lame with three razor blades (for scoring bread), an oven thermometer, and a digital thermometer. The price includes ground shipping. For more in-depth equipment descriptions please go to our FAQ page or send an email to [email protected]



Our classes (except for family classes & kids camps) are for adults 17 & up.

Dates for the Class Class Format Price Class Status Register
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 - 1:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
In-Person $135.00 3 spots left
Thursday, May 23, 2024 - 1:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
In-Person $135.00 7 spots left
Thursday, August 15, 2024 - 1:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
In-Person $135.00 12 spots left