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Create a gorgeous homemade sourdough marble rye bread to take to your next family dinner or to simply use as fabulous sandwich bread. The best part about this marble rye bread is that it’s made with sourdough starter to increase health and form that delicious sourdough crust. Don’t be fooled into thinking this recipe is too hard for you – it’s really a super easy bread recipe that creates a stunning finished loaf.

The first thing to know about rye flour is that is has less gluten than wheat, so your bread dough will be a little wet. Don’t let this trouble you and resist the urge to add more flour!

We’ve included tips on dealing with the wet dough, as well as general sourdough bread baking information in the body of the recipe.
We also have an extensive notes section after the recipe that should provide all the information you need to make this delicious marble rye bread today!

To keep track of your sourdough recipes, as well as ferment times and baking details, please join our newsletter family and receive our super simple Sourdough Worksheets!

Homemade Sourdough Marble Rye Bread

If you’re new to sourdough bread baking, or even new to using rye flour, the following are some answers to common questions about marble rye bread.

What’s the Difference Between Rye Bread and Marble Rye Bread?

Rye bread is loaf bread made primarily with rye flour, either whole grain or all-purpose (with the bran removed). Finished rye bread can also include other grain flours like wheat; again, either whole grain or all-purpose.

Rye grain is thought to have originated in Asia but didn’t really make a name for itself until it was popularly cultivated in Medieval Europe. It was a common peasant grain since it grows more easily in cold, wet climates than other cereal grains.

The most popular uses for rye have remained constant for hundreds of years – bread and beer!

Rye has a naturally dark color, and the more bran in the flour, the darker it will be. The bran is the outer casing of the grain and is much darker than the soft, white inside part. This is true of all cereal grains like wheat, not just rye.

Many traditional rye breads, like Danish Rugbrod, call for the darker whole grain flour to be used. They also include additions like cocoa powder and molasses to make the finished loaf even darker.

Marble rye bread combines the stark dark of a traditional rye loaf with the stark white of a traditional sourdough loaf.

You make two separate doughs and combine them together to create a swirled effect. The process of flattening out each dough and pressing them together is called laminating, and it bakes up remarkably gorgeous!

Is Sourdough or Marble Rye Healthier?

Both sourdough and marble rye breads are healthier when compared to commercial sandwich bread.

Sourdough is a culture of beneficial bacteria and yeasts that basically pre-digest much of the grain contained in the recipe. This means that the sugar-spiking carbohydrates and phytic acids naturally present in the flour are less likely to cause stomach upset in many people.

To learn more about how sourdough works, please visit other sourdough recipes here at Homestead Lady:

Healthy Bread & Natural Leavening

Yeast Free Bread: Sourdough Spelt

Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread

To ensure your bread is even healthier, I encourage you to look for USDA organic certified flours, especially white flour. Organic white flour is the only white flour sold in the U.S. that isn’t mandated to be enriched. It will also not be bleached.

Rye flour has a lower gluten content than wheat flour, which can mean that it’s easier for gluten-sensitive people to eat. It’s also been shown to induce a lower insulin response that other flours.

FYI, any whole grain flour will perform this way in some measure when compared to all-purpose (or bran-less) flours.

Does Rye Flour Make Sourdough More Sour?

Rye flour doesn’t necessarily make the finished bread more sour because rye flour is slightly sweet. The combination of that bit of sweet with the tang of sourdough is a fantastic combination.

The longer any sourdough bread sits on the counter, the more it will culture and become more “sour”.

Homemade Sourdough Marble Rye Bread Recipe

Homemade sourdough marble rye bread recipe made with whole grain rye, organic flour, & sourdough to increase health & create a great crust!

sourdough marble rye loaf in a bowl cut in half

Homemade Sourdough Marble Rye Bread Recipe

Homestead Lady Tessa Zundel

Homemade sourdough marble rye bread recipe made with whole grain rye, organic flour, & sourdough to increase health & create a great crust!

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Ferment Time 6

Course Bread

Cuisine Homemade Breads

Servings Loaves

Equipment

2 Large Bowls with Lids Or other coverings like beeswax wrap or plastic wrap.
1 Thermometer Not necessary, but comes in handy.

Ingredients

Sourdough White Dough

3 Cups Organic white flour
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1 1/2 Cups Unchlorinated Water
1/2 Cup Active Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Dark Rye Dough

2 Cups Cups Organic White Flour
1 1/2 Cups Whole Grain Rye Flour May also use all-purpose rye flour.
2 tsp. Sea Salt
1 Tbsp. Fair Trade Cocoa Powder, Optional
1 Tbsp. Powdered Dandy Blend, Optional May also use instant coffee.
1 1/2 Cups Unchlorinated Water
3/4 Cups Active Sourdough Starter
2 Tbsp. Molasses

Instructions

Mix Sourdough White Dough

Combine 3 cups of white flour and 1 tsp. of Sea Salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
Combine 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of active sourdough starter in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and use your hands or a sturdy wooden spoon to mix the dough until just incorporated. Clear the sides and bottom of the bowl of flour.
Cover and set aside to ferment for 6 hours.*

Mix Sourdough Dark Rye Dough

Combine the 2 cups white flour, 1 1/2 cups whole grain rye flour, 2 tsps. of sea salt, 1 Tbsp. of cocoa powder, and 1 Tbsp. of Dandy Blend (or instant coffee powder), if using, in a large bowl. Mix.
Combine the 1 1/2 cups of water, 3/4 cups of active starter, 2 Tbsp. of molasses in a small bowl until incorporated.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and use your hands or a sturdy wooden spoon to mix until just combined. This dough will be wet and sticky, but do not add more flour.
Cover and set aside to ferment for 6 hours.*

Create the Marble Rye Dough

Once both sets of dough have fermented for at least 6 hours, it's time to form the doughs into 2 marbled bread loaves. This recipe will also make one larger loaf that will fit into a roughly 9" - 10" round pan.
Uncover the sourdough white loaf bowl and empty the dough onto a clean, flat surface that has been oiled or patted down with water to prevent the dough from sticking.
Flatten the white dough into a rectangle, or split the dough in half to press out two rectangles.
Repeat these steps with the dark rye dough.
The following process is the same whether you have two rectangles of dough or four. Layer the dark rye on top of the white dough and slightly press the layers together. Be gentle.
This will result in the white dough being baked up on top. You may also reverse this, if you want the dark rye to end up on top of the finished bread.
If you have four rectangles of dough, continue stacking until all the dough has been piled together. Gently press each layer. Gently.
Starting from the longest edge of the rectangle, carefully begin to roll up the dough into one, long log. Tease the dough off the surface of the counter carefully, if it wants to stick. Wet or oil your hands if necessary. You may also use a pastry scraper to scrape the backside of the dough as your roll.
Stopping about halfway through rolling, fold the corner edges of the dough into the center to tuck them in. Finish rolling to the end and smooth the dough to flatten the seam.
Use a sharp knife or a pastry cutter to cut the dough in half, if baking in sandwich pans. Place one dough log in each pan and cover to rise.
If using loaf pans, grease two more loaf pans on the inside and invert them over the rising dough. This will keep the dough damp and warm as it rises. It will also keep out bugs and debris. Allow the dough to rise until roughly doubled in height. This can take 1-2 hours, or more. Be patient; rye flour is less inclined to rise quickly than wheat flour.
Allow the dough to rise until roughly doubled in height. This can take 1-2 hours, or more. Be patient; rye flour is less inclined to rise quickly than wheat flour.
Remove the inverted bread pans to cut slashes in the top of your dough. I use scissors, but you may also use a razor blade. Return the inverted pans over the bread dough.
Place in a cold oven and set it to 425F/218C. Bake for 35 minutes covered.
Remove the inverted bread pans and reduce the temperature to 400F/204C. Place a piece of foil over the baking bread if the crust begins to brown to quickly. A sourdough bread loaf is fully baked once it reaches between 200F - 205F (93C - 96C).
Remove from the oven and turn out onto a baker's rack to fully cool. This can take upwards of 24 hours. If you cut into the bread while still hot, you may flatten the loaf and turn the crumb a bit gummy.

Notes

You may use all-purpose rye flour instead of whole grain rye flour for a more turgid dough. Be advised, the finished bread will be a bit lighter than if you used whole grain rye flour.

You may substitute in some whole wheat flour for white flour in either dough, but this will alter the texture of the dough. I would suggest you make the recipe as it's written first, and then experiment as much as you like!

This recipe can be made as a traditionally kneaded bread, or one that is merely stretched and folded.

If you don't have a lot of time, I advise you knead your bread doughs after they have been mixed. Do this for about 8 minutes by electric mixer, or 10 minutes by hand.
If you will be home and have the time, after an hour of fermentation time, stretch and fold both doughs. Do this again in another hour. Then, leave the doughs to rest for the rest of their fermentation time.

To stretch and fold your dough:

Mix the ingredients as described above, cover the dough in the bowl, and allow it to sit for an hour.
Then, remove the cover and wet your dominant hand.
Use your dry hand to steady and turn the bowl as you use your wet hand to gather one side of the dough and pull it up, stretching it vertically.
Fold this side over the rest of the body of the dough. Turn the bowl a bit to the right.
Repeat the stretching and folding process until each side has been stretched and folded once or twice. Once will be sufficient for white flour dough. A full two circuits would be better for the rye dough.
Cover the dough and allow it to sit for a half hour to an hour. Repeat the stretching and folding process 1-2 more times.

Stretching and folding gently develops the gluten bonds that will give your bread great structure and rise. This is especially important for the rye bread dough because rye flour has much less gluten than wheat flour.

See the body of the post for an extended explanation of kneading vs. stretching and folding your dough.

Sourdough both ferments and rises best at a temperature somewhere between 65F - 70F (18C - 21C). Much colder and the processes go much slower. If it's much hotter, the processes can go too fast, resulting in over-proofing.

Over-proofing is where the culturing or rising processes simply go on too long. The sourdough consumes all the available carbs and the structure of the dough collapses, turning into a soggy mess.

Under-proofing, however, will result in a finished dough that is too dense, with not enough rise. Don't despair - learning the perfect proof time just takes practice, if you're new to sourdough baking!

If you're not using bread pans, you can use a light oven-safe cook pot with a lid. I like enamel cookware for this.

Some people enjoy baking sourdough in cast iron Dutch Ovens but I find them a bit cumbersome. You can achieve the same sourdough crust with enamel cookware, if you prefer not to use heavy cast iron.

If you don't have a food thermometer, tap the top of your loaves to see if they're sufficiently baked. They should sound hollow.

Allow the bread to cool all the way, which can take 12-24 hours. This ensures that more water will evaporate out of the loaf, which prevents a gummy crumb (inside of the bread).

Keyword sourdough bread, sourdough recipe

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Sourdough Marble Rye Bread Notes & Tips

You may use all-purpose rye flour instead of whole grain rye flour for a more turgid dough. Be advised, the finished bread will be a bit lighter than if you used whole grain rye flour.

You may substitute in some whole wheat flour for white flour in either dough, but this will alter the texture of the dough. I would suggest you make the recipe as it’s written first, and then experiment as much as you like!

Fermenting & Proofing

Sourdough both ferments and rises best at a temperature somewhere between 65F – 75F (18C – 24C). Much colder and the processes go much slower. If it’s much hotter, the processes can go too fast, resulting in over-proofing.

Over-proofing is where the culturing or rising processes simply go on too long. The sourdough consumes all the available carbs and the structure of the dough collapses, turning into a soggy mess.
Under-proofing, however, will result in a finished dough that is too dense, with not enough rise. Don’t despair – this just takes practice, if you’re new to sourdough baking!

Pans & Such

If you’re not using bread pans, you can use a light oven-safe cook pot with a lid. I like enamel cookware for this.

Some people enjoy baking sourdough in cast iron Dutch Ovens but I find them a bit cumbersome. You can achieve the same sourdough crust with enamel cookware, if you prefer not to use heavy cast iron.

If you don’t have a food thermometer, tap the top of your loaves to see if they’re sufficiently baked. They should sound hollow.

Allowing your bread to cool all the way ensures that more water will evaporate out of the loaf to prevent a gummy crumb.

Knead or Stretch & Fold?

This recipe can be made as a traditionally kneaded bread, or one that is merely stretched and folded.

If you decide to knead your sourdough, including for this marble rye bread, you’ll do that after you’ve mixed up the ingredients but before you set it to ferment.

Another word for ferment is culture. You will see both phrases as you continue to bake sourdough breads.

You will also probably see a good case to be made for kneading sourdough by some authors. Kneaded sourdough bread will have a nice, firm crumb (the inside of the bread). It will have a sturdy crust and general structure that is great for toast and sandwiches.

Which to Choose?

If you don’t have a lot of time, I advise you knead your bread doughs after they have been mixed. Do this for about 8 minutes by electric mixer, or 10 minutes by hand.

If you will be home and have the time, after an hour of fermentation time, stretch and fold both doughs. Do this again in another hour.

Then, leave the doughs to rest for the rest of their fermentation time.

To Stretch and Fold Your Dough:

Mix the ingredients as described above, cover the dough in the bowl, and allow it to sit for an hour.
Then, remove the cover and wet your dominant hand.
Use your dry hand to steady and turn the bowl as you use your wet hand to gather one side of the dough and pull it up, stretching it vertically.
Fold this side over the rest of the body of the dough. Turn the bowl a bit to the right.
Repeat the stretching and folding process until each side has been stretched and folded once or twice. Once will be sufficient for white flour dough. A full two circuits would be better for the rye dough.
Cover the dough and allow it to sit for a half hour to an hour. Repeat the stretching and folding process 1-2 more times.

Stretching and folding gently develops the gluten bonds that will give your bread great structure and rise. This is especially important for the rye bread dough because rye flour has much less gluten than wheat flour.

Stretching and folding the dough will create a more artisan type texture with lots of holes in the crumb and a crunchy crust.

For which method do you have time today and which one produces the results you like? Experiment and find out!

If you don’t have time to bake your loaf today, get it to the shaping stage, place it in the pan, cover it, and put it in the fridge. You can bake it up to a week later, though I recommend baking it within the next 36 hours.

More instructions on kneading, stretching and folding, and rise times can be found in the following article:

Easy Sourdough Bread

To Layer the Marble Rye Bread

For those who do better with a few pictures, here’s a visual explanation of how to roll out, stack, and roll up the dough to become marble rye bread.

Empty each dough onto a clean, flat surface that has been oiled or patted down with water to prevent the dough from sticking.
Flatten the dough into a rectangle, or split the dough in half to press out two rectangles.
Repeat these steps with the dark rye dough.
Layer the dark rye on top of the white dough and slightly press the layers together. Be gentle.
This will result in the white dough being baked up on top. You may also reverse this, if you want the dark rye to end up on top of the finished bread.
If you have four rectangles of dough, continue stacking until all the dough has been piled together. Gently press each layer. Gently.
Starting from the longest edge of the rectangle, carefully begin to roll up the dough into one, long log. Tease the dough off the surface of the counter carefully, if it wants to stick. Wet or oil your hands if necessary. You may also use a pastry scraper to scrape the backside of the dough as your roll.
Stopping about halfway through rolling, fold the corner edges of the dough into the center to tuck them in. Finish rolling to the end and smooth the dough to flatten the seam.

To Shape the Marble Rye Bread

If you’re baking in bread pans, split the log in two and place one in each bread pan. If you’re making a round loaf, which is pictured here, simply coil up your dough log or gently round it to form a ball.