Sauerkraut bread is dense and soft. The recipe contains rye flour and molasses. Those ingredients are key in making bread that's delicious and a little chewy.
Note that this recipe is for a two-pound bread machine. Use the basic cycle with the medium crust setting.
The first step with this recipe is to rinse and drain the sauerkraut. I used a slotted spoon to take the sauerkraut out of the jar. Then I drained it in a colander. I left that to drain while I started gathering the rest of the ingredients.
I added the sauerkraut to the bread pan after adding the water and molasses. Before I added the sauerkraut, I pressed it with the slotted spoon to drain out even more water.
If you'd like, you can also chop the sauerkraut before adding it to the bread pan.
Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first. With my machine, a Zojirushi Virtuoso Breadmaker, I add the liquids first.
Check on the dough after five or ten minutes of kneading. To check on the dough, pop the top of the bread machine and take a look. You should be a smooth, round ball of dough.
If the dough is too dry add liquid a teaspoon at a time until it looks right. If it looks too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks good.
Checking the dough is especially important with this recipe because of the sauerkraut. The residual liquid in the sauerkraut may cause the recipe to need more flour. In my case, I added an extra tablespoon of flour.
Notes
This is a recipe for a two-pound machine. Use the sweet or basic cycle with the medium or light crust.Not a fan of sauerkraut? Then you'll like this recipe! I did not notice a sauerkraut taste in the bread.This recipe was developed and tested using US customary measurements. Metric measurements are calculated automatically.