Schuettelbrot is a bread born of mountain life—simple, sturdy, and deeply rooted in place.

Baked with robust rye flour and aromatic seeds, Schuettelbrot offers more than sustenance; it carries the wisdom of generations who understood the rhythms of land, season, and community.

Each loaf connects us to the enduring relationship between people and grain, inviting us to pause, work with our hands, and honor the simple abundance of regional ingredients.

In preparing this bread, you participate in a living tradition—one that celebrates patience, resilience, and the quiet nourishment that comes from food shaped by culture, memory, and care.

Schuettelbrot Ingredients

1 teaspoon dry yeast
2 cups water
3 cups rye flour
1 cup whole-wheat bread flour, plus a bit for sprinkling hands and work surfaces 1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

Instructions

1. Mix the yeast into ½ cup of the water, stirring to dissolve it. Add 1 cup of the rye flour. Mix until a thick batter forms.
   
   Tip: Find out where your rye berries came from and who ground them into the flour that will make your bread.

2. Cover the batter to keep it from drying out, then leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes.
   
   Tip: Step outside and breathe today’s air. There is a lightness to waiting. Perhaps through the clouds you will glimpse the ancestor whose breadbaking lives in your deep memories.

3. Mix the batter with the remaining 1½ cups of water, the remaining 2 cups of rye flour, and the whole-wheat flour, salt, and seeds. Cover the dough and allow it to rise until doubled, at least 2 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. If you have a bread stone, use it. You can place it on a baking rack in the oven to preheat. If not, bake on a baking sheet.

5. Divide the dough into two portions. Place them on a well-floured workbench. Flour your hands before handling the dough so that it doesn’t stick to you. Coat the dough pieces with flour, then let them rest while the oven heats.

6. Sprinkle a wooden cutting board (or a baking sheet, if you don’t have a board) with flour. Transfer the dough pieces to the board. Shake the board in a circular fashion to make the dough relax and go flat.

7. Let the dough pieces rest for 10 minutes.

8. The loaves will look like circles of dough dotted with healing seeds. Bake them for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size.

9. Once they’re done baking, let the loaves cool. Store in a dry place.
   
   Tip: We wrap our Schuettelbrot in brown paper and keep them in the pantry for up to 2 weeks.

________________________________

Well Being Journal adapted this excerpt from The Culinary Pharmacy: Intuitive Eating, Ancestral Healing, and Food Sovereignty by Lisa Masé. Copyright © 2023 by Lisa Masé, reprinted with permission from Healing Arts Press, a division of Inner Traditions International.