50% Khorasan: A Slack Dough That Tightens Only in the Last Hour

Thirty percent whole egg by flour weight is enough to change a dough's behaviour completely: the fat in the yolk shortens the gluten, the water in the white adds hydration, and the result is a dough that feels firm but bakes into something that pulls apart in strands. The double egg wash is what makes them look like they came from a bakery.

The scald is the oldest trick in rye baking and still the most effective one. Pour boiling water over a third of the rye flour, let it cool, and the starch gelatinises. The loaf that follows is sweeter than the same recipe without a scald, keeps two days longer, and has a softer crumb despite being 60% rye — because gelatinised starch holds water that would otherwise be locked inside the bran.

Fifteen percent honey is about the limit before a sourdough stops fermenting properly. Honey is hygroscopic, mildly antibacterial, and mostly sugar, and at 20% the dough slows down enough that a same-day schedule stops working. At 15% you get a soft, amber-tinted sandwich loaf that tastes sweet without being cake.