Tag Team Bread Success!

I've been working on this "internet tag team bread project" with The Kitchen Madonna for several days now. We'd both been in search of a good pumpernickel recipe.

My last year of high school, I worked at a bakery which seriously spoiled me and my dad. We both love bread. I got to take home $3 worth of baked goods each workday, and a loaf of rye was only 90 cents! And Dennis The Baker made a wicked raisin pumpernickel. Dad hasn't been able to find anything like it since the bakery closed.

When The Kitchen Madonna mentioned that she was looking for a good onion pumpernickel recipe, I had to get in on the pumpernickel action. Maybe, I figured, if I could get my hands on a good basic pumpernickel recipe, I could add some raisins and let Dad tell me if I got it right.

We decided to work on a Serbian Pumpernickel recipe. It looked pretty easy and the ingredients were easy to find. And it only took me 5 days to get ALL the ingredients into my house.

This made A LOT of bread. I put it in regular loaf pans instead of doing a "free form round" loaf, and wound up with 3 loaves. Won't my neighbors be happy?

Discussing the aftermath of the mixing and kneading with the Kitchen Madonna, I discovered that we'd both made the same mistake in reading the recipe!

I just taste-tested this bread, which smells delicious and tastes even better! No butter needed for mine. This bread is great all on its own. It's a little sweet, thanks to the molasses, and more than a little caraway-tangy.

Future Pumpernickel Tweaks on my end (because I just can't leave a recipe alone):
I want to add some Caramel Color* to the bread. I like my pumpernickel to look darker than this.
I want to reduce the recipe, ultimately to "one loaf at a time." Even two at a time would be better.
Any idea on when I should add in the raisins? And when should The Kitchen Madonna put in the onions? (I'm thinking that raisins can come in after the first rise, but onions should go in right at the start.)

*I purchase Caramel Color at a local Asian supermarket. I can't tell you the brand, or the ingredients, because other than the word "CARAMEL" on the label, nothing's in English.