Dilly Bread

(Mama here) We baked bread this afternoon. I had some meatloaf left over from dinner last night, and there really is nothing better than meatloaf sandwiches with this bread.


Dilly Bread

2 ½ c flour
2 T sugar
1 T instant minced onion
2 t dill seed
1¼ t salt
¼ t soda
1 package yeast (2 1/4 t)
1 cup cottage cheese
¼ c water
1 T butter
1 large egg

In a large mixing bowl, combine one cup of the flour and all the sugar, onion, dill seed, salt, soda and yeast.


My yeast was a little past its prime, so I "proofed" it. That's just another way of saying I checked to make sure the yeast was still alive and would help the dough rise. To proof yeast, you add a teaspoon to about a quarter of a cup of warm water (about 110 to 115°). Add a teaspoon or so of sugar and mix. Wait five or ten minutes. If the yeast is good, it will foam up and get puffy looking, like this:



In a saucepan, combine the cottage cheese, water and butter. Heat until the mixture is warm. (I use a thermometer to test it and try to get it around 115°.)


Add the egg and the warm liquid to the flour mixture.




Blend at your mixer's lowest speed until the ingredients are moistened. Scrape down the bowl, then beat 3 more minutes at medium speed.


Stir in remaining flour to form a stiff dough. (The recipe says to do this by hand, but I use the dough hook on my mixer. It works fine.) Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size. This will take about one hour.

(I like to put the dough in a container like an ice cream bucket or even this cream puff bucket, whatever I've got handy. The key is to use something with a nice lid.)


Stir down the dough and turn it into a well-greased 2-quart casserole. Cover the dish and let rise in warm place until light, 30 to 45 minutes. This shows you how the dough looked at the beginning. I wanted you to see how much the dough has to rise. See that little black line on the side of the dish? That's where the dough has to get before you bake it.


This is what the dough will look like when it's ready to bake. You can barely see my black line, but if you look closely you can tell how much higher the dough is in the pan.


Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. When you take it out of the oven, brush the top with butter and sprinkle with kosher salt on it.


Let the bread cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!