Dilly Cottage Cheese Bread, Gluten-Free

Hi! I’m back! I hope this post finds you and yours well and enjoying the holiday season. Life just kind of took over after the publication of my second book (Gluten-Free Wish List: Sweet and Savory Treats You’ve Missed the Most) and I stopped blogging for a few years. My daughter (Girlfriend) somehow grew up and is now in college (I know!). And I had a bunch of health issues and family issues that took up my time.

I am now feeling like things are smoothing out and I have some new projects that I hope to be able to share in the next few months. While I’m working on those, I thought I’d share a new recipe with you!

A couple of months ago, one of my readers, Glenda, asked if I would adapt her family’s favorite Dilly Bread to gluten-free. It sounded intriguing, so I said I would.

I did some research and it turns out that it is an 1960 Pillsbury Bake-Off contest winner. The original name is “Dilly Casserole Bread,” because the recipe called for it to be baked in a round casserole dish. As you know, I adore these old recipes that become family favorites. And it was fun to do the recipe testing for this bread—D’Ahub always loves when I am in recipe-testing mode because he gets to eat the test results.

This recipe creates a full-flavored yeasted loaf that is terrific as a side for soup or salad, as well as on its own toasted with a bit of butter (this is how I eat it). I imagine that it would be great as a sandwich bread as well—I can see it doing well with a turkey and cheese sandwich!

A few notes on what I did:

The original recipe calls for it to be baked in a round casserole dish. I don’t have a casserole dish that fits the parameters of this recipe, so I adapted it to fit into a 1 pound loaf pan (454 g) which is 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75 inch (21.59 x 11.43 x 6.99 cm). As a side note, I highly recommend using this size pan for many of your gluten-free loaf bread needs. I will do a post on loaf pans at some point to explain my experiences and my current recommendations.

I found that each different container of cottage cheese I got for testing had varying amounts of whey (liquid) around the curds. This affected the recipe results, so I found it important to drain off most of the whey before measuring the cottage cheese so that it isn’t soupy. It doesn’t have to be bone dry, just not really soupy.

Also, dill seed has a different and more intense flavor profile than dill weed—be sure you use dill seed rather than dill weed. And don’t be put off by how fragrant the dill seed is when you measure it. I found it to be a bit overwhelming while measuring, but it mellows once baked into the bread and gives it a delightful flavor. Also, note that recipe calls for minced dried onion—not onion powder.

Finally, as with the bread recipes in my cookbooks, I highly recommend getting an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature inside your breads. Most gluten-free bread should read 205 degrees F (96 degrees C) or higher inside when done.

If you want to use different ingredients or equipment:

I tested the recipe with the ingredients and equipment included in the recipe.  If you want/need to use different ingredients or a different pan, please be aware that your results will vary (and I can’t really predict how each difference will affect the recipe). As always, if you want to change things–go ahead and experiment and see how it goes (and let me know if you get a chance)! Finally, if you make substitutions, please use volume measurements—contrary to what some others say, my and my recipe testers’ experience has shown that using weight to measure for substitute ingredients doesn’t work well.

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