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I’ve always thought my dad was something special. Over the years he’s been equal parts serious and silly, cautious and adventurous, practical and musical. He’ll sternly remind you to buckle your seatbelt even on closed roads, cheer loudly at hockey games, speak in churches, tend volunteer ambulance duties, operate ham radios, and spend time in the outdoors—fishing, hiking, or felling trees when needed. He’s also a devoted grandfather who will dandle grandkids on his knee and pull campers across a lake on water skis.
With a list like that, it’s no surprise I’m a proud daddy’s girl.
One of his lesser-known talents is baking. He adapted a recipe from the Deaf Smith County Cookbook and turned it into something we all call Papa’s Dilly Bread. He improved the original in a few simple ways and the result is an easy, no-knead loaf that’s become a family staple.
The dough is mixed in one bowl with a sturdy spoon and left to rise in a warm spot—no kneading required. The original used honey as the sweetener, but Dad and I both prefer granulated sugar. It’s easier to measure and less expensive, and it works perfectly here.
Another change Dad made was to the onion. He uses minced dehydrated onion because it’s easy to add more to taste. I use it because the dough is quite slack and moist; the dried onion soaks up a bit of that moisture and makes the dough easier to handle.
When I asked him about flour he said he uses whatever he has on hand, but that all-whole-wheat flour didn’t rise as well for him. I like a compromise: about a 2:1 ratio of all-purpose flour to white whole wheat. That gives good rise while also lending the toasty flavor of whole wheat.
Once the dough is rising, you decide how to bake it. The recipe yields two standard loaves, but it can also be divided among ramekins or oven-safe bowls to make charming individual loaves. Once my oven failed while a double batch was rising, I discovered that ramekins produce adorable, perfectly baked mini-loaves. They’re small and hot and cry out for a pat of cold butter.
The small loaves are especially tempting straight from the oven. They almost bypass the usual “don’t cut when hot” rule because a tiny, warm loaf topped with melting butter is irresistible.
If you bake the dough in ramekins you can stretch the batch to fit what you have on hand, and leftover dough can be transformed into a delicious treat Dad calls The Baker’s Tax. He intentionally makes a bit more dough than he needs so there’s leftover: small walnut-sized pieces are rolled thin, fried in a generous amount of butter in a cast-iron skillet, and become golden, chewy rounds studded with cheese and onion.
Those fried rounds—The Baker’s Tax—are the reward for baking and guaranteed to draw anyone nearby into the kitchen. If you made an entire batch of them instead of loaves, they’d make a superb flatbread for wrapping smoked turkey, lettuce, onion, and a smear of spicy mustard. But you’ll probably eat most before you get that far.
When you do bake the full loaves, consider how you’ll serve them. Sliced thin, this bread makes an exceptional sandwich loaf and pairs beautifully with deli meats. Toast one side in butter and it becomes the perfect companion to a fried egg, a bowl of soup, or a stew. For extra indulgence, make a sandwich with slices of this bread, add melty cheese, butter both sides, and pan-fry until deep golden and gooey.
However you serve it, Papa’s Dilly Bread brings a lot of joy. Six out of six sturgeon faces agree: it makes people happy.
No-Knead Cottage Cheese Dill Bread | Papa’s Dilly Bread
Rebecca Lindamood
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water plus a pinch of sugar
- 2 cups small curd cottage cheese
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil like canola, vegetable, or corn
- 2 tablespoons raw or granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1 tablespoon dried dill SEED
- 1 teaspoon dried dill WEED
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour *See Notes
Instructions
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Stir the yeast into warm water with a pinch of sugar in a large bowl and let sit about 5 minutes, until frothy. Meanwhile, whisk together the cottage cheese, milk, oil, sugar, minced onion, dill seed and weed, salt, and beaten eggs in a saucepan over low heat until lukewarm.
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Add the cottage cheese mixture to the yeast and stir. Add all the flour at once and mix with a sturdy spoon until no dry flour remains and the dough is evenly moist. The dough will be shaggy—do not overwork it.
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Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 1½ hours, or until almost doubled.
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Grease the pans you plan to use. The dough makes two standard loaves, but can be divided among ramekins or baked in oven-proof bowls. Fill each pan to about one-third full. Reserve any extra dough for The Baker’s Tax (see notes).
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Cover the pans and let rise about 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake 30–40 minutes for full loaves or 25–30 minutes for individual ramekin loaves.
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Remove from oven and let rest in pans 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Store wrapped in a clean towel at room temperature up to three days, or double-wrap and freeze up to three months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. Calculate nutrition using the exact ingredients you use if needed.
did you make this recipe?
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