Have you ever eaten Dill Bread (Dillie Bread)? It's so good. One of the best homemade bread recipes in our recipe box.
Dillie Bread (Dill Bread) is a family favorite.
My Great Aunt Pauline's Dill Bread recipe (or Dillie Bread as we call it) is a delightfully savory homemade bread with dill. We love it for breakfast (or anytime) and October is National Breakfast Month so I'm reposting it today. Aunt Pauline lived in an era where most bread was made at home. It has the wonderful texture of good, homemade white bread, with the amazing flavor of dill.
The Process
Like all bread recipes, it takes a little finesse to bring it to life. I add about 1 cup of flour less at the beginning and reserve one cup of water to knead in alternately after the other ingredients have been blended. But, I must admit, Lois doesn't do anything special with the recipe and it turns out every time. Just give it a try. Don't bother trying this with gluten free flour or in the bread machine; it never turns out!
My mother, known affectionately as "Momma Betty," used to serve Dillie Bread toasted with Creamed Chip Beef Gravy over top (one of Lois' favorite ways to eat it). I like it with butter when it comes warm from the oven. It's also great accompaniment to a peasant meal on a cold winter's evening or with some sliced turkey or ham as a sandwich.
Slice and enjoy a warm piece of Dillie Bread as soon as it comes from the oven.
Eat or Freeze
After fully cooling the loaves, they can be wrapped tightly and frozen. And it ships well to send to a friend. When my mom was still alive, we sent her a couple loaves whenever we made it. It wasn't a big sacrifice; it makes 4 loaves! Momma Betty would have "slathered it with mayonnaise" (like every good Southern woman) and she wouldn't have worried about the fat and calories.
What You Need
For this recipe, you need measuring cups and spoons and loaf pans, but what you really want is a good bread knife and a fabulous teapot and cups for your tea, right?
Aunt Pauline’s Dillie Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 C flour
- ¼ C sugar
- 4 t salt
- 4 t dill seed
- about 3 C warm water
- 3 packages of active yeast
- ⅓ C vegetable oil
- 2 C cottage cheese
- ¼ C diced fresh onion
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in 2 C warm water (not too hot or you will kill the yeast).
- Combine the oil, cottage cheese and onion in a blender or food processor until smooth.
- Mix the dry ingredients except the flour, add the cottage cheese mixture and the water/yeast.
- Add the flour, ½ cup at a time, kneading it in to the wet mixture.
- Alternate adding the remaining one cup of water with adding the flour.
- Knead the dough adding flour and water until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Cover it and let it raise in a warm area until double in bulk.
- Punch down and divide the dough into 4 pieces, put in oiled loaf pans and let it raise again until double in bulk.
- Heat the oven to 375F degrees.
- Brush the top with melted butter and bake in loaf pans for 45 minutes until the top is crusty brown, and you hear a hollow sound when you thump it with your fingers.
- Dump the bread out of the pan and cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
More Bread Recipes
- French Bread
- The Best Basic White Bread
- Amazing Gluten Free French Bread
- Gluten Free Dairy Free White Bread
- Jalapeño Cornbread
Lois Carter Crawford is an author, home chef, health advocate, and food coach who fought her way back from several debilitating health issues, including a moderate heart attack! She discovered that inflammation caused by the food she ate was the underlying cause of most of her health problems and developed a method and tools to help others research their food sensitivities.
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