Adventures In Quick Bread
When I was a teen just starting to learn to cook, I bought one of those recipe compilations books that show up regionally at craft fairs and bake sales. The only thing I remember about the book is that it was spiral bound and had the word “pioneer” somewhere in the title. I wish I still had the book, but alas, I lost it in the “moving void.” You know…when you pack everything you own into boxes, move all the boxes to your new house, and unpack the boxes, only to discover that somehow, things are missing. The missing things? They vanished into the “moving void.” It’s probably also where stray sock end up when they vanish between the washer and the dryer.
Anyway, back to the recipe book. It had a recipe in there called “Brethren’s Cheese Bread.” It’s a quickbread (uses leavening agents other than yeast, so you don’t have to wait for the dough to rise; therefore, it’s quicker to make), and comes out like a glorious combination of biscuits and bread. It’s flavored with dill and sharp Cheddar cheese…delicious! And so easy…
Whisk together your dry ingredients into a big bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add your cheese and dill. Make a little well in the middle of your ingredients, and drop in your egg, then your milk. Use a fork to whisk the egg and milk together just a little bit, and then mix everything together with the fork just until all the dry ingredients are damp. Don’t overmix!
Put your batter into a well-greased loaf pan, and bake it till it’s done. Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. This is where you’ll know if you greased your pan well enough…it’s quite depressing to see a chunk of your bread stay stuck in the pan.
I personally like to eat this with a generous smearing of butter. Delicious! One warning: make sure that your baking powder isn’t old. It’s the only leavening agent and, as with my cream biscuit recipe, if you use old (and therefore less effective) baking powder, your quickbread won’t rise well. It doesn’t rise much anyway, so losing even that little bit of rise is suboptimal.
Give it a try…it’s a great substitute for biscuits or rolls.
Brethren’s Cheese Bread
Click here for printable PDF of recipe
INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed into small pieces
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp fresh dill weed, finely chopped*
1 egg
3/4 cup whole milk
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 9”x5” loaf pan, making sure the bottom is very well greased.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cheese and dill.
Make a small well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the egg and milk. Use a fork to first lightly whisk together the egg and milk, and then to stir in the dry ingredients; mix just until all the flour is moistened. Spoon into prepared loaf pan and level it out.
Bake 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clear or with just a few crumbs. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from loaf pan and cool completely before slicing.
NOTES
*if using dried dill instead of fresh, use 1 1/2 tsp
