This Easy No-Knead Bread Is a Retro Amish Classic

Where I live, people go wild for anything Amish. There are Amish communities a few hours north, and all summer long the little towns are berserk with folks clamoring for a taste of Amish country.  

Accordingly, it’s not uncommon to see Amish recipes making the rounds outside of the Amish community. Some of the recipes are truly Amish; some are just wishful thinking. In the case of Amish dilly bread, it’s probably a draw.

Dilly bread appears in at least three of my community cookbooks from the 1980s. Many American families have been making it for generations and think of it as their own; I see titles like “Dad’s Dilly Bread” or “Aunt Fanny’s Casserole Bread.” Sometimes it goes by Dilly Casserole Bread or Amish Dilly Bread. 

But as far as records indicate, the recipe can’t be Amish, because it was the 1960 Pillsbury Bake-Off Winner created by the non-Amish Nebraskan Leona Schnuelle. Her inspiration came from her mother, who used the whey left from making cottage cheese in her bread dough. Leona decided to replace whey with cottage cheese itself and came up with a robust dough that she plopped into a casserole dish. There’s no kneading at all; the dough comes together in a matter of minutes. Easiest bread ever!

As Grand Champion of the bake-off, Leona won $25,000 for her efforts—quite the payload back then. One of the judges (all food editors) said, “Any dish with casserole in the title these days is a shoo-in.” And that’s still the case!

I don’t hang out with any Amish families, so I’m flying by the seat of my pants here, but I’m convinced that Dilly Casserole Bread is Leona Schneulle’s own invention. There’s no mention of such a recipe in print prior to 1960. That doesn’t mean that Amish people didn’t bake dilly bread themselves, though—this recipe was a phenomenon when it came out. And recipes have a way of resurfacing in unexpected times and places. Leona’s recipe could have made its way into Amish communities, and it could have struck a chord. Dilly bread seems like it could be Amish. Dill is beloved by Amish cooks, and the bread itself is hearty and simple to make.

How simple? Imagining a “casserole bread” was beyond my grasp, so after running across this recipe in yet another old community cookbook a few weeks ago, I decided to give it a try. I’m a sucker for anything with dill.

It seems unusual to bake bread in a casserole, but just go with it. The dough is so slack that it’ll spread out too much if it’s free-form. 

The bread itself is moist, tangy, and excellent to serve with soup or stew, though warm buttered slices will disappear well before the meal itself. The loaf is supremely savory not just from dried dill, but a generous measure of onion flakes.

“This is kind of like focaccia,” my daughter said. She’s right; the wet dough creates lots of air bubbles and a loose, spongy crumb. Everything about it is thoroughly charming. I think it’s high time for dilly bread to resurface again, in the Amish world and beyond.

How To Make Amish Dilly Bread

I made small adjustments to Leona Schnuelle’s recipe, but this is very true to her version. Here’s what you need to make Amish dilly bread:

• 2 to 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes 
• 2 teaspoons dried dill
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (1/4-ounce) packet active dry yeast or 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cottage cheese, preferably small curd
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt, if desired

Combine one cup flour with the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. (I depart from the original recipe and use two teaspoons of dried dill, not dill seed.)

The next step feels weird. Microwave the cottage cheese with 1/4 cup water and one tablespoon of butter in a large glass measuring cup just until it’s warm, about one to two minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when you stick your fingertip in the mixture and it feels like warm bath water. Then beat in an egg until well combined.

Empty wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir with a heavy wooden spoon to form a sticky batter. Beat in one more cup of flour to form a rough dough that initially will look like wet biscuit dough. If necessary, add enough of the remaining 2/3 cup flour to make the dough cohesive, but I’ve never needed more than two cups; too much flour will make the bread tough. Mix with the spoon a few times to “knead,” but you don’t need to go further than that.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until bubbly and doubled, 45 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, generously grease an eight-inch deep-dish pie dish, eight-inch round baking dish, or a shallow 1 1/2 to two-quart casserole.

Gently deflate the dough with a large spatula or lightly dampened hands, then transfer the dough to the prepared dish. Smooth the top the best you can, but it’s fine if it’s messy. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes. After the dough has risen in the dish for 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 350°F and position a rack in the center.

Once the shaped loaf has doubled, bake it until the top is nicely browned and the center sounds hollow when you gently thump it, 30 to 40 minutes. (If necessary, loosely cover the loaf with foil midway through baking to prevent over-browning.) If you can’t tell whether the loaf is finished or not, slide a toothpick in the center; if it emerges free of sticky batter streaks, it’s ready. 

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Brush it over the hot loaf and, if desired, sprinkle with a little coarse salt. Cool the bread on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

This Bread Will Vanish

If you have people around, they will scarf down this bread. It’s excellent to bake on a chilled-out weekend and take to a casual potluck—better yet, a soup potluck; dilly bread goes great with soup.

If you do have leftovers, for such a moist loaf, dilly bread keeps pretty well. If you like, you can keep the remaining loaf in the dish you baked it in, covered with foil, for up to five days. Day-old slices make fine toast. I made croutons from half a loaf and they were amazing.

Dilly bread freezes well. Wrap the unsliced portion in plastic wrap, then zip tightly in a zip-top bag and freeze for up to three months.