One of my favorite things in life is a high rising loaf of bread, so Cottage Cheese Bread makes me very happy! This is one of the highest rising and lightest textured loaves I've ever made. The recipe is not new. The original version is on Allrecipes.com where it is designed for a bread machine. Since I don't have a bread machine, I converted it to a stand mixer recipe, made a few tiny adjustments and baked it in a loaf pan.
Here it is in a cast iron loaf pan, fresh out of the oven, after being brushed with honey and flaky sea salt. I was worried I wouldn't be able to slice it since it rose so ridiculously high, but once cooled it sliced just fine. It was even easier to slice after being chilled, which is typical.
Here's what the dough looked like before and after. Usually when my bread rises this high in the pan it doesn't rise more in the oven. Not the case here. And it didn't collapse, which I attribute to the cottage cheese (and its protein) providing some structure. Update: Turns out that's only partially true because sour cream works in this bread too. I've added some notes to the recipe card on how to use sour cream in place of cottage cheese.
One of the old reviews described the texture as somewhat like angel food cake. I was a bit skeptical, but that person was right. The texture is a bit like angel food cake, but chewier and stable enough to hold sandwich fillings. It's amazing for garlic toast!
Cottage Cheese Bread in a Pullman Loaf
I finally tried making the bread in a Pullman loaf pan. I've been using my Pullman for a while because I love the high sides, but this was the first time I ever tried using the lid. I wasnt sure how much dough to use, so I took a chance and just squashed all 2 pounds of it in there pretty much knowing there'd be issues. The dough rose about ½ inch over, so when it was time to put the lid on and bake, I had to really squash it in there. Plus I'd left a little vent near the edge because I couldn't quite get the lid to close, and a bit of the dough baked up and my loaf had a little tail coming out of it. But even still, it worked! I cut the tail right off.
How Much Dough in a Pullman?
If I had planned better I would have used the equation from Kneadrisebake.com to get the correct amount of dough. Chris and Carrie say that the correct amount of dough to use in a Pullman should be about 5 ½ times whatever the volume is of your Pullman pan in grams. So you first have to know the volume of your Pullman pan. To figure that out, you just multiply the pan's DxWxH. You then multiply that number by 5, multiply it again by 6, then add the two numbers and divide by 2 to get the average. Updating to say the reason you multiple by 5 and by 6 rather than just saying 5.5 is you want to know the bottom end and the top end of the range.
Example. My Pullman pan measures 4"D x 7.6"W x 4.5"H so the volume is 137 cubic inches. 137x5=685 137x6=822. 685+822/2=753. So the "target" amount of dough should have been around 753 grams. I could have used as little as 685 or up to 822. I squished in a little under 900 grams which was just a tad too much. Next time when I make the cottage cheese bread I'll discard some of the dough and use 753 grams, which is 27 ounces or about 1 pound 11 ounces.
Will this equation work for other types of dough? We'll see! But the equations seems to work well in this cottage cheese bread recipe. I'll have to give it a try with my basic white bread.
Gluten-Free Cottage Cheese Bread
I recently tested this recipe with the new King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour. I made the mistake of just dumping in 400 grams of flour rather than adding gradually, so I ended up with a dry dough that needed more water. Apparently the new gluten-free bread flour absorbs moisture quicker than all-purpose. Despite that, I got a pretty nice loaf of gluten-free sandwich bread enriched with cottage cheese. I'm going to test it again with the new gluten-free bread flour, but use only 300 grams to start. Update: Made it again with gluten-free flour and it worked! It only needed between 250 and 300 grams.
Update: For anyone following the gluten-free cottage cheese bread trials, so far I've had the best luck using 300 grams gluten-free KA bread flour, ½ cup warm water, 2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast, 4 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 egg, 1 cup cottage cheese and 2 tablespoons softened butter. This give you a dough that's thick enough to shape as you would normal bread. Put it in a loaf pan (preferably a Pullman), let it rise for about 1 hour in the loaf pan and bake at 350 for at least an hour. The loaf is not light and fluffy, but it doesn't collapse in on itself.
More Recipes with Cottage Cheese
Recipe
Cottage Cheese Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided use (470 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cottage cheese, not too cold (microwave for 10 sec)
- 1 large egg, room temperature** (60 grams)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or use half oil and half butter (28 grams)
Instructions
- Put the ½ cup (114 grams) of warm water in a stand mixer bowl and add the yeast to proof. Add a teaspoon of the sugar. When you start seeing bubbles, add remaining sugar, ONLY 3 cups (400 grams) of the flour, baking soda and salt and stir to mix. Stir in the cottage cheese, egg and oil (or oil/butter combo). Use the paddle attachment of a stand mixer to blend.
- Switch to the dough hook and begin kneading. It should be very sticky, so add another ¼ cup of flour. Continue to knead and scrape sides of bowl. Continue adding flour by tablespoons and kneading until dough climbs up the hook and doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. Dough will be a tiny bit sticky, but easy to handle with a little oil on your fingers. This is a very smooth but firm and not too airy or fluffy dough. It will rise, but it takes its time, so be patient.
- Put a little extra olive oil in a large bowl.
- Put the dough into the oily bowl and then turn so that the dough is coated with oil. Cover and let rise until it doubles in size. This should take at least an hour and maybe up to an hour and a half.
- Punch down the dough and shape into a rectangle. Roll into a cylinder, pressing out air as you roll.
- Pinch down the ends and put in a greased 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan or a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Note: If you use the 8 ½ by 4 ½ inch pan, it will rise VERY high and be a little more awkward to cut. I kind of like the drama in that, so I use that size anyway. A 9x5 inch is more practical.
- Cover loosely with some greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until the dough domes about an inch (in the center) over the edge of the pan. This should take around 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Put the loaf in the 400 degree oven, then close door and turn the heat down to 375F. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and brush hot loaf with honey and sprinkle top with a little sea salt.
- Let cool in pan for about 20 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool completely.
Anna says
That's true, but for the sour cream version instead of using more water I kept the water amount the same and just used 440 grams of bread instead of 470 grams all-purpose. So I was using a thirstier more absorbent flour, but slightly less of it. Using 470 grams of bread flour and slightly more water should also work.
Abino says
I was under the impression that bread flour needs more water than all purpose flour
So if bread flour is used as a replacement, then more water is needed as it is more thirsty.
Anna says
Abino, I love this!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to experiment AND report back. Now I will definitely buy some sour cream and try your recipe. You used the Canadian high protein wheat flour, so I'll go ahead and use King Arthur bread flour or maybe artisan bread flour which has a little more protein. I'll post a picture after I make. Hopefully I can do it tomorrow.
Abino says
Well I went ahead and did it. I replaced cottage cheese withpremium GAY LEA GOLD SOUR CREAM.
Used high protean Canadian wheat ,reduced oil to one tablespoon .
Mixed wet ingredients with dry till combined then let sit for ten min.covered, then mixed with dough hook for 5 min.
Beautiful soft smooth ball into an oiled bowl covered for 50 min.
Then into a 10x5x3 dark Chicago Metallic loan pan.let rise for 55 min.
Baked as directed 35 min. Made an 885 gram loaf.
A. Beautiful loaf ..toasted a slice with some butter and jam. Could be my new favorite..a cousin to what cahalla bread is like when. Toasted.
You may not want to print this but thanks for the inspiration.
Abino .
Anna says
Hi Abino, I wouldn't try it. Sour cream has a lot of fat, while cottage cheese has protein that helps with the structure of the bread. But thanks for asking because I am sure you are not the only person wondering if it would work.
Abino says
Question can you replace cottage cheese with sour cream?
Leslie McKinley says
I love this bread!! Wish I could put a picture of how beautifully it turned out…
Michele says
I made this today and it is wonderful! The recipe was not difficult and it does rise high like you said. It’s definitely a keeper.
Anna says
I haven't tried that yet. You might need to reduce the amount of yeast. But that's a good question, so next time I make it I'll try refrigerating the dough overnight. One nice thing about this bread is the dough doesn't need a long ferment for flavor because the cottage adds the flavor. However, for convenience it would be nice to be able to refrigerate the dough and bake the next day.
Anh says
Can this bulk ferment in the fridge overnight?
Anna says
Leila, either is fine. I'd keep it in the bin no longer than 24 hours, then store it in the refrigerator if you are going to keep eating it over the next couple of days. For maximum freshness, I use the freezer. I cut the slices, wrap them in little groups or pairs, then store them in a freezer bag. They'll stay good for weeks that way.
Leila says
Thank you for a delicious bread recipe; we loved it.
Does it need to be refrigerated after baking due to the cottage cheese or can it be kept in a bread bin.
Anna says
Thanks for the review, Robyn! If you liked this one and you are looking for more interesting bread recommendations, I recommend the cooked rice bread and the dal bread.
Robyn says
I LOVE this bread! I was skeptical I mean…cottage cheese??? I plowed ahead and man o man this is just awesome! I made it for my family first and every piece was gone almost immediately. Next time I made it was for friends who were coming to their vacation home and it was a welcoming gift. I made it in the 8 1/2 x 5 and their jaws just dropped when they saw it! So whether you make it AND YOU MUST MAKE THIS in the smaller pan for presentation or the regular pan just for eating this bread is THE BOMB!
Anna says
Thanks for trying it Ariel! I hope it helped build your yeast bread baking confidence.
ariel says
amazing. i was intimidated because i never made before and not super confident. this recipe is way under rated. i will make this again for sure
Anna says
Jan, I'm glad you're curious about the gluten-free version! I haven't made any more progress with the gluten-free flour version because I ran out of the King Arthur gluten-free bread flour and haven't bought it any since. If you try it with one rise, please report back!
Jan says
Since gluten free doesn't have the gluten to develop, I wonder if it needs that first rise, or if it could just go straight into the loaf pan to rise. When I've made gf bread before, it seemed more like a batter than normal bread dough.
Donna Vann says
Can you give me the nutritional value of the cottage cheese bread. Especially the protein content.
Thank you, Donna
Anna says
Thanks for including the weights, Sue! Is it my imagination or are more people using bread machines these days?
Sue says
Out of curiosity I decided to make this but I substituted King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour for part of the AP flour and I made it in the bread machine. It turned out great! I used 200 g of WWW and 270 g of bread flour. It’s nice and fluffy and rose to the top of my bread machine. I can’t wait to toast a piece of it tomorrow. It was wonderful alongside my minestrone soup tonight.
Anna says
Libby, I tested again twice with the King Arthur gluten-free flour and had the same issue as you. The texture and flavor is great, but the gluten-free loaf does shrink a bit. Baking lower and slower didn't help, nor did adjusting the moisture level. However, I'm working on a new gluten-free cottage cheese bread recipe that I'll post soon.
Anna says
Libby, do you happen to have a high sided pan such as a Pullman? The high walls really help support gluten-free breads. There's even a small Pullman that is about 4x4 (a cube shape) that you can use to make small but tall loaves. Since you like trying new gluten-free bread recipes, you may want to buy one. I'll try to help you troubleshoot with the KA bread flour, but I need to buy a new bag. I'm actually working on a different gluten-free cottage cheese bread that is similar to this but which you can make with either a homemade blend or Measure for Measure mixed with a couple of other pantry items.
Libby says
Okay, I made the gluten free bread again tonight. When I put it in the oven it was at least an inch above the pan. As it baked it shrank to almost level with the pan. Is this normal. I'm trying to get a loaf that is sandwich bread size. The first loaf I baked I did in a larger pan. This time I did a 4x8. The bread tastes very good and toast great but just won't get to the size I'm looking for.
Anna says
Thanks for daring to try the gluten-free version. That’s always a challenge, but so rewarding when it works.
Libby says
I made this with the King Arther Gluten Free bread flour. I did the two cups of flour and then added some extra tablespoons. I never could get the dough to climb the dough hook and let go from the sides of the mixing bowl. But it was getting dryer so I just took it out and made a ball and put it in the grease bowl to rise. Then used the larger bread pan. Next time I'll use the smaller bread pan as this is just slightly higher than a half slice of bread. But the texture is good and it tastes better than any gluten free bread I've ever had.
Anna says
Hello MW in Germany,
Thank you for letting me know it worked for you! There are a lot of different yeast breads here, some better than others. The Fluffy Coconut Milk Bread is fun too.https://www.cookiemadness.net/2021/07/29/soft-and-fluffy-coconut-milk-bread/
M. WEIDINGER says
Wow, 4 thumbs up! Thank you for sharing.Can't wait to try your other breads! Greatings from Germany.
Elizabeth Burgess says
Made this the other day and it’s great! any idea as to the nutritional content?
Anna says
Oh, do let me know!! Thanks!
Donns says
I used this recipe except I used 2cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup each of chick pea flour, almond flour, and flax seed meal. It’s in second rise now- I’ll let you know how it comes out. 🙂
Anna says
Raylene, thank you for letting me know. I put the note about the gluten-free bread flour, but wasn't sure anyone would really read it since the King Arthur bread flour is a specialty product. I'll continue to add notes as I use it, but the main take away seems to be that you need to use less of it or use more liquid.
Raylene says
Hi Anna!
Thanks so much for the heads up on the GF version of this bread. I bought the KAF gluten free artisan flour blend as suggested. I made this recipe twice so far. My first loaf didn’t rise, but was delicious. My second loaf was so much better! I understood the texture better the 2nd time around. I took the time to knead the dough well and immediately and very carefully rolled the dough into my 9x5 loaf pan after its 1st rise. After baking, I also turned the bread while it cooled so it had a chance to keep its height. I sliced and froze the bread. We toast it quite long (GF bread is very different from traditional wheat-based breads) - and are rewarded with chewy and crunchy GF toast on demand. Thank you again!
Sam says
This bread is absolutely outstanding! It truly has the texture of cake. Never had anything so soft and fluffy! I just needed a way to use up some cottage cheese, and now I’m HOOKED. I brushed the top with a mixture of honey and butter and then finished with flaky salt. Unbelievable. My husband and I are just standing in the kitchen eating it in delicious silence!
Anna says
Hi Marti,
We are a household of two, sometimes three. It takes us a while to eat just one loaf, so I haven't ever tried doubling this. I've successfully halved it and baked it in my 1 pound cube shaped Pullman, but doubling is something I need to try. Maybe someone out there who has successfully doubled it can answer your question. If you decide to be daring and try, please let us know how it goes.
Marti McIntire says
Can this recipe be doubled?
Anna says
So glad to hear it worked in that size pan! This has become one of our favorites too.
Odette says
Cottage Cheese bread delicious! I used all the ingredients as suggested, but changed the loaf pan to 12.5” x 6” x 3.25”. The dough fit perfectly! The touch of honey and salt to top it….perfection! Thank you Anna!
Anna says
LK, thanks so much for giving it its first review! I've made the bread a few times and now and really like the flavor and texture the cottage cheese adds. Yours is my first review from another baker so it means a lot. Good luck with your new "rolls" version. Seems like it should work.
LK says
I made this a few weeks ago and my daughter said it was the best bread she’s ever had. I’m making it again but will try it as rolls.
Jen says
I need to make this over the weekend!