Cottage Cheese Bread
This is not a drill. You guys, this is the easiest, most delicious bread recipe you’ll ever find! It only requires a few ingredients and my goodness is it SO tasty! The viral cottage cheese bread made its way into our kitchen and I’m not sure I’ll ever make another bread again. It’s protein packed, super healthy and perfect for sandwiches, toast, or even by itself with a dab of butter.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 teaspoons (5 g) active dry yeast
1/3 cup (75 g) lukewarm water
1 cup (250 g) egg whites or 7 to 8 egg whites
1 cup (255 g) cottage cheese
4 2/3 cups (582 g) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon (10 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Instructions:
Step 1:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the active dry yeast and lukewarm water and set aside to hydrate.
In a blender or food processor, combine the egg whites and cottage cheese. Blend until smooth.
Add the blended mixture to the yeast mixture and whisk to combine.
Step 2:
Whisk the flour with a dry whisk in its container to remove any lumps and aerate the flour. Measure and add the flour and salt to the wet mixture. Whisk to combine. You will be left with a sticky dough.
Step 3:
Dust the work surface with more flour and dump the dough on it. Knead the dough for 5 to 6 minutes, or until it starts looking smooth. Feel free to use a mixer if you have one! If using your hands, you’ll want to dust them with flour to keep the dough from ticking to your fingers.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it back in the mixing bowl. Cover and proof in a warm spot for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size.
Step 4:
Line a 10 x 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper (if needed) (a smaller loaf pan such as the standard 9 x 5-inch loaf pan won’t work, the dough will ooze out on the sides). If you don’t have a pan with those exact measurements, no problem! Use a larger one, such as 10 x 4-inch loaf pan, 10 x 5-inch loaf pan, or simply divide the dough in 2 halves and make 2 loaves of bread. Those can be baked in smaller loaf pans.
You could also bake the dough directly on a baking sheet, though it won’t be as tall as a sandwich bread, but it will still work.
After an hour of proofing, punch down the dough to deflate. Roll it into a log, stitch the ends by pinching them together. After proofing the dough, make a slit in the middle using a sharp knife or razor blade. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Step 5:
Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes. The bread will brown on the top pretty quickly — to prevent it from burning, cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil as soon as it turns crusty and brown.
Cool completely, then slice and serve.