This is the perfect time to get into the kitchen and bake. Whatever the hell you want. Me? I wanted to make Delish’s Dill Pickle Bread. What did it teach me? Do not mess with the recipe.
Normally I am quite comfortable at following a baking recipe to the T because, well, science! Baking is a science and there are rules so the first time I make a baked dish I usually follow it.
Well with a pandemic going on, sometimes you do not have all the ingredients and I found out that not all oils are the same. Here I will demonstrate what happens when you substitute butter for vegetable oil. Do NOT do this! Follow the original recipe.
Foodie Ingredients
For this recipe you will need:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil (do not use melted butter)
2 large eggs
1 tbsp sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp pickle juice
1/2 cup chopped pickles
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
Foodie Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs and sugar until smooth.
Add flour, baking powder, salt and pickle juice and stir until combined.
Fold in chopped pickles, cheddar and dill. Pour batter into loaf pan.
The Problem…
The flour mixture soaked up the melted butter and then solidified in seconds. My creative problem solving mode kicked in and I added 1/4 cup of avocado oil. Nope, still not enough. Two more tablespoons…
Trouble Shooting
The dough finally came together but I had a feeling it was doomed.
Into The Oven
Bake until the bread is golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean, 40 minutes.
The top of my loaf did not get super golden brown. My friend Melanie, who has made this recipe often now, said she puts hers under the broiler for a little bit to get it that crust nice and browned. Brilliant!
My Foodie Results
The texture was like the most tender and crumbly scone on the planet. It also did not have a lot of flavour which surprised me so I recommend using sharp cheddar cheese.
It also was not very seasoned which is shocking considering the pickles, brine… We salvaged the bread by slathering it with butter and sprinkling it with dill and salt.
The pickles also kind of disappeared into the loaf so I would recommend doing a large chop if you decide to give this recipe a try.
Back To Baking
It has been a long time since I have had a kitchen to bake in. I should have chosen a recipe that I had all the ingredients for so this is totally my bad. I just wanted to try dill pickle bread so badly!!! Because I altered the recipe I do not know what was the recipe’s fault and what was mine.
We are all doing our best with what we have. I will always choose being fearless in the kitchen over being too safe. I am glad I gave it a shot and was willing to see what would happen. The bread was not awful, it just was not what it was supposed to be. And that is OK. I was just very happy to be in the kitchen and baking again. Next time will be better.
Time to let it go and move onto another recipe and hopefully, this time, I will have all the ingredients! Anyone know where I can find cream of tartar right now?! LOL.
I love that you went for it and didn’t let it discourage you. Go Baking! Baking rocks. I just love it. Here’s to many more bakes in your new home. As for cream of tartar, I just looked on Amazon and they had a few options.
Thank you Ivy! Just, just gotta roll with it. Getting back to baking takes time and, well, resources. Which I didn’t have! People make recipes the way they do for a reason but I tried to experiment and it didn’t quite turn out. Thank you! I will check it out.
Butter has about 20% water, so it alters the texture. You can sub oil for butter if you reduce the amount about 20% and make it up with water, but it doesn’t work the other way around (unless you use ghee). Because butter has more flavour it probably altered the overall flavour too, but your description still sounds delicious.
I guess the water from the butter evaporated which is why it was so dry, excellent point! I had not considered the ramifications of that. Ghee would have definitely been a better choice because then you would have the butter flavour without the dryness. Thank you JC!
Never head of pickle bread. But cheese and pickles does make good combo
It really does make a good combo, doesn’t it?! That’s why I wanted to make it so badly!
Oh well, not every recipe will be a big success! I would have expected more interesting flavours from the pickle and cheese ingredients too.
Right??? It seemed like it would be a super tasty combo and work great together. I’m convinced there wasn’t enough salt which is hard to believe with those ingredients. Oh well, I tried! It was just fun to be baking again and baking with pickles was fun.
Making this tomorrow!!!
Yay Janet!!! Make sure to use a vegetable oil OK? And you can finish it off under the broiler if it doesn’t get golden enough. Hope you like it!
the butter or margarine does not work as it has a different viscosity — it is fat + water + dairy and you need 100% fat….
Yes, the water is definitely the issue and the fact that it is a saturated fat.
I am sending you some cream of tartar …. lol
No way!!! You rock!!! Now I can make snickerdoodles, thank you!