Fresh Herb Ricotta Cheese Bread

A no yeast bread that is super quick to prepare! 

Ready in less than an hour, this Herbed Ricotta Cheese Bread is sure to become a favorite!

This quick bread is loaded with fresh herbs, ricotta cheese, and a dash of smoked paprika. 

Ricotta is a fresh, soft, Italian cheese with a small curd and a light, mild, slightly sweet flavor. In the United States, it is most commonly known as an ingredient in lasagna. I honestly love ricotta even just by itself. For this recipe, I decided to use ricotta instead of heavy cream or milk, the ricotta gives the bread a light texture that practically melts in your mouth!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
• ½ cup green onions or scallions, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• ⅔ cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water (for egg wash)
• sea salt
• black pepper
• smoked paprika

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. 

Grate butter into the flour mixture and stir with a fork until the consistency of coarse meal.

Stir in scallions and fresh herbs. 

Add ricotta cheese, then add milk and stir until just combined.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. 

Knead 2 to 3 times, then pat dough into a 9-inch rectangle. 

Transfer bread to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush tops liberally with egg wash. Sprinkle top with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and smoked paprika.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bread is golden brown.

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DoubleTree’s Famous Cookies

This cookie brings back so many memories! My best friend, Christine introduced me to this cookie recipe! Yes, these are the cookies that you get when you stay at a Hilton DoubleTree® hotel.

Christine and I spent many December nights, making these cookies for our family and friends. It was one of my Papa’s favorite cookies. He used to ask every Christmas for these but he referred to them as “his Christine’s cookies”! I’ll be honest I haven’t made these since he passed away. But when I was preparing my 12 days of cookies list, I knew these cookies had to be a part of it. So this past weekend, I dusted off the recipe card and got to work. I was flooded with so many memories of my Papa and how much he loved all my Christmas cookies. This is why I love cooking, the memories, each recipe brings!

OMG! I forgot how amazingly delicious these cookies are! They are incredibly chewy with crispy edges and have so much flavor! DoubleTree® knew what they were doing when they created this recipe!
Trust me, this will become one of your favorites and you will definitely want to dip it into a tall glass of cold milk.

Ingredients

• ½ cup rolled oats
• 2 ¼ cup of flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

Grind oats in a food processor or blender.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a stand alone mixer or using a wooden spoon, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice.
In the same bowl with the butter mixture, add the eggs and mix until combined and smooth.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients
Add the chocolate chip and walnuts, wash your hands and mix with your hands.
Refrigerate dough overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Using a medium cookie scoop,, place cookies on to the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Merry Christmas & Enjoy!

Dutch Oven Bread

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Who doesn’t love the smell of bread baking? 

Even if you’ve never made homemade bread before, this homemade crusty bread is for you. It’s the perfect beginner recipe because it only requires 4 ingredients, there’s no kneading, and 95% of the work is hands-off. This recipe delivers delicious flavor, and a slightly crisp crust.  Not to mention the loaf is as big as your head… Brian and I had some fun taking pictures of how big it turned out. LOL

You can also add herbs and seasonings such as garlic, rosemary, dill, chopped onion, jalapeño, shredded cheese, chopped nuts, dried cranberries, etc. Get CREATIVE!

So let’s get right to it!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 ½ cups warm water 105 degrees F

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine. 

Optional: If you are using herbs and seasonings add them to the bowl and combine with flour mixture

Add the water and mix until the dough forms a ball.

Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel.

Let dough sit covered at room temperature for 18-24 hours.

After 18-24 hours (or at least 1 hour before you want to serve) preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Place a 5 quart dutch oven (or a baking dish) with a lid in the oven while it is preheating. 

While the oven is preheating, transfer the dough from the bowl onto a floured surface.

Form the dough into a ball, adding a few tablespoons more flour if needed. The dough should still be slightly loose. Then cover it with a floured towel while the oven is preheating.

Carefully remove the hot baking dish from the oven. Remove the lid and spray the dish with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.

Gently put the dough ball into the baking dish so it’s evenly distributed.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown.

Remove the loaf from the dutch oven and let it cool on a rack before slicing.