Ham and Cheese Quick Bread Recipe (2024)

Made as written, and it’s absolutely delicious. Will make again and again.

thinking about subbing chopped olives for the meat

Depends on the brand of flour. I use King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, which does weigh 120 grams per cup. When a weight for a volume of flour is given in a recipe and it differs from the KAF weight per volume, I never know whether to go with the KAF flour weight equivalent for the specified volume or use the weight measurement in the recipe.

Amazing! Easy to make, sophisticated, and delicious. I served a warm slice with a green salad for lunch. You can always trust Dorie ;-)

This is EXCELLENT and the red and green flecks make the bread quite festive. I followed the recipe almost exactly, but...used half pepper jack cheese and half fontina and fewer red pepper flakes. I substituted 2 C Pamela's gluten free baking mix for the flour and baking powder to make it GF. Had hoped to freeze & save for holiday guests, but I suspect we'll eat it all before then; will have to make another loaf. I can envision adding sesame seeds as well. A winner!

This is a lovely riff on the quickbread I've come to love through Dorie Greenspan's previous recipes. She has a goat cheese/date version I've been doing spin-offs from for awhile now. My favorite is with olives, feta cheese, thyme/rosemary and orange zest. I'm really grateful for this creative new set of flavors to play with though! But Dorie has altered the balance of milk/olive oil for this one (it was equal parts b/4), and doubled the honey. Any reflections on why, Dorie?

The recipe doesn't explicitly say so, but if I were making this with pancetta I'd probably crisp it up in a pan first. That's how I like my pancetta. How do you like yours?

sure. Feel free to omit the bits of meat. You might add chopped nuts instead, if you like.

Definitely frustrating, but less important in a quick bread. It amounts to a difference of about 1 Tablespoon of flour. It is my understanding that different recipe developers/recipe publishers use different weight equivalents for ingredient volumes. Cook's Illustrated, for instance, uses 142 grams/cup of flour. (See americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos/5490-baking-conversion-chart). Would be great if the NYT had a pinned link to its weight equivalents and advice on adjusting.)

I sautéed pancetta with leeks, and otherwise followed the recipe as written. It’s a great cross between quiche and crescia. I might try omitting or halving the honey next time for a truly savory loaf.

I'm wondering if I can make this sans ham and still be true to the recipe for a vegetarian friend? It looks delicious.

Maybe sundried tomatoes? Or I imagine you could just leave them out. They would mostly add a touch of sweetness, since they're roasted.

Excited to try this one! I wonder if sometimes people rate the recipe without making it - I notice there's often a few dozen ratings not long after a recipe goes up, sometimes before there are any notes.

I used 1/2 roasted red pepper and 1/2 grated zucchini. I like the idea of adding olives instead of the ham. I might try that next time. Delicious!

My husband doesn't like peppers. What would be a good substitute?

Made this for my toddler’s lunch at school and it’s absolutely delicious and he loved it too!!! Will definitely make again!

This is a very easy and adaptable recipe. Follow the instructions for the dough and then add whatever you like… I went for pancetta (seared until golden before adding), green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, an Italian cheese blend, rosemary and thyme. Also, I used active dry yeast instead of baking powder because that’s what we use in France.

Gosh this is nice. I had to sub scallions for chives and piquillos for standard roasted red but otherwise made as written. I agree it's not exactly "quick" but it's definitely worth the effort. We will make it again, and get creative with the add ins. Thanks Dorie!

Has anyone tried this as little muffins? Any advice on altering baking times or temperature?

Open the fridge and cabinet and see what is in there. Last time it was pepperoni provolone and sun dried tomatoes or as one person called it pizza bread. Another time smoked salmon cream cheese and chopped scallion. Another was olives and feta. Works great for a bridge game munchie. Be creative

We aren't big on the meat, so I eliminated it all and added a Tbsp more oil and a bit more salt. I had no roasted red peppers but had a mixture of hot and sweet peppers from the garden that I chopped (raw) and added, plus I threw in some green onion and herbs from the same bounty. have decided this recipe must be failproof because the results were fantastic. We especially like to slice the bread and lightly toast it in the oven before serving with a potato, tomato, or corn soup. Mmmm

Has anyone made this to use as a tea bread? I'm thinking that very thin slices with highly seasoned cream cheese would be a good addition to an afternoon tea. Is it fine grained enough to slice thinly?

I have a recipe similar to this -it has mustard in it- and when I make it for tea time I leave the diced ham out but serve it in little slices alongside.

Meh. Made it as written. It's not something I would make a second time. Turned out exactly as described.

Made successfully as 12 muffins, with these adjustments: 240g AP flour, subbed Gouda & sharp cheddar, finely chopped pimentos for roasted red peppers (drained but not rinsed), sliced scallions for chives. Did not grease or line tins (nonstick USA pan 12 cup muffin tin) but if your tin doesn’t reliably release I’d spray or use paper liners. Checked for doneness at 20 mins at 350; appeared done but internal temp was 185, turned off the oven and left them in for 5 mins. Came out perfect!

I used 1/2 roasted red pepper and 1/2 grated zucchini. I like the idea of adding olives instead of the ham. I might try that next time. Delicious!

What kind of Fontina, Italian or Danish? the former is very melty so I'm assuming that's the one you mean but it would be helpful to specifiy.

Can this be made in a bread maker?

It’s delicious, but be forwarded that the prep is not the ‘quick’ part. Make it when you have time to enjoy the process.

My daughter makes this all the time. She calls it “ham cake.” The honey helps pull all the flavors together; it doesn’t make the loaf sweet. It also affects the texture, so I wouldn’t leave it out. For a vegetarian, I would sub those large, mild, pale green olives, as someone suggested.