Buttermilk Bread

A couple weeks ago I had made buttermilk donuts which always go over well with the family, but the downside if you can call it that is finding different ways to use up the rest of the buttermilk. It was down to either making buttermilk biscuits or bread, and honestly I can’t even remember ever making buttermilk bread , so bread it was! 

Easy recipe to make, makes two loaves which in this house is always a good thing. Once the loaf gets cool enough to slice and eat,  half of it just disappears it seems. Sometimes I wonder how I even get the chance to get a picture of half the things I make, it just ups and walks off . No worries though, as long as my official taste testers enjoy it I’m good! 

Making bread can be a challenge if you aren’t used to doing it. Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years. 

If recipe calls for yeast, always, always double check the temp of your liquid! If you add yeast to boiling liquids you’ve killed your yeast! Colder liquids won’t help it rise. When a recipe ( like this one) calls for luke warm liquids, heat gently in the microwave, you should be able to stick your finger in it and not wince. Some other recipes call for a temp range which should be followed. Yeast should look puffy if it’s proofed properly. If recipe says add in yeast with dry, again double check you liquid temp so you don’t end up killing the yeast and making you start all over again. Some recipes calls for Active Dry, other Rapid Rise ( Bread Yeast) There is a difference, but you can sub the Rapid rise for the Active dry your rising time will be cut in half. I would not recommend doing it the other way around – swapping rapid for the regular as it may need two rising times instead of one. 

Never add all the flour in at once. Always put in less than half of flour that the recipe calls for at a time, usually recipes say add in 2 cups at first then add remaining. On any given day I can use less or more by as much as a cup in recipes, but if you add it in too fast you can end up with tough stiff dough that will be dense bread. So always, always add flour in a little at a time. 

Mix your wet ingredients in slowly ( for mixers on low speed or by hand) add in the remaining flour a half a cup at a time and stop when the dough starts to ball up around the hook- no longer sticking to the side of the bowl. I usually hand knead at this point till the dough is elastic yet slightly firm and has a nice smooth surface .

Always place your dough in a draft free area, and cover somehow. I place my dough in glass bowls ( for two rises, for one rise the dough rises in the bread pan from the start) that are sprinkled with flour and covered by heavy towel on my stove which is on a heated warm.

Sometimes dough rises quicker then the recipe time called for, so glass bowls come in handy at this point so you can see it’s progress. 

At the moment I cannot think of any other bread making tips I’m sure I forgot a few, but hopefully this helps some of you! On to the recipe- 

Buttermilk Bread

2019-08-29 15:52:11

Yields 2

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Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cups warmed buttermilk ( I warm mine up for half a minute or until it feels warm to the touch. Do NOT scold the milk, you just want luke warm)
2. 2 Tablespoons melted butter
3. 2 Tablespoons sugar
4. 1 tsp salt
5. 3 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
6. 1 Tablespoons yeast

Instructions

1. Combine buttermilk, butter, and sugar in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, including yeast.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together to combine, then add to buttermilk mixture in the mixing bowl. Mix ingredients until well combined - Knead for about 10 minutes, either by hand or mixture. Make sure you have a good dough- not too sticky not too stiff.
3. Once dough is done kneading, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour; or until dough has doubled in size.
4. Punch dough down and knead several times. Divide dough and shape before placing in two greased loaf pans . ( I used two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 ) Place dough back in the warm spot and let it rise for another 30-45 minutes or until it's doubled.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake bread for about 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown and knife inserted into center comes out clean.

Notes

1. Enjoy!

By Melanie Payne

It's My Side of Life https://itsmysideoflife.com/