My son adores buttermilk bread. The first time I made this bread he told me it tasted better than any store brand. I agree! The flavour is perfectly tangy and the crumb is soft and tender. It also lasts longer than usual homemade bread. Winner!
Ingredients
3/4 cups buttermilk or sour milk (warm) 182g
1/4 cup water (warm ) 60g
1/4 cup butter, softened 57g
2 3/4 cups bread flour or all purpose 374g
2 tbsp white sugar 25g
1 tsp salt 6g
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 tsp yeast (dry or instant) 7g
Instructions
Please read Susie's Tips and Tricks below.
Place ingredients in order of manufacturer's instruction.
Use the Basic setting.
Remove immediate from pan; you may wish to brush with some melted butter. Cool on wire racks.
Note. My bread (photo) was completed in a traditional loaf pan and baked at 375F / 190C for 30-40 minutes, after the second rise. Let rise in the loaf pan. This would be about 1 - 1/2" above the rim. (This makes one large loaf. Baked in a 9x5 loaf pan.)
Susie's Tips and Tricks
Buttermilk freezes well. If you don't have or want to buy buttermilk. Clabber some. It's a method of taking milk and adding an acid like vinegar or lemon juice to milk. This causes the milk to sour. It works great. No need to wait 5-10 minutes per ATK. Use immediately. Just a add tbsp or so of the plain vinegar to 1 1/2 cup measure or so no need to be exact.
Want to use buttermilk powder? So you can practice food safety for bread with a timer; use 1/4 cup (41g) buttermilk powder for the 3/4 cup milk 177g for water instead. Be sure and include the additional 1/4 cup water noted above. Add to the DRY ingredients not the wet. It won't dissolve otherwise.
If you opt for buttermilk powder add after the flour. Don't add to the water. It won't mix properly. Made that mistake myself. Lol!
Why use bread flour? Bread flour or strong flour as you may know it has the ability to hold more gases. This means more flavour. You can use all-purpose or plain flour but if you have bread; I recommend it.
Keep in mind! Breads with milk bases have natural milk sugars. This means they brown more easily. Keep an eye on your loaf. If you are baking in a traditional oven. If it seems to be over browning. Cover with aluminum foil the last 10-15 minutes.
Check the dough ball about 5 minutes in. You want a ball that moves around fully in the pan. The dough should be smooth and slightly tacky, not sticky. You may need to add more flour (a tsp or so) or more water to make sure your dough ball fully shapes properly. Flour is subject to humidity and barometric pressure thus depending on the time of year you may need more or less of flour.