HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK BREAD

Homemade Buttermilk Bread made easy at home with 6 ingredients! This buttermilk bread recipe creates a soft loaf that has incredible flavor & can even be made in your bread machine.

Making this quick bread recipe is so simple, made with just a handful of ingredients that are most likely already in your kitchen and pantry. Buttermilk bread has such a delicate texture and tastes incredible too, give it a try today and see how amazing it is!

If you love Bread as much as we do, find all of our Best Bread Recipes Here!

Tips to create the BEST bread every time

If you have never baked homemade bread before, here are a few tips that will help you make the most delicious and soft bread ever.

• Remember to fully knead. The recipe below kneads for 10 minutes and it is worth every minute. Kneading dough helps to develop the flavor and texture of the bread, so don’t skimp on kneading time.
• Weather can affect your ingredients. If you live in a moist climate, chances are you will need at least the recommended amount of flour, maybe even 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup more. Bread dough should be sticky, but still manageable, especially after the first rise. While you are kneading, the dough should come together and pull away from the sides of the bowl, leaving the bowl mostly clean. (I try not to add too much flour because your bread will be more dense.) When you pick the dough up, some will stick to your fingers. After the first rise, it will be easier to handle!
• Kitchen too cool to rise? In the wintertime when my house is cooler than normal, I like to turn the oven on for 2-3 minutes, then turn it off and let the bowl of dough rise in there. The oven traps the heat for a longtime and it is the perfect atmosphere for rising dough.
• After the first rise, don’t overwork the dough. I usually knead and shape my dough in about 1 minute, then it is back in the pan to rest, for the 2nd rise. I like to have the pan rise in the oven for this second rise so that I don’t have to worry about moving risen dough. I just turn the oven on and set the timer to bake!

Can I made this Homemade Buttermilk Bread in a Bread Machine?

YES! I have had wonderful results making this Buttermilk Bread in my bread machine. You don’t have to make any ingredient changes either- simple add them to your bread machine pan in the order listed below. I used the “Basic White Bread” setting with a light crust and it turned out beautifully.

Homemade Buttermilk Bread Ingredients

Buttermilk: You will need 1 ½ cups of buttermilk* to create the most amazing homemade bread.

Butter: Adding in 2 tablespoons of melted butter will make this bread rich in taste.

Sugar: Use 2 tablespoons of sugar to help sweeten this bread up perfectly.

Salt: You will want to add in 1 teaspoon of salt to help balance the flavors in this bread well.

Flour: The base of this recipe is 3 ½ cups of all-purpose or bread flour.

Yeast: To make the bread rise properly, you will need 1 tablespoon of yeast.

How to make Homemade Buttermilk Bread from scratch

Dough prep

Start by combining the buttermilk, melted butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. *You can substitute regular milk + lemon juice for buttermilk, but you won’t quite get the full texture and flavor of this bread. So add buttermilk to the grocery list; you’ll love it!

Then, in a separate bowl, combine the salt, flour and yeast. Whisk the dry ingredients together to combine, then add them to the wet buttermilk mixture in the mixing bowl. Mix all ingredients together until well combined (I use a KitchenAid Mixer.)

I like about a quarter sized amount of dough to be sticking on the very bottom. If your dough looks a bit dry, add in another splash of buttermilk. Once you have achieved a good consistency, mix the dough on low for about 6-7 minutes (or knead by hand about 10 minutes). Proper kneading is critical to great textured homemade bread!

First rise

Once the dough is done kneading, proceed to cover the bowl with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour; until the dough has doubled in size.

Second rise

After the first rise, punch the dough down and knead several times, then shape the dough (I like to roll mine, then tuck the ends under) and place in a greased bread loaf pan. Place the dough back in the warm spot and let it rise for another 30-45 minutes.

Bake

Get the oven preheating to 350 degrees F. Once the second rise is complete, bake the dough for about 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Let the bread cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes after baking is complete, then overturn the pan and turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack or folded towel to finish cooling.

When ready to enjoy, slice, serve and enjoy!

HOW TO AVOID SUNKEN BREAD

The easiest and best way to avoid sunken bread is to use a cooking thermometer to check the inside of the loaf. Fully cooked bread will register 200°F on a thermometer. My all-time favorite thermometer is the Thermapen. It’s super fast and incredibly durable. Another great cooking thermometer is the ThermoPop which is a more basic version that works just as well!

BEST BREAD PAN?

I bake a lot of bread and the pans I prefer are either ceramic, glass or cast iron. These pans will bake bread more evenly and release the bread more easily after baking.  I don’t like using dark or nonstick pans because the bread cooks unevenly. It darkens on the outside before the bread is cooked on the inside, so the coloring is uneven. Read more about which bread pan is the best here!

How can you tell if bread is fully baked?

I like to use a food thermometer. Mine is digital, so it’s very easy to use. Fully cooked bread will be 190-200 degrees F. Since this bread contains a lot of milk, I don’t take it out of the oven until it reaches 200 degrees F. The top will be golden brown.

Here are even more recipes for homemade bread to try:

• Honey Wheat Bread 
• How to Make Bread
• Homemade Hawaiian Bread
• Honey Oat Bread recipe
• Cinnamon Raisin Bread
• Parmesan Garlic Dinner Rolls
• Fabulous French Bread
• Sweet Orange Dinner Rolls
• Homemade Hawaiian Bread
• Easy Homemade Cheesy Breadsticks
• Tomato Parmesan Flatbread
• Potato Bread Recipe
• Soft Cornmeal Dinner Rolls
• White Bread Recipe

Homemade Buttermilk Bread can now be baked easily and fresh from the comfort of your own kitchen! This buttermilk bread recipe creates a lovely delicate loaf that has wonderful flavor and can be made in your bread machine.