Buttermilk Bread baked fresh in your kitchen with this easy recipe! Buttermilk Bread is soft, has incredible flavor and can be made in your bread machine!
If you love Bread as much as we do, find all of our Best Bread Recipes Here!
Buttermilk Bread is made with just a handful of ingredients and is one of my favorite bread recipes. It has such a delicious, soft texture and fantastic flavor. My kids get so excited when they walk in to the smell of freshly baked bread! Bonus too- this recipe is perfect for a bread machine!
If you’ve never baked homemade bread before, here are a few tips:
- Remember to fully knead. The recipe below kneads for 10 minutes and it’s worth it! 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’ll 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’re 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!
- 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’s 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’s 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!
- 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.
- Cool baked bread in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then overturn pan and turn loaf out onto a cooling rack or folded towel to finish cooling.
Can you make this Homemade Buttermilk Bread in a Bread Machine?
YES! I’ve 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
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk*
- 2 TBSP melted butter
- 2 TBSP sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
- 1 TBSP yeast
How do you make homemade bread from scratch?
- Combine buttermilk, butter, and sugar in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, including yeast. Whisk dry ingredients together to combine, then add to buttermilk mixture in the mixing bowl. (I use a Kitchenaid Mixer.) Mix ingredients until well combined. 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’ve 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!
- Once dough is done kneading, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour; until dough has doubled in size.
- Punch dough down and knead several times. Shape dough (I like to roll mine, then tuck the ends under) and place in a greased bread loaf pan. Place dough back in the warm spot and let it rise for another 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake dough for about 30-35 minutes- until top is golden brown. Let cool and slice.
*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!
Enjoy this bread recipe? 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
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!
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!
HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK BREAD
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk*
- 2 TBSP melted butter
- 2 TBSP sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
- 1 TBSP yeast
Instructions
- Combine buttermilk, butter, and sugar in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, including yeast. Whisk dry ingredients together to combine, then add to buttermilk mixture in the mixing bowl. (I use a Kitchenaid Mixer.) Mix ingredients until well combined. 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've 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!
- Once dough is done kneading, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour; until dough has doubled in size.
- Punch dough down and knead several times. Shape dough (I like to roll mine, then tuck the ends under) and place in a greased bread loaf pan. Place dough back in the warm spot and let it rise for another 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake dough for about 30-35 minutes- until top is golden brown. Let cool and slice.
- *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!
Notes
rc says
Saw this recipe and realized I could put to good use an attempt at homemade coconut yogurt (https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-2-ingredient-coconut-yogurt/) that had not thickened but was way too tart for my taste. And this recipe looked too easy NOT to try it. I did roll cinnamon and a little brown sugar into it before the second rise. It turned out very nice – even the parts that didn’t have any cinnamon. Very soft and tasty. Thank you for a great recipe!
Nellie says
Great idea to use runny yogurt – I’m going to have to try that! And cinnamon and brown sugar are another great idea – thanks for sharing!
Snehal says
Can i use wheat flour and vital wheat gluten instead of all purpose flour?
Jessica says
You absolutely can! I don’t use 100% wheat flour- more like half & half. But it’s up to you!
Gwen says
Best bread I have ever made in my bread machine. So delicious!
David Val says
Are you using Active Yeast or Instant Yeast to mix into the dry ingredients? Just checking as I am also baking at 4700 feet.
Jessica says
I bake at 5200k- I know it sounds odd, but it works either way. I use active yeast. Just add it to the flour- it works!
David Val says
Loving this recipe. I have been using half whole wheat flour and half bread flour.
Alex says
Amazing and easy! Loved the results… bread did not last long at my house! Making another loaf soon….
Jessica says
So glad everyone enjoys it- it’s one of our favorites too!
Julie Andrews says
Amazing! I made them into to rolls and they we so soft and yummy! I was wondering if I could freeze the dough? I have read that you need to double the yeast if you freeze it. What do you recommend?
Jessica says
Yes, you can double the yeast and freeze the dough!
Stephanie S says
First bread I’ve made with my new kitchenaid and I’m in love! So tasty and incredibly easy. Thanks!
Alison says
So glad you loved it Stephanie!
Verena says
This bread looks amazing. I have 2 questions please. 1 – what are the dimensions of your bread pan. I always seem to use a pan that is too large with the result the bread doesn’t rise as much and 2 – can I slice the bread and freeze it?
Jessica says
THe pan I used here is an 8″x4″ pan. I wrote up a whole post on bread pans! https://butterwithasideofbread.com/best-bread-loaf-pan/
I’m not a fan of slicing and freezing homemade bread because I feel like it dries out. But you can do it!
Verena Rousseau says
Thank you for your reply. I made the bread and it turned out perfectly. The flavour was superb. I did freeze it sliced, and so far so good. We generally only use frozen sliced bread for toast. Wow!! The toast is phenomenal!! I have to freeze otherwise it would just get thrown out. We don’t eat much bread. Thanks again for the recipe!!
Sylvia V kastler says
I am assuming that you warm up the buttermilk. If you have never baked bread before someone might use it right out of the fridge
Jessica says
Nope, you actually use it right out of the fridge!
Gwen says
The bread machine has several settings for size of loaf. Which one works for these recipes?
Jessica says
I use the 1-lb setting for my machine
Michelle S says
Your recipe is amazing!!! I even used the whey I get when I make my own cheese and it is amazing!! The smell of this while baking is just pure love! Then I also toast it and slap on butter. THANK YOU so much!!!!
Marilyn says
Just took my first lovely loaf of this out of the oven an hour ago. Sliced off the heel in 10 minutes because we couldn’t wait to sample.
I keep buttermilk on hand religiously and use it for so many recipes.
I was looking for a way to make my bread more flavorful when I came across this recipe.
So glad I tried it.
I’ll be experimenting with spelt to see if I can go 100% with it.
Thanks for a lovely recipe.
Alison says
Thank you Marilyn! I’m so glad to hear it worked out so well for you!
Godgift says
So lovely and amazing i tried it and it really work for me.it’s so enjoying thanks
Lisa Valandra says
The best bread ever!!!!! Thank you!
Mildred says
I followed the instructions and my bread came out delicious. Thank you for the great recepie
Bee says
Made this today, came out beautifully brown and very moist and flavorful! Thank you for sharing. What’s the best way to store it?
Jessica says
So glad you enjoyed it!! You’ll store bread in an airtight container. I bought bread bags off Amazon. https://amzn.to/33GlGrm