The fluffiest sourdough buttermilk bread is a great way to use up extra buttermilk. A delicious sandwich loaf with the most fluffy interior and golden brown crust to make the perfect and versatile loaf.
We are in full milking season currently. And our cow June is producing tons of creamy milk. So much so we are basically drowning in it. It’s a constant struggle to deal with it daily, rotate the old stuff out and put the new stuff in, and try to figure out how to use it all.
I’ve been making a lot of butter, which also means a lot of buttermilk. It is a super simple thing to make. Just pour the cream into the blender and turn it on. It just works its magic as I do other things around the kitchen. After a few minutes it is done and ready to strain and use. It’s fantastic.
As a naturally frugal person, I hate letting things go to waste and the thought of just pouring the buttermilk down the drain isn’t appealing so I’ve been trying to figure out other ways to use it.
So I started adding it to homemade bread, and it is so good. It makes it so fluffy and smooth.
It’s perfect for sandwiches, toast with some peanut butter, french toast, and more.
Tips:
- This recipe used the wild yeast from the sourdough starter to give it rise rather than commercial yeast. I’m sure there would be a way to use active dry yeast and sourdough discard, but I haven’t tried that yet.
- If you are new to the sourdough world, make sure to check out how to make your own starter and all my sourdough recipes here.
- While this recipe does include buttermilk, if you find yourself out, regular milk will do just fine.
- Making your own buttermilk is super simple. Just use the milk leftover from making butter, or you can make it by adding a tiny bit of vinegar to regular milk.
- If after shaping you run out of time to bake, you can stick this recipe covered with plastic in the refrigerator for 12-15 hours. Then bake.
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Ingredients:
Butter (softened): A little butter gives it such a good texture. Such a fluffy and soft bread rather than tougher like a loaf made in the dutch oven.
Honey: Could also substitute with maple syrup.
Salt
Active sourdough starter: In order to make a loaf of sourdough, you need a really active starter. If the starter isn’t mature enough, you will probably end up with a flat, not so desirable loaf.
Buttermilk – If you don’t have buttermilk you can just substitute with whole milk.
All purpose flour
Tools you may need:
Measuring cups and spoon or a kitchen scale
Parchment paper
How To Make Buttermilk Sourdough Bread
To a stand mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment, add all of the ingredients. I like to add the flour last, so I can add a bit less or more depending on my starter’s hydration.
Knead on low until dough is stretchy and smooth. You want it to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and be smooth and elastic – about 10 minutes. It should pass the windowpane test. You can also do this by hand kneading.
Place in a lightly greased bowl with a lid, damp towel, or cover bowl with plastic wrap.
Allow to bulk rise for 10-12 hours in a warm place like on top of a stove or refrigerator (not in the refrigerator).
Shape the dough:
Place the dough on a clean work surface that has been lightly floured.
Roll the dough flat into a rectangle and roll it up tightly. This adds tension to the dough which helps give it that oven spring.
Add to parchment lined or buttered loaf pans. Cover with a dish towel.
Rise
Allow the dough to rise again for about 2-4 hours at room temperature, or until doubled.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Add an optional egg wash for more browning.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. The internal temperature should be about 190 degrees when it is baked through.
Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Storage:
Store in an air-tight container for up to five days for best results.
You can also freeze loaves in freezer safe plastic bags for 3-6 months.
Baker’s Schedule:
10 AM: Feed sourdough starter. This will depend on how active your sourdough starter is. It will be at its peak within 4-12 hours.
8 PM: Create the dough and allow it to rise for 10-12 hours.
8 AM the next day: Shape the dough and allow it to rise for 2-4 hours.
10 AM: Bake the bread.
FAQ:
What does buttermilk do to sourdough?
It adds a delicious tangy flavor and also helps break down the gluten strands making the bread really soft.
What do you eat with buttermilk sourdough bread:
Use it the same way you would eat regular sandwich bread:
- Toast
- French toast
- Sandwiches
- With just butter or butter and honey.
Find More Delicious Sourdough Recipes:
- Easy Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Same Day Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Sourdough Beer Bread Recipe
- Delicious Sourdough Breadsticks
- Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Buttermilk Bread
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, softened (57 grams)
- 1 tablespoon honey, 21 grams
- 1/2 tablespoon salt, 8 grams
- 1/2 cup starter, active and bubbly (114 grams)
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, 305 grams
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 473 grams
Instructions
- To a stand mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment, add all of the ingredients. I like to add the flour last, so I can add a bit less or more depending on my starter’s hydration.
- Knead on low until dough is stretchy and smooth. You want it to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and be smooth and elastic – about 10 minutes. It should pass the windowpane test. You can also do this by hand kneading.
- Place in a lightly greased bowl with a lid, damp towel, or cover bowl with plastic wrap.
- Allow to bulk rise for 10-12 hours in a warm place like on top of a stove or refrigerator (not in the refrigerator).
- Place the dough on a clean work surface that has been lightly floured.
- Roll the dough flat into a rectangle and roll it up tightly. This adds tension to the dough which helps give it that oven spring.
- Add to parchment lined or buttered loaf pans. Cover with a dish towel.
- Allow the dough to rise again for about 2-4 hours at room temperature, or until doubled.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Add an optional egg wash for more browning.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. The internal temperature should be about 190 degrees when it is baked through.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- While this recipe does include buttermilk, if you find yourself out, regular milk will do just fine.
- Making your own buttermilk is super simple. Just use the milk leftover from making butter, or you can make it by adding a tiny bit of vinegar to regular milk.
- If after shaping you run out of time to bake, you can stick this recipe covered with plastic in the refrigerator for 12-15 hours. Then bake straight from the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Our family’s favorite sourdough bread recipe!
When you click t!he 2x or 3x button it doubles the metric measurement but does not double the grams. Ask me how I found out.
Pet peeve is recipes improperly written as most people don’t have unlimited access to fresh milk and organic flour.
Realized as it was mixing 120g is one cup therefore 473g Can’t be 7cups.
Hopefully it will still be edible.
Please fix your conversions
Hi! We are working on fixing this. The recipe card only lets us choose cups or grams to automatically double when selected. So sorry about this!
When you click t!he 2x or 3x button it doubles the metric measurement but does not double the grams. Ask me how I found out.
Pet peeve is recipes improperly written as most people don’t have unlimited access to fresh milk and organic flour.
Realized as it was mixing 120g is one cup therefore 473? Can’t be 7cups.
Hopefully it will still be edible.
Please fix your conversions
My first sourdough recipe ever with a new starter and it worked perfectly. I used wheat flour for the starter and unbleached for the bread. This bread browned a lot more than other loaves I have made before with the only difference being starter vs dry package yeast. I was wondering why that would be.
Delicious! Pretty sure I didn’t mix it quite enough or let it rise exactly to double, but it turned out so good! Super easy recipe, I did have to mix for quite a bit longer than the recipe said, but I accidentally added a little too much starter, so I had to add a bit more flour to get the right consistency. It was also hot and humid when I was mixing the dough, so I’m thinking that may have contributed a bit. Definitely going to be a regular occurrence in our house tho!
I started later in than I planned. What happens if I bulk ferment in the frig?
You can always pause the fermentation/rise on the counter by putting it in the fridge. It will still need a counter ferment at some point to help it rise!
That’s what I thought. When you specifically said, “not in the refrigerator”, it made me wonder.
I’m new at this. Can you tell? 🥴
Thank you for your quick response!
Delicious. Thank you.
Just tried this buttermilk sourdough bread, what can i say: awesome
Making this with fresh milled hard white. Sounds like it’s about to bread my KA mixer and it’s dense and harder than a dough should be. Not sure if it’s salvageable but I’m so disappointed 😣