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.
The nutrition facts, is that for 1 slice, 2 slices, the whole bread? What is the serving size referenced?
1 slice!
Does this make one loaf or two? You say, “bread pans”
Two loaves!
Two loaves with only 3 1/2 c. flour? Is that right? The loaves seem really small!
You can use it to make one loaf!
Hi from México!
I did my first batch of this sandwich bread and it was a hit. I notice 2 things, and wonder if you could share some tips on what happened.
The bottom of the bread was dense about 1 cm, but I have no idea what I did wrong and how to fix it.
I think my oven is a little high cuz I leave it for the 45 minutes and the inside temperature was above what you suggested. Should I leave it for less time or turn the temperature down?
The crust is supposed to be denser since it is cooked in a dutch oven! You can try adding uncooked rice underneath the parchment paper when you cook it. That will help it from browning on the bottom.
This is by far the best sourdough sandwich bread recipe, comes out perfect every time, and I even knead it by hand. My family absolutely loves it! I am gluten intolerant and this bread is something my tummy can handle. So I am very thankful there is now a bread I can have. Thanks for posting this recipe!!
Hey Debbie! I do not have a stand mixer so I was going to knead. How long did you knead your dough?
This was my first sourdough recipe, and I’ve already made 5 this week! No problems really except transferring it to the loaf pan mine doesn’t look quite as pretty and tends to droop a bit, but it ends pretty after cooking and tastes great! I am only using bread flour though and think I even overproofed a little a few times but nothing drastic and it still turned out great! I like that bread pans are forgiving 😅.
Also, I used powdered buttermilk and instead of adding the full amount of water (1.25C, I adjusted it so that I add the grams the dry buttermilk calls for and then water to complete the 305 grams (i.e. 40g dry milk + 265g water instead of 40g dry milk and 305 water like the bag suggests). It’s working, I’m not changing it!
I hope I’m mixing enough. My times with the stand mixer were all longer (at least 15 min) and it still didn’t totally come together at the bottom, but I think it passed the windowpane test (saying this as a newb).
Thank you so much from one babywearing mama to another!
Can I use whole wheat flour to make this bread? I have some buttermilk to finish up and this recipe sounds easy!
This made an amazing load of bread! So soft, moist, and delicious. I could never get the dough to completely pull away from the sides of my mixer. I have noticed this happening on the last few recipes I have made. I added more flour, and I really resisted doing so as long as I could. But after a what seemed like forever, I took it out of the bowl and kneaded it by hand for a minute or two making sure it wasn’t so sticky… but it felt silly, and soft and smooth. So I put it the bowl to rise and it was fine.
So I am unsure why that is happening in my mixer, but after adding 1/2 cup of flour or sometimes more depending on the recipe-I tend to get nervous it is going to be too much.
Any ideas?
Hi again. Thank you for all your good ideas and your help.. I’m trying this recipe for the first time do I leave the bread in the pan until it cools off or do I take it out and put it on a wire rack to cool?
I like to let it cool in the pan!
Do you use pullman pans ? And if so can you mention the pan sizes in your recipes ?? TY
These are the pans I use.
Do you do any recipes that are with instant yeast? My family does not seem to like the sourness of sourdough.