This buttermilk bread is so soft and flavorful and requires very little special attention. You can very easily make this bread by hand (no bread machine or stand mixer required) and it bakes up beautifully every time!
The texture of this bread is one of my all time favorites. It is so soft, but not delicate. It can stand up to a nice thick sandwich or being soaked in custard for french toast. Its a jack of all trades and I know that you will just love it!
Let’s get this loaf started…
This bread has a few ingredients that may be new to you, but trust me, they all come together to create a beautiful loaf of bread that has great flavor and texture.
To get started, gather 3 1/2 cups of bread flour, 1/4 cup of honey, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 packet of active dry yeast, 1/4 cup of warm water, 1 cup of warm buttermilk, 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger. Ginger, you ask? Let me explain…
Ginger has been rumored to keep freshly baked bread fresh longer. After doing some research online, I found a few recipes that suggested adding a bit of ground ginger to the dough for this purpose, so I tried it and it works! You do not taste the ginger at all, but you’ll know that it is in there working hard to keep your bread fresh. Thanks ginger!
Start by adding 1 packet of active dry yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger to 1/4 cup of warm water. Whisk to combine and then let it rest in a warm place for 5-10 minutes to bloom.
See how frothy the yeast mixture has become? Remember we started with just 1/4 cup of water. This is how you know your yeast has bloomed and you are ready to move to the next step.
Transfer the bloomed yeast into a large bowl and add 1/4 cup of honey, 1 cup of warm buttermilk, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Whisk to combine.
Add 1 cup of bread flour and whisk to combine. You should have a soupy, whiskable texture at this point. Now add 3 tablespoons of melted butter and 1/2 cup of bread flour and whisk until everything is fully incorporated.
Switch from a whisk to a silicone spatula and add 1 more cup of bread flour. Add a bit more flour as necessary to develop a kneadable dough and transfer the dough onto a floured work surface.
Knead the dough by hand for 3-5 minutes and add a bit more flour, if necessary. Try to add as little flour as you can. Adding too much flour can make your bread dense and this dough should be soft and squishy, so don’t get too heavy handed with that flour…
Shape the dough into a smooth ball and transfer it into a lightly greased large glass bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 90 minutes in a warm place. The dough should be twice the size it was when you first started…
Check out that fluffy dough! It smells so good already. Flip it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and gently press the dough out using your finger tips (photo below).
Now, roll the dough into a small log and transfer it into a buttered 9″x5″ loaf pan. Be sure to butter all the way up the sides of the loaf pan. This bread puffs up a lot during baking, so you will want all of the sides buttered, so it slides out easily post baking.
Cover the loaf pan with a clean, dry kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
After the second rest, bake the dough in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. You are looking for the crust to be a deep golden brown and for the internal temperature to reach 190-200 degrees.
Because this bread is baking at a fairly hight temperature, it is a good idea to “tent” the loaf with tin foil. This will postpone the browning of the top crust until you remove it. I usually remove it when there is about 10 minutes of baking time left.
To make your tent, cut off a 14 inch long portion of foil and fold it in half. Crease the fold with your finger tips and then open it up and lay it over the loaf pan. It should look like this…
The heat will still circulate under the tent, but it won’t begin to brown the crust deeply until you remove it.
Once the bread is finished, carefully slide the bread out of the loaf pan and place it directly onto a cooling rack.
If you want the crust to be a bit crispy, let it cool as is, but if you prefer your crust to be softer, brush 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the crust while it is still hot. I brush it over the top and all around the sides. The crust will still be hearty and hold up during cutting, it just softens it up a bit and adds additional butteriness to each bite. Who wouldn’t want that?
Allow the bread to cool for at least 45 minutes before slicing. This is by far the hardest part of baking fresh bread. Just a friendly warning… your house WILL smell amazing once you pull this load out of the oven and that makes the waiting part even harder, but do… not… slice this bread while it is hot… or even very warm still. All of the moisture within bread needs to evenly dissipate throughout the loaf and if you break that process up by slicing through the loaf, the beautifully soft texture will turn gummy and uneven.
It’s not worth it. I promise.
By far, my favorite use of this bread is a nice turkey sandwich. The texture is exactly what you want out of a sandwich bread. It is really soft, so you can pile on the meat, cheese and veggies, because you won’t meet any unneeded resistance when taking a bite.
I hope you make this bread soon, because I know you will love it. The ginger will keep it fresh for days out on your counter top (if no one eats it before then) and you can literally use it for anything you can dream up… sandwiches, french toast, grilled cheese, one eyed joes, croutons, dipping in soup, garlic toast… the possibilities are endless… and quite delicious.
Buttermilk Bread
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1/4 cup honey
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 packet of active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup water, warm (between 100-110 degrees)
- 1 cup buttermilk, warm (between 100-110 degrees)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Start by combining 1 packet of active dry yeast, 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of warm water. Whisk until combined and set in a warm place until bloomed (5-10 minutes)
- Transfer the bloomed yeast into a large bowl and add 1/4 cup of honey and 1 cup of warm buttermilk. Whisk to combine
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 cup of bread flour. Whisk to combine
- Add 3 tablespoons of melted butter and 1/2 cup of bread flour and whisk until all of the ingredients are fully combined
- Switch from a whisk to a spatula and add 1 more cup of bread flour
- Mix until a loose dough forms
- Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface
- Knead for 3-5 minutes, adding additional flour, if necessary
- Once the dough is smooth and elastic, form it into a smooth ball and transfer the dough into a lightly greased large glass bowl
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let it rest for 90 minutes in a warm place
- Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer it onto a floured work surface
- Gently press the dough out into a large oval using your finger tips
- Roll the dough into a cylinder and transfer it into a buttered 9"x5" loaf pan
- Cover the loaf pan with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for 30 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- Once the dough has puffed with in the loaf pan, loosely cover the loaf pan with foil (instructions above)
- Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes (remove the foil when there is 10 minutes of baking time left)
- Once the dough is deeply golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 190-200 degrees, carefully transfer the bread from the loaf pan onto a cooling rack
- For the softest crust, brush the outer surface with 1 tablespoon of melted butter while the bread is still hot
- Allow the bread to cool for 45 minutes before slicing
- Store at room temperature in an air tight container
