Delicious Buttermilk Bread - Easy Homemade Recipe

Are you craving home baked bread with a perfect balance of tangy and sweet flavors plus a moist, fluffy texture?

This mouth-watering Buttermilk Bread will become an instant favorite. Simple ingredients that can be put together in a bread machine or by hand.

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I love fresh homemade bread. The aroma, the taste...

But, in the summertime I don't always like the heat generated by the oven. And sometimes I don't want to go to the hassle of kneading and watching the rising cycles. It's times like these I bust out my trusty old bread machine.

This recipe comes from Julia Child, the doyenne of cooking, from the book Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers based on the PBS series of the same name. It is packed with delicious baking recipes such as this one and this fabulous Popovers recipe.

Ingredients for Buttermilk Bread

This is a yeast bread recipe with fairly typical ingredients you'd expect:

• all purpose or bread flour
• active dry yeast
• powdered buttermilk
• pure maple syrup (or honey, agave syrup, etc.)
• unsalted butter
• salt

The only potentially new ingredient may be the powdered buttermilk. I find it next to the powdered milk in my grocery store. It is great for adding to pancakes and biscuits as well.

Do you need a bread machine?

No.

Some people may not already own a bread machine. And some may not love the odd, uh, "non traditional" shaped loaf created by some machines.

The recipe includes three ways to make the bread:

• make and bake it in the bread machine
• prep and rise it in the bread machine and then baking in the oven as rolls or a regularly shaped loaf
• prep by hand (or stand mixer with dough hook) and bake in the oven.

Recipe

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Ingredients

• 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
• 3 tablespoons powdered buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all purpose or bread flour (plus more if kneading by hand)
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 cup room temperature water

Instructions

• Bread Machine only: Put the ingredients into the bread machine in the order given, or in the order recommended by the manufacturer if different. Set machine for "White Bread" and press start. The machine will mix, knead and bake the loaf.
• Bread Machine start, bake in oven: To make rolls or shape loaf by hand: put the ingredients in order as above and set the machine for "dough" cycle.After completion of the dough cycle allow dough to rise until doubled in bulk (about 45 minutes). Continue to "Shaping and Oven Baking"
• Mix and knead by hand or dough hook: In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients until blended. If using dough hook, continue kneading until dough is elastic and satiny, about 5 minutes.To knead by hand, move dough to a floured cutting board and knead until elastic and satiny adding extra flour if the dough is too sticky.Place in a large greased bowl, cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. To speed it up, preheat oven to the lowest setting, turn it off, then place the covered bowl inside to rise.
• Shaping and Oven baking: Punch dough down and shape into rolls on a baking sheet or put in greased 9 x 5 bread pan. Let rise until doubled again, 40-60 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425℉. Place the loaf in the oven and immediately reduce to 375℉. Bake 35-45 minutes until brown.