Honey Buttermilk Bread Recipe

Buttermilk bread sliced to show texture.

This easy buttermilk bread recipe rises high, light, and fluffy! Honey gives it a little touch of sweetness that's just delicious! It's a simple country loaf that the whole family will love!

Course Yeast Bread

Cuisine Amercian Heritage

Prep Time 2 30

Cook Time 30

Rising time 2 15

Total Time 5 15

Servings (2 loaves)

Calories 188kcal

Author Marye Audet-White

Equipment

Heavy Duty Stand Mixer
Glass Bread Pans You can use metal bread pans if you want. I just prefer glass.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon yeast or 1 packet
1 pinch powdered ginger
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup water warm, 105F - 110F
2 cups cultured buttermilk warm, 105F - 110F
⅓ cup honey
1 teaspoon kosher salt if using table salt use ¾ teaspoon
¾ teaspoon baking soda
6 cups bread flour you may use all-purpose flour
¼ cup butter melted and cooled so that it is warm to the touch but not hot.

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl mix the yeast, ginger, sugar, and 110F water.
Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy.
Whisk the buttermilk, honey, salt, and baking soda together and add it to the yeast mixture.
Add three cups of flour and mix until smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes on low of a stand mixer.
Pour in the butter until it is totally mixed into the batter.
Add the rest of the flour, one cup at a time, keeping mixer on low speed.
When dough pulls from the sides of the bowl remove it from the mixer to a lightly floured surface. Knead until elastic and smooth. You can also knead in your mixer according to manufacturer's directions.
Place in greased bowl, turn to grease the top, and cover bowl with a clean tea towel.
Allow the dough to rise for 1 ½ hours, or until double.
Punch down and form into two loaves. Place each in a greased loaf pan with seam sides down. Grease tops.
Cover, and allow to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until it is just about to the tops of the bread pans.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Bake for 30 minutes. You can cover the tops with foil if they brown too fast.
Remove from oven and brush top of the loaves with melted butter. Place on cooling rack.
Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes.
Gently run a knife around the edge between the bread and the pan to loosen it.
Turn out and cool completely on a rack.
Cover the loaves if you want soft crusts.

Video

Notes

You can use any bread pans that you have - I just prefer glass. The ones I use are 9x4 pyrex which I believe are the 1.5 quart size.

Storage:

Fresh, homemade bread should be eaten within a day or 2 or frozen.

Tips

You may need more or less flour than called for in the recipe. Weather and climate can affect your ingredients - humidity will often mean you'll need at least an extra ¼ cup or so of flour. If you bake bread on a rainy day it will rise higher than on a clear one due to air pressure!
Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
Use yeast that is within the sell by date. If your bread dough isn't rising well it could be that the yeast is too old..
Make sure your liquids are not more than 110F. Check with a insta-read thermometer. If the liquids are too hot the yeast will die.
Be sure to fully knead the dough. It develops the flavor and texture - and will take 8 to 10 minutes by hand.
Grease the top of the dough before rising.
Let the dough rise in a warm spot.
If you feel the bread gets too brown at 375f bake at 350 f.
Cool the baked bread in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out to finish cooling.
Brush the loaves with butter while still hot and then cover with a clean tea towel while cooling for soft crusts.

Need to adjust for high altitude? Check out the instructions from Utah State University.

Nutrition