How to Get Rid of Buttermilk

This morning we made some blueberry muffins. They soothed our weary soul, calmed our troubled mind and mostly, they tasted freaking delicious. We happened upon this recipe from Nigella Lawson (of the unfortunately-named cookbook Nigella Bites) because we were on a quest: to rid ourselves, our fridge and our life of buttermilk.

For us, buttermilk has always been one of those pain-in-the-ass ingredients that sits in our fridge for months (it never goes bad), because when we buy it, although we need only a thimbleful of the vile stuff, it is only sold in one QUART containers. In case you don’t want to do the calculation yourself, one quart is approximately one million thimblefuls. So, burdened with almost a full quart of buttermilk and the guilty conscience that comes of wasting anything when you are broke, we resolved to find recipes that use buttermilk. We found three.

The first was the muffins, they use 3/4 of a cup (full recipes for all of these are after the jump). We found the second triumph, buttermilk pancakes, in what is actually a treasure trove of buttermilk-rich recipes: the 1975 edition of the Joy of Cooking. These pancakes are scrumptious and use one whole cup of buttermilk. The last recipe is our own invention, and trust us it’s brilliant. Actually, we just substituted buttermilk for whole milk in an standard oatmeal sandwich bread recipe, but the tangy buttermilk hints ever so slightly at sourdough without any of the time and effort. We love it.

If you are wondering where the obvious buttermilk biscuits are, we’ll tell you: they bore us. We’ve done our best to arm you with buttermilk-using recipes. Now you should only have about 300,000 thimblefuls to use up on your own. Good luck.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Whisk together:
1 cup cake or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Beat together:
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk (yeah!)
2 tablespoons melted butter

Fold wet and dry mixtures together until just mixed. Add more buttermilk if batter seems to stiff. Fry!

Blueberry Muffins

Whisk together:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt

Beat together:
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 large egg
6 tablespoons melted butter

Fold wet and dry mixtures together until just mixed. Fold in about 7 ounces blueberries or whatever you like. Divide evenly in greased muffin tin (makes about 10) and bake at 375 for 20 or so minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Oatmeal Sandwich Loaf
Makes one 8 or 9” loaf

3/4 cup water
3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 T unsalted butter
1 cup cold buttermilk or whole milk
3 tablespoons honey
1 envelope or 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 3/4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt

Bring water to a boil, add oatmeal and cook for an additional minute; remove from heat and stir in butter. When butter is melted, add buttermilk, honey and yeast to oatmeal mixture.

Transfer oatmeal mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer and add flour and salt and mix with hook attachment on low until dough is smooth and wraps around the hook (5-6 min.). Transfer dough to a greased bowl, cover and lest rest in a warm place until doubled, about one hour.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and press all air out of the dough, then shape into a rectangle, roughly 6” wide. Roll the rectangle tightly starting on the 6” side and pinch in the end of the dough, making sure not to roll excess flour up into the loaf. Grease an 8 or 9” loaf pan and fit the dough into the pan, press the dough as needed so that it fits snugly.

Let dough rise, covered for an hour or until doubled in bulk. Just before baking, make a 1/4” deep slit down the middle lengthwise of the loaf. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until golden brown (an instant read thermometer should read 200 F). Let rest in pan for 15 minutes, then unfold the loaf and let cool completely on a rack.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Rachael in Food on January 3, 2007 1:20 PM

Comments [rss]

pocketnovel

That's why I love powdered buttermilk! Works just as well, but actually never goes bad and can be tucked way in the back of the fridge. Easy to have on hand without the continual taunting.

Agent Stoopie

The instructions in this post are so accessible, and the picture of the final product is so enticing, that the author has inspired me to face head-on the intimidating world of pastry and try to make some yummy muffins myself. Oh and I really like that clever paint job in the kitchen. Great success.

Mike

An easy substitution for buttermilk can be made by combining lemon juice or vinegar with milk. Put 1 tablespoon lemon juice/vinegar in a measuring cup, add enough milk to make 1 cup of liquid total, stir it around, let it sit for 5 minutes. I found this in my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cook book and have found it to be much more convenient than actually buying buttermilk.

Courtney

I too discovered the joys of homemade buttermilk pancakes after my favorite cake recipe left me yet again with a huge tub of that crap in my fridge, too. Oatmeal sandwich loaf bread, here I come!

Frank

I like this post; I have buttermilk chillin' in the fridge too. I think i'm going to try the muffins recipe.

Stasia

I love the picture, the open cupboards, the red wall, oh, and the muffins in their colorful wrappers, I can almost taste them. Thanks. Steve needs to calm down, people in Seattle eat.

Pauls Toutonghi

This was a great article.

I will make some muffins, now.

drrew

If I'm not going the healthy just use chicken stock route, buttermilk as a substitute for milk and/or cream in mashed/whipped potatoes is fantastic.