6 Simple Kitchen Chemistry Buttermilk Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How to cheat buttermilk? ›

For a solution that mimics the effect of buttermilk, add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar to a liquid measuring cup, then add enough whole milk until it measures 1 cup. Stir and let the mixture sit for five minutes before using.

For our (uncultured) buttermilk, you'll need any variety of plain dairy milk and an acid. We like the neutral flavor of white or distilled vinegar, but any light-colored vinegar will work and so will citrus such as lemon juice or lime juice.

Simply combine your milk of choice and vinegar or lemon juice. You can easily make this buttermilk vegan/dairy free/nut free depending on your choice of milk. Recipe as written yields 1 cup buttermilk. The basic ratio is 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup milk; see post for alternate yields.

The acid in buttermilk also activates baking soda which lightens the dough or batter you are mixing. In On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, food scientist Harold McGhee reports the alkalinity of buttermilk can keep baked goods from browning too quickly.

When sodium bicarbonate comes into contact with an acidic liquid—think buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, molasses, coffee, citrus juice, or vinegar—it produces carbon dioxide gas, and those bubbles produce the lift that you're looking for.

The simplest way to substitute buttermilk is to pour 1 Tbs. of vinegar into a 1 cup measurer and then fill the rest of the measuring cup with milk. Then gently stir the mixture and let it sit for about 5 minutes. If you don't have vinegar, lemon juice and cream of tarter also work as great buttermilk substitutions.

For every 1 cup of milk, stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes. You can scale the recipe up or down depending on how much you need.

You can make homemade buttermilk with 1 cup of milk and 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Simply stir the two ingredients together and let them sit for 5 minutes. The milk will react with the acidity of the vinegar and curdle slightly, creating the same, tangy, creaminess of store bought buttermilk!

Yes, you can swap them in a recipe, but it's not as simple as switching buttermilk for heavy cream/heavy cream for buttermilk. For example, if you're replacing buttermilk with heavy cream you'll probably need to switch out your baking soda for baking powder.

This quick and easy buttermilk substitute is incredibly simple, and my hope is that you have what you need at home already. Here's what you need: Lemon juice OR vinegar. Fresh or bottled lemon juice OR distilled white vinegar will work equally well.

Why is my homemade buttermilk not thick? ›

Heating denatures the milk proteins, which allows the milk to coagulate and thicken more. Raw milk has not been heated; therefore, the proteins remain intact and will not coagulate the same way and cannot create a buttermilk that is as thick.

Sour cream and water or milk

To replace 1 cup (240 mL) of buttermilk in a recipe, combine 3/4 cup (172 grams) of sour cream with 1/4 cup (60 mL) of water or milk, and whisk the mixture until smooth.

Buttermilk is a versatile ingredient that can add lift to baked goods for the fluffiest pancakes, waffles, and biscuits, tenderize chicken and other proteins, give rich texture and tangy flavor to dressings, and shine in delicate desserts like buttermilk panna cotta.

What effect does buttermilk have on chicken? Buttermilk is slightly acidic, so as the chicken marinates, the buttermilk breaks down the proteins in the chicken, tenderising it. Its thicker texture helps completely coat the chicken in the spiced flour mixture so it crisps up well when fried.

Guidelines from agricultural programs at various universities recommend consuming buttermilk within three weeks of the date stamped on the package. In the test kitchen, we've found that buttermilk won't turn truly bad (signified by mold growth) until at least three weeks after opening.

While the quantity of acid could be fine-tuned, the consistency of milk-based substitutions will be unavoidably thin. Compared to cultured buttermilk, plain milk is watery, making the dough so heavy and wet that it oozes into a puddle, turning the biscuits flat and dense.

In a bowl, combine lemon juice with almond milk to make “vegan buttermilk.” Set aside for a few minutes — it should curdle slightly. It won't thicken like buttermilk, but it has a similar effect in recipes. Use in vegan ranch, biscuits (or gluten-free biscuits), or anywhere else that calls for buttermilk.

You can make homemade buttermilk with 1 cup of milk and 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Simply stir the two ingredients together and let them sit for 5 minutes. The milk will react with the acidity of the vinegar and curdle slightly, creating the same, tangy, creaminess of store bought buttermilk!