A No-Buttermilk Solution

While I love the taste, low cost, and satisfaction that come with cooking and baking from scratch, it often involves a lengthy list of ingredients, some of which I don’t keep on hand.  Sure, I’ve got the basics:  flour, eggs, pasta, chicken broth, and more than a handful of spices…but buttermilk?  Not so much.  While buttermilk can be easily frozen (in 1 cup amounts, or whatever amount you usually use at one time) and thawed to use later, sometimes we’re still left without that important ingredient and no one to blame but ourselves – or the person who was supposed to buy more buttermilk.

Don’t sweat it.  As I promised last week, there’s a simple solution for the lack of buttermilk.  Here it is:

Lemon juice or vinegar + milk.

Technically, this makes sour milk, which is a replacement for buttermilk, but it’s much simpler than making real buttermilk.  I found that making your own buttermilk is possible, but it requires either cultured buttermilk as a starter or another ingredient that I rarely have in my fridge:  heavy cream.  Therefore, I’m sticking with the sour milk method.

Sour Milk/Buttermilk Replacement

Makes:  1 cup

1. Place 1 T. lemon juice or vinegar in a measuring cup
2. Add enough milk to fill to 1 cup total liquid; stir
3. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes before using

Easy peasy.  Now you don’t have to be angry at your designated buttermilk-buyer when you run out in the middle of making a cake.  You can make this in any amount, as long as you keep the same ratio of lemon juice/vinegar to milk.  Happy baking!

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