1 lb Bread Machine Buttermilk Bread

My 1 lb bread machine buttermilk bread recipe creates a small but delicious buttermilk bread. It is great as a soft sandwich bread or for making toast. As you might know, buttermilk softens bread and adds a mildly “tangy” flavor.

This small loaf is perfect for singles, small families or people who do not want a lot of leftover bread.

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

This 1 lb bread machine recipe is ONLY for small compact bread machines (such as the Briskind Compact Bread Maker or Zojirushi Mini Breadmaker). 1 lb bread machine recipes do NOT work well in large bread machines that have 2 lb or greater loaf capacities. See the tips section below for more information.

1 lb Bread Machine Buttermilk Bread – Right After Baking

Ingredients

• 7/8 Cup – Buttermilk (warm) – 207 milliliters – 7/8 cup equals 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 21 grams
• 2 Cups – Bread Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Tablespoon – White Granulated Sugar – 12.5 grams
• 3/4 Teaspoon – Salt – 4.5 grams
• 3/4 Teaspoon – Instant Yeast (Bread Machine Yeast) – 2.7 grams – Not active dry yeast

Servings – Roughly 9 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, silicone spatula, oven mitts, cooling rack and a bread machine.

Dough for 1 lb Bread Machine Buttermilk Bread

1 lb Bread Machine Buttermilk Bread in Bread Pan

Instructions

• Bread machine settings – 1 pound loaf, light color and “basic/white” bread setting.
• Soften the butter in your microwave. FYI – I like to semi-melt the butter for better “mixability”.
• Unplug your bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the unplugged bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
• Add the buttermilk & butter to the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid or salt (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine). Put the bread pan with ingredients back into the unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in the bread machine. Enter the correct settings (1 lb, light color & basic/white bread) and press the “start” button.
• When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine and remove the bread pan from the bread machine. Wear oven mitts as the bread pan & bread machine will be hot.
• Remove the bread from the bread pan and place the bread on a cooling rack. Use oven mitts when removing the bread as the bread & bread pan will be hot.
• Let the bread cool on the cooling rack for 1-2 hours before cutting.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common bread machine problems.

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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help bread machine “novices” and those who haven’t touched their bread machine in years.
• Click on this “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy 1 lb Bread Machine Recipes such as multigrain bread, oatmeal bread and whole wheat bread.

• The bread on this page is the 1 lb version of my popular Bread Machine Buttermilk Bread Recipe (which focuses on 1.5 & 2 lb loaves).
• As you might know, the slight acidity of buttermilk “tenderizes” bread dough by breaking down the gluten in the dough. This helps to create a very soft & fluffy bread.
• You can usually find buttermilk in the dairy sections of most large supermarkets in the US. However, buttermilk is not as popular as regular milk, soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, etc. Therefore, you might have to do a little searching in the diary section.
• In addition, most of the buttermilks sold in supermarkets are “cultured” low fat buttermilks (versus higher fat old fashioned whole buttermilk). Thanks Dan for pointing out this issue!!!
• This 1 lb bread machine recipe is based on using the cultured buttermilk sold in most supermarkets (vs old fashioned whole buttermilk which is difficult to find).

• You can also try to make your own buttermilk with some dried buttermilk powder. Check out my buttermilk powder page if you need more information about the advantages of buttermilk powder or if you need to buy some buttermilk powder.
• Some of my visitors like to make a homemade version of buttermilk. Thanks Paula for this tip!! It involves combining a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar with dairy milk. You can find many online recipes on how to make this type of buttermilk.
• For the best/strongest flavor, you should use FRESH buttermilk (e.g. liquid buttermilk in a carton). Fresh buttermilk has more “tangy” buttermilk flavor versus buttermilk made from buttermilk powder (which tastes much milder).
• Visitors – Do you prefer to use fresh buttermilk (from carton), buttermilk powder or homemade “buttermilk” (milk & vinegar) when making your buttermilk bread & baked goods? Please post your buttermilk tips & suggestions in the comment section below.

• As I stated at the top of the page, this recipe is ONLY for small compact bread machines.
• 1 lb bread machine recipes generally do NOT work well in larger machines with 2 lb loaf capacities, especially if the machines have 2 paddles or a wide horizontal bread pan. However, some visitors have success making 1 lb recipes in a 2 lb “compact” bread machine with a vertical-oriented bread pan (a pan with a square bottom that mainly pushes the bread upwards versus a pan with a wide rectangular bottom)
• If you use larger bread machines with 2 paddles or a wide horizontal bread pan, a 1 lb loaf usually comes out more like a pancake (with lots of exterior crust and less of the soft interior).
• If your bread machine says that it makes 1lb, 1.5 lb AND 2 lb loaves, it will probably have a problem with smaller loaves. Generally, a bread machine is good at making small loaves OR larger loaves (usually not both).
• Moreover, some small compact machines have problems with 1.5 lb online recipes (even if the manufacturer says their machine can handle 1.5 lb loaves). This was another reason for Bread Dad to make some 1 lb loaf recipes.
• If you don’t know the loaf size (e.g. my 1 lb, 1.5 lb or 2 lb recipes) that best fits your bread machine, please take a look at my Bread Machine Pan Sizes page. It covers the internal dimensions of the pans used by variety of different bread machines and offers suggestions about the loaves that best fit those machines.

• WARNING – Since 1 lb recipes use smaller amounts of ingredients, it is easier to mess up 1 lb bread machine recipes!! There is less room for measuring errors versus larger loaves. To make 1 lb loaf recipes successfully, you need to measure accurately (no eyeballing ingredients).
• The top of your bread can sometimes be a little lumpy due to the smaller amounts of ingredients in a 1 lb loaf. Why? Because, as I stated above, there is less room for measurement errors in small loaves versus large loaves. A little too much moisture or flour has a bigger impact on a 1 lb loaf versus a 2 lb loaf.
• To make my 1 lb bread machine recipes, I own & use a Briskind Compact Bread Maker Machine. In case you are interested, another popular (but more expensive) bread machine focused on making 1 lb loaves is the Zojirushi Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Mini Breadmaker.

• In case you are looking at getting a bread machine to make 1 lb recipes, here are some of the benefits of a small compact bread machine; 1 lb loaves are perfect for single people or people who don’t want a ton of bread, a compact machine takes up less space in the kitchen (so more convenient for an apartment versus buying a giant bread machine), it uses less energy than a large bread machine, it creates smaller sandwich slices (sometimes, in my opinion, the slices from 2 lb loaves are too large – especially for kids), etc.
• The disadvantages of a small compact bread machine; small bread pan capacity (so you can’t make a larger loaf if you have guests coming over), not many online recipes are focused on 1 lb loaves, sometimes 1 lb loaves have more uneven crusts (vs bread made with larger horizontal bread pans), etc.
• Visitors – What compact bread machine did you use to make this recipe (such as Briskind Compact Bread Maker or Zojirushi Mini Breadmaker)? Please post your machine & any compact bread machine tips in the comment section below.

• Make sure the buttermilk is well shaken in the carton before you add it to the bread pan. This prevents the buttermilk from being too watery & lacking some buttermilk flavor.
• Do NOT use cold buttermilk. The main problem with using regular buttermilk is that people tend to use cold refrigerated buttermilk and this can slow the yeast growth. Try to use warm buttermilk (e.g. warmed in a microwave) or instant powdered buttermilk mixed into warm water. However, you should also be aware that the buttermilk should not be too hot because very hot buttermilk can kill the yeast. The ideal temperature of bread machine recipe liquids should be around 110-110 F.

• Always use FRESH ingredients (e.g. bread flour and yeast) for the best results. Ingredients that have been sitting in the pantry for months can become stale or pick up weird smells & flavors.
• Try to keep your ingredients (e.g. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life. Airtight containers protect ingredients from moisture (in the air), pests, dust, etc.
• Old flour (when not stored in an airtight container) can absorb a lot of moisture from the air. This extra moisture throws off recipes and can lead to bread collapses, etc.

• This recipe uses bread machine yeast (instant yeast) and NOT active dry yeast. Bread machine yeast & instant yeast are not the same as active dry yeast. Bread machine yeast & instant yeast are added directly to the recipe’s ingredients. In contrast, active dry yeast must be pre-activated for 5-10 minutes in water/milk before being added to a recipe’s ingredients. If you try to use active dry yeast for this recipe, it is much less likely to work properly (as the recipe instructions & leavening time is based on the use of bread machine yeast).
• When adding the yeast, it should be placed in a position that is separate from the salt (e.g. placed on opposite sides of the bread pan). Close contact with salt can kill or slow the growth of the yeast.
• Many bakers like to make a small pocket in the top of the flour in order to hold the bread machine yeast in place (looks sort of like a small flour volcano with a yeast crater). This is done to prevent the yeast from falling into the liquid ingredients (and activating prematurely), coming into contact with the salt, etc. until the bread machine is turned on.
• I would recommend NOT reducing the salt in this recipe. You generally want to keep the salt-to-yeast ratio at a 1:1 basis in most bread recipes (1:1 based on teaspoons to teaspoons and NOT grams to grams). The salt moderates the growth of the yeast. If you cut the salt (and disrupt this 1:1 ratio), the yeast will grow faster than expected. In turn, this leads to more bread collapses (because the yeast rises too high and then craters in the middle) and/or results in “slack” less manageable dough. In addition, less salt will impact the flavor and browning of the bread.

• Having trouble with bread collapses & misshapen bread tops? Make sure to read Bread Dad’s article on Bread Machine Bread Collapses. It has reasons for and solutions to potential bread collapses.
• If your bread comes out too dense, it is likely due to one of the following reasons; You are using old or stale yeast, using a cold refrigerator temperature liquid (which slows yeast growth), baking in a cold winter temperature kitchen, using all purpose flour (versus bread flour as called for in the recipe), placing salt on top of or next to the yeast (salt kills yeast so it must be placed away from the yeast in the bread pan), etc. For more reasons, you should visit Bread Dad’s Why Is My Bread Machine Bread So Dense? page.
• For information on other possible errors, please visit my Common Bread Machine Mistakes page.

• If you haven’t used your bread machine in a long time, please buy some NEW bread machine yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Bread machine yeast may not be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
• FYI – Bread machine yeast loses its potency over time. Generally, bread machine yeast lasts for only 3-4 months after you have opened the bottle. However, if the yeast is exposed to air & moisture (e.g. the bottle not sealed tight) or exposed to higher temperatures, the yeast will expire even more quickly.
• Kitchen humidity can impact a recipe. A winter kitchen tends to be drier due to your heating system drying out the air. In contrast, a kitchen in the summer can be much more humid. This change in humidity impacts baking as flour can soak up humidity from the air. Therefore, you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of liquid in the winter if the dough is looking too dry. Or you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of flour in the summer if the dough is looking too wet. If your kitchen is very dry or humid, you might have to add even a little more (but start with 1 teaspoon at a time until you achieve the right consistency). Of course, excessive kitchen humidity or dryness can impact a recipe at any time during the year (not just in the summer & winter)!
• Humidity is also one of the reasons that people should store flour in an airtight container (if they have already opened the flour package). Flour (not in airtight containers) can pick up extra moisture from the air while sitting in the pantry. This can throw off recipes, spoil the flavor, degrade shelf life, etc.

• If you start substituting ingredients (e.g. using different types of flour not called for in the recipe), you are experimenting and should not expect similar results to the recipe shown above. Experimenting can be fun. However, you should expect some successes but more potential disappointments when you start to experiment with recipes. For example, if you substitute whole wheat flour for the bread flour, you will probably experience a problem (as whole wheat flour doesn’t rise nearly as well as bread flour). Moreover, whole wheat flour has a totally different flavor.
• If you have a problem with a bread machine recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the correct bread machine settings), you are using the correct amount of an ingredient (e.g. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measurement cup or accidentally add a teaspoon when a tablespoon is called for), you are using the correct ingredients (e.g. bread machine yeast versus active dry yeast or bread flour versus all purpose flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• Having a problem when you are making a bread machine recipe? If you leave a polite question, I would be glad to help you! Please post your question in the comment section below. Just be aware that it might take me a day to respond depending on my schedule. Obviously more if on vacation. But I will try to be a lot quicker than that!!!

• You can also use this homemade bread to make one of Bread Dad’s delicious & toasty Panini Recipes.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (e.g. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (e.g. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (e.g. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine. The bread pan and the rest of the bread machine can get very hot during the baking process. This means that the bread pan and bread machine is likely to be very hot when you attempt to remove a baked good from the bread machine and/or bread pan.
• For more easy bread ideas, please visit Bread Dad’s sections on Bread Machine Recipes and Homemade Bread Recipes.

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Main Recipe Sections

1. Bread Machine Recipes – 90+ recipes for banana bread, soft white bread, sourdough bread, pizza dough, cinnamon raisin bread, etc.
2. 1 lb Bread Machine Recipes – Recipes for small compact bread machines.
3. Bread Recipes – Buttermilk bread, French bread, bagels, Italian bread, soft whole wheat bread, etc.
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1. Grilled Cheese & Panini Sandwich Recipes – Turn your homemade bread into air fryer grilled cheese sandwiches, ham & cheese paninis, etc.
2. Muffin Recipes – Chocolate chip banana muffins, eggless banana muffins, cranberry banana muffins, etc.
3. Quick Bread Recipes – Easy desserts such as pumpkin bread, cranberry bread, sweet potato bread, etc.
4. Cookie Recipes – Soft oatmeal cookies, M&M cookies, etc.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Bread Machine
2. Wikipedia, Buttermilk

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2. 1 lb Bread Machine Multigrain Bread
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4. 1 lb Bread Machine White Bread
5. 1 lb Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread
6. Buttermilk Bread – Oven baked loaf

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