Five Easy Buttermilk Substitutes for Batter and Baked Goods
Here’s the situation: it’s early Sunday morning and you’re planning on making a batch of buttermilk waffles. You open the refrigerator and realize that you have bought whole milk from the market instead of buttermilk. Panic sets in. Luckily, Epicurious has backed you with the following five buttermilk substitutes.
First, let’s talk about the role of buttermilk in baked goods and dough:
The reason buttermilk is used in many baking recipes is due to the chemical reaction between baking soda and lactic acid. … [W] Baking soda and acidified dairy products are blended in the batter, they release Co2 bubbles that help ferment and brighten everything you do.
Unless you mistakenly bought buttermilk by the recipe, or just don’t want to buy a liter of buttermilk for just one cup, these five substitutes will work just like buttermilk when making batter and baked goods:
- Milk + lemon juice ( but we already knew that )
- Yogurt + Water
- Sour cream + water
- Kefir
- Milk + tartar cream
Read the article below for the exact replacement sizes, and keep in mind that they work best for batter and baked goods. If you’re making a recipe that flavors with buttermilk (for example, in a sauce, salad dressing, or ice cream), you’ll want to use real buttermilk.