Have you bought a carton of buttermilk?
Have you ever used all of it before its expiration?
I know.
I make my own buttermilk, with just two staple ingredients: skim milk and fresh lemon juice. In short, the lemon juice curdles the milk, and the resulting concoction can be substituted for buttermilk in any baking recipe, or similar, like pancakes. I have never tried this recipe in place of buttermilk for fried chicken, etc., just baked items! If you try it to marinate or dip protein in before frying, please let me know how it goes in the comments!
I strongly recommend using very fresh lemon juice – right from the juicer, if possible – rather than a bottle of purchased lemon juice. I find that fresh lemon juice curdles the milk better. But I will add that I have not experienced a discernible problem with the resulting recipe when I’ve used barely-curdled milk.
I love that the ingredients are so healthy. In a different way, I love that this makes buttermilk an in-stock ingredient, because I can always make it in a snap … which opens doors for my impromptu baking!
So… does a batch of fresh cinnamon rolls cancel out the healthiness of the skim milk and lemon juice?
I plead the Fifth.
- 2 - 3 t fresh lemon juice
- 1 c skim milk
- Place the fresh lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.
- Fill the measuring cup up to the "1 cup" line with the milk (you won't use all of the milk).
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes on the counter until it curdles.
- Use in place of buttermilk in any recipe.
You can also use 2% or whole milk with this recipe.
If you need less than 1 cup, just use a bit less lemon juice and fill up the measuring cup to your desired level of end product.
Try out your homemade buttermilk in one of these recipes!
This homemade buttermilk will last a day or two in your refrigerator, if you don’t get around to using it right away.
I have heard this method also works with vinegar, but lemon has always sounded more appealing to me!
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