bread made with dairy

I was very excited to find some local milk in glass reusable bottles on 1/2 off because of an upcoming expiration.  Yay!  Make yogurt!  So I did ... but it didn't work.  And then I tried again.  Nope again.  So I had half a gallon of runny gloppy sour milk. The chickens and dog are quite happy to eat it but I also wanted to make bread, so ...

This recipe was outstanding.  A perfect sandwich bread.  Fantastic.  Great flavor and soft texture.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 c. liquid total: in original recipe: 1 cup buttermilk (or runny sour milk that should be yogurt) + 3/4 c. water; I also use whey, milk, etc. 
• 1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter (or less if dairy is high fat)
• 2 cups whole wheat bread flour (or whatever whole wheat flour you have)
• 2 cups white flour
• 3 tablespoons rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon dry yeast
• ⁽¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking soda) - unnecessary, makes it very poofy

Directions

1. Heat the 1 3/4 c. liquid (yogurt/buttermilk/water) with the salt, sugar, and butter.  Let it cool to 100-110 degrees F.
2. Put 3 1/2 cups of the flour, yeast, (and baking soda) in a bowl and add the liquid.  Stir it in.  Add flour until it's the right consistency.
3. Knead for 10 minutes, then set to rise in the bowl. 
4. Cover and let rise for about an hour and a half (depends on kitchen temperature). 
5. When doubled in size, punch it down.  Shape into the greased bread pan. 
6. Set to rise again for about 30-45 minutes. 
7. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Note: you can proof the yeast with 1 tsp. sugar and 3/4 cup water if you like.  I don't bother anymore since I'm using SAF instant yeast which is very user friendly.