Friday, June 15, 2007 3:56 PM
Substitute for buttermilk?
Q. Is there anything I can use in a recipe instead of buttermilk?
A: If you want a substitute for buttermilk because you don’t normally have on hand, it’s easy to make with ingredients you probably do have: milk, and lemon, white vinegar or yogurt. Just mix 1 tbsp. of lemon or white vinegar into 1 cup of milk. Or, mix 1/4 cup milk with 3/4 cup yogurt. Let it sit for a few minutes and, voila!, buttermilk substitute. Flavor-wise, you’ll never know the difference in a salad dressing, like the one in this Mediterranean Garbanzo Salad.
Truthfully,I never buy buttermilk unless I’m making fresh buttermilk biscuits , but I keep powdered buttermilk in my pantry because it’s got the shelf-life of a Twinkie, and all you have to do is add water. I also don’t see the point of a special trip to the grocery store for buttermilk if you’re just using it to marinate baked or fried chicken.
But if you just don’t like buttermilk, you can usually substitute sour cream or yogurt in baked goods. Recipes that call for buttermilk usually require an acid to react with the baking soda to make them rise, and yogurt and sour cream have enough acidity. You could easily sub 1/2 cup of yogurt or sour cream in these Dried Cherry and Almond Scones.