The softest bread you might ever taste! Great for spreading even more butter on with your condiment of choice. This butter bread is very popular on the sunny island of Antigua and Barbuda.

Caribbean Butter Bread

I was quite surprised to find this as being a popular on the island of Antigua and Barbuda. Who would have thought that butter bread would be a thing over there! Apparently the islanders will go out every morning to pick up a loaf. It certainly would go down well over here as the bread-loving nation that we are, so I thought i’d give it a go.

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Why you should make this

It’s the softest bread you may ever make
It’s super simple
You can take out life’s stresses when kneading the dough!
You could double up and freeze a loaf for another day
Making bread is one of life’s joys – you must try it at least once

Why is this bread so soft?

The use of buttermilk in this dough gives it its extra soft, buttery texture. I bet your mouth is watering at the thought of all that butter melting into the dough, making it even more buttery in the process? Am I right?!

Recipe step-by-step

Ingredients

7g Fast-action dried yeast
38g caster sugar
3 tbsp warm water
200ml buttermilk
25g unsalted butter + extra for greasing + 1 tbsp
350g strong white bread flour
Pinch of salt
Olive oil

Mix yeast, water and half sugar together. Leave to activate for 5 mins.

2. Melt butter and rest of sugar in a pan.

3. In a bowl, mix together the melted butter, yeast, flour, pinch of salt and buttermilk.

A bowl shows the flour, buttermilk, melted butter and yeast have been added together.

4. Bring together the dough until it forms a rough ball.

5. Knead dough until it feels elastic.

6. Oil a bowl and place the dough inside to prove for an hour (cover with damp cloth), or until double in size.

7. It should look like this…

8. Grease a loaf tin with butter. 9. Knock back dough in the bowl and shape into a oblong shape to fit tin.

Knock back and shape dough and place in loaf.

10. Leave to prove again for 30 mins.

10. Make a thin cut on the top of bread and slot in a tbsp butter. Bake in pre-heated oven for 30 mins or until base sounds hollow.

What to add on a buttery bread? More butter of course!

Recipe Tips

A mixer with a dough hook attachment is needed for this bake but you can also use your hands!
Think about where the warmest place in your house is where you can prove the dough. I proved mine in the oven: switch it on low for a few minutes and then turn it off. This creates a warm atmosphere for the dough which ‘proves’ to be a success for my bread every time! Just ensure it’s not too warm.
A 9x5x3 is the required size for the loaf tin.

The photo shows that you can serve with butter

Serving suggestions

A nice salted butter is always the way!
Nutella is always a favourite with this partly sweet bread
It would go nicely with my Slow-Cooker Lamb Stew or my Roasted Root with Ras-el-Hanout soup

How long does the bread last?

The bread will keep well in a bread store for around 3 days. Once it becomes stale, it will be better to toast it. Just think of all that melty Nutella on the warm toasted bread…delish!

If you’d like to know more about Antiguan food, see my post on How To Eat Like An Antiguan.

The Recipe

Antiguan Butter Bread

Serves: 8
Difficulty: Medium

The softest bread you’ll ever taste. A traditional loaf from the island of Antigua.

What you will need

7g fast action dried yeast
38g caster sugar
3 tbsp warm water
200ml buttermilk
25g unsalted butter + extra for greasing + 1 tbsp
350g strong white bread flour
Pinch of salt
Olive oil

Method

11. Mix together the yeast, water and half of the sugar. Leave for 5 mins for it to activate.
22. Meanwhile, melt butter and half sugar in a pan.
33. Add the butter, flour, salt and buttermilk to the yeast and mix until combined.
44. Bring everything together until combined and ball is forming.
55. Either using a dough hook or hands, knead/mix until dough feels elastic –
6 about 10 mins.
75. Coat a medium bowl with the oil and put the dough inside. Turn the dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to prove in a warm place for 1 hour or until double in size.
86. Place the dough on a floured counter and knock back.
9Shape the dough into an oblong shape.
107. Grease a 9×
115 inch loaf tin with butter and put the dough inside. Leave to prove again for 15 mins.
128. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 190/170 fan/350 f/gas mark 3. When ready to made, make a thin slice through the middle of the dough and push in 1 tbsp of butter. Bake for 30 mins until golden brown and base sounds hollow