One of the amazing females who attended the girls' weekend from which I just returned made this Cinnamon Bread for breakfast one morning. It made one long, luscious loaf, and by lunch-time, we'd finished it off. If there had been any left, it would've been great toasted with a little smear of butter.
As she wrote the recipe into the scrapbook we created for the guest of honor, she accidentally wrote "mixing until laughter" instead of "mixing until crumbly," which was a great statement on the joy that went into everything we ate over the weekend.
Straw Mat from The ...

I have never bought buttermilk. I don't think I've ever TASTED buttermilk. Does it really make a difference when baking? It would never occur to me to buy it and yet I see it sometimes on a list of ingredients - this recipe included. So what's the scoop/difference/big deal?
Anne, you must try buttermilk in a recipe! Any left-overs you must either add to mashed potatoes (delicious, and reduce the amount of butter you need) or make pancakes with it. So tasty. Wikipedia describes how it's made pretty well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttermilk
You can buy powdered buttermilk at Whole Foods. That way you won't have any leftovers. (And YES, it's worth it!)
Buttermilk is great for baking because it imparts a nice flavor and acts as a leavening agent. If you don't buttermilk handy, you can fake it by adding 1 tbsp lemon juice into enough milk to equal 1 cup, then let the whole concoction stand 5 minutes. I am totally making that bread when I get home tonight!
Buttermilk blended with peanut butter or almond butter and a banana is great!
Well, now I HAVE to try buttermilk. I shop at Whole Foods all the time (best dry cat food @ $2.50/bag) so I'll get some dried buttermilk and give it a try.
I love a good loaf of cinnamon or zucchini bread with a slab of cream cheese spread all over it. MMMM yummy
Tonjes Farm Dairy sells fresh buttermilk at the Union Square Mkt on Saturdays. It's amazing. I've used it in baking (Irish Soda Bread, Banana Bread, Pancakes), cold summer fruit soup, and I've had it to drink straight from the bottle. It freezes well but once frozen will separate when it's defrosted; use it only for baking.
This is great! I need 1/2 cup of buttermilk for a scone recipe and wasn't sure what to do with the rest.