Baking Bread with a Small Amount of Butter

I have a bread recipe that calls for a small amount of butter. Is that permitted?

In addition to the two leniencies mentioned in Shulchan Aruch (i.e., baking the bread in a strange shape, or baking less than the amount that one consumes in a day), many poskim also permit baking bread that contains a small amount of dairy, provided that the dairy is less than one part in sixty of the bread (see Pischei Teshuva, Yoreh De’ah 97:6 and Nachalas Tzvi ibid). Although the Tzemach Tzedek Ha’kadmon (b. 1600) was stringent not to allow adding even a small amount of dairy into bread or wine, however the Mishnah Berurah (447:106), Shulchan Aruch Harav (447:51) and most other poskim follow the Magen Avrohom (447:45) that permitted this. In this case, the prohibition of dairy bread would not apply, since the dairy taste is nullified in the bread. (Note that the determination as to whether an ingredient is nullified must be based on volume, not on weight.) In order for the dairy ingredient to be nullified, it must be mixed well into the dough. If butter is drizzled on the top of the dough, even if it is a very small amount, the bread would be forbidden.

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.