Soda Bread; perfect and simple Irish soda bread with a unique texture and wonderful flavour, easily made by hand!
This week I fell in love with soda bread.
Very little can beat the welcoming chewy crust and fluffy interior of a loaf of freshly baked homemade bread. Unfortunately, bread can involve a fair amount of effort in kneading and a lot of time in the proving. Sometimes one needs comfort without the effort.
Times like these call for soda bread. Lovely, ugly soda bread. Good old fashioned Irish style bread which requires no kneading or proving at all; you can have this loaf on the table ready to serve in an hour. Now that is comforting!
Soda bread has a wonderfully different texture to your average loaf, almost somewhere between bread and a muffin, it is a lovely cakey texture that compliments whatever you’re pairing it with perfectly.
It also lends itself well to flavouring, which means you can add herbs, spices and even cheese to the dough and make this simple loaf extra yummy!
Anyway, enough rambling, time to make some bread. You’ll first need to preheat your oven.
Simply weigh the two types of flour into a bowl and add the bicarbonate of soda and the salt.
Make a well in the centre and pour in your buttermilk.
Use a spoon or table knife to mix this into a rough dough.
Lightly flour a work surface and tip your dough onto it, using your hands to bring it together and shape into a smoother ball.
Pop this ball onto a greased baking tray and use a knife to score a cross into it – this traditionally let the “devil” out of the loaf but nowadays it just helps it bake evenly!
Now stick the tray in the oven and bake until crisp, golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath.
Once baked, cover the loaf with a slightly damp tea towel and allow to cool. This prevents the crust from getting too dry and hard.
When the loaf is cool, it’s time to eat!
Soda bread is also great in that it slices much more thinly and neatly than regular fresh bread – which is notorious for being particularly difficult to slice during its first day of life.
This quick and simple soda bread makes for excellent rustic sandwiches, and is also the perfect vehicle for good butter. It’s a great gateway to bread-making, or just a good excuse to make
Easy homemade soda bread? Done.
Scroll down for the full recipe!
Soda Bread
Perfect and simple Irish soda bread with a unique texture and wonderful flavour!
Notes
BE A MAVERICK: This soda bread is easily flavoured, just add in herbs, cheese or anything else you like!
Ingredients
- 250g (2 cups) plain white flour
- 250g (2 cups) plain wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 420ml (1 ¾ cups) buttermilk, or normal milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven - 200 C / 180 C fan / 400 F / gas mark 6.
- Weigh the two types of flour into a bowl and add the bicarbonate of soda and the salt.
- Make a well in the centre and pour in your buttermilk.
- Use a spoon or table knife to mix this into a rough dough.
- Lightly flour a work surface and tip your dough onto it, using your hands to bring it together and shape into a smoother ball.
- Pop this ball onto a greased baking tray and use a sharp knife to score a deep cross into it.
- Now stick the tray in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until crisp, golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath.
- Once baked, cover the loaf with a slightly damp tea towel and allow to cool. (This prevents the crust from getting too dry and hard)
- Enjoy!
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