Ireland / Bread
Soda bread
Bread on bicarbonate and buttermilk, with no yeast and no proving. Three minutes from mixing to oven.
Ingredients
- Plain flour350 g
- Wholemeal flour150 g
- Buttermilk400 ml
- Bicarbonate of soda1 tsp
- Salt1 tsp
- Rolled oats, for the top2 tbsp
Quantities are auto-calculated from the original recipe as a guide. Items without numbers (e.g. “to taste”) are not changed.
Method 6 steps
Heat the oven to 220 °C in advance. The bread has to go in immediately after mixing; it cannot wait.
Mix both flours, the bicarbonate and the salt in a bowl and stir well so the soda spreads evenly.
Pour in the buttermilk and mix with a knife or your hand only until it comes together. The dough is sticky and uneven, which is correct.
Turn it onto a floured tray, shape it into a round loaf and cut a deep cross almost to the base.
Scatter the oats over and bake fifteen minutes at 220 °C, then thirty at 190 °C.
A finished loaf sounds hollow when its base is tapped. Cool it on a rack for at least an hour: hot soda bread will not slice.
