It’s been years (really, it has!) since I gave you a soda bread recipe. It doesn’t mean I’ve stopped baking soda bread, but mostly we’re a sourdough household right now.
Best friend Ria baked herself a loaf recently, so jumping on her soda bread bandwagon, I baked one too. I used the whey from curd cheese making, once again, but the recipe usually calls for buttermilk. This recipe is different from my Up The Mountain Soda Bread as it does not include oats or butter. Try both and see which one you prefer!
Ingredients to make one loaf (keeps well for about 4 days)
- 250g plain flour
- 250 wholemeal or granary flour (I used granary which gives it a slightly sweeter, nuttier taste and a slightly chewy texture)
- About 400ml of buttermilk or whey (if you don’t have either, squeeze half a tablespoon of lemon juice into milk, stir and leave it to stand for 30 minutes at room temperature and then it will be ready to use)
- 1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Mix the flours together with the salt and bicarbonate. Gradually stir in the liquid with a wooden spoon or your fingers. You may find you don’t need it all, but you want to end up with a slightly sticky mixture.
Dust your worktop with flour and shape the mix into a round. Try not to knead too much, it just needs to come together.
Place the loaf onto a baking tin lined with greaseproof (or baking) paper. Cut a deep cross into the loaf, almost all the way through. This will allow the heat to penetrate and the alkaline of the bicarbonate and the acid of the buttermilk will work together to make your loaf rise. I’m afraid I’m no great scientist, so apologies if my explanation of the bread magic is somewhat simple!
Dust the loaf with flour, cover with a clean tea towel and leave, if possible, for 30 minutes, You can bake immediately if you choose but this extra 30 minutes really seems to allow the acid and alkaline to start doing their thing so that the loaf is raring to go when it reaches the heat of the oven. Don’t expect it to rise before baking like a regular loaf.
Heat your oven to 200 degrees and when you are ready, bake the loaf for about 30 minutes. It should be browned on the top and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Leave to cool, if you can resist, and enjoy in the same way as a regular bread.
Chica Andaluza 
That looks fantastic – the texture looks quite like sourdough. I need to make soda bread, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten it! 🙂
It was the most bread like soda bread I’ve made (maybe it was the granry mix flour). Do give it a go – an hour or so after starting out and you’re slathering on the butter to eat it!
I do remember reading that soda bread was one of the easiest to make and who doesn’t like warm bread with butter 🙂
Looks great! My husband would love this with slabs of butter.
It definitely needs plenty of butter!
It’s the ‘leaving to cool’ bit that I always find so very hard! 😉
😦
I’m afraid I’m a sourdough gal, soda bread has never really been appealing to me when I have made it.
They’re very different. Sadly for me (and my waistline!), I love most home made bread… 😦
Yum!
🙂
I looks wonderful – lots of time theyre too dry for me.
I agree, but have to say this one was moist and stayed chewy until we finished it!
I love “bung it all in” breads that don’t require resting and proving. Sometimes you just want a loaf of bread STAT and that’s where soda bread is king. Cheers for sharing both varieties here Ms Chica. I am sure Stevie-boy and his lust for fresh bread with his soup will thank you copiously 🙂
It’s a winner in the fast bread competition! Hope Stevie-boy enjoys it if he makes it 🙂 Hope all is well with you x
Just resurrecting the blog now. Am having a mini life overhaul and getting back on track after a long cold winter. Time to get up and Attm! 🙂
This wouldn’t keep well in our home for 4 days, it probably wouldn’t make it to day 2. Pete and I would stuff our faces with slice after slice with copious amounts of butter. You know, so much, you see your teeth impression in each bite.
Have a happy week Tanya.
🙂 Mandy xo
Oh I know, I know! It only lasted that long because the next day I made a huge sourdough loaf too J
love soda bread – still remember on I ate in Ireland many years ago and nothing I have made since has remotely compared to that first slightly sweet slice on Mrs Helens farm!
What a great memory! And yes, it does have a slightly sweet taste J
wah menu ( soda bread ) sound very suitable for the summer , is a very brilliant idea guys:*)
wah This menu is perfect for this summer , a good idea to try it with no sensation especially soda that would be very fresh in the throat : * )
I still haven’t got around to baking bread….has to be a winter resolution:)
No excuse with this one Roger – it’s so quick and easy!
This is something I definitely need to try Tanya! Not sure how I’ve come this far without ever making Soda Bread… sounds so quick and quite easy to do. 🙂
It’s pretty impossible to mess this up – as long as you’re not put off by a fairly wet dough!
This looks great! We regularly have soda bread in our house because our teenage daughter loves making it. I think this recipe would be good too with some chopped walnuts in – we’ve come home from my in-laws’ farm in Spain with a huge sack of their walnuts!
Ooh that would be good, and eaten with some lovely Spanish cheese!
I’m still on my soda bread roll (no pun intended) I made another two loaves yesterday – so quick and easy! 😃
And I hear they were very good!
I love making soda bread when time is short 🙂
It’s perfect for those times!
positively inspiring – and soon (I HOPE!!) it will be cool enough here to contemplate baking again… mmmmmmmmm!
This looks so good!
the recipe is very interesting ,
about this soda bread can last for how long ?
Three or four days – if you can resist it!
Nice article. It will be valuable to anyone
thanks so much sis…..
its so perfecto…..;+)
Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.
seemed feels so good I wanted to try to make it, thank you for sharing the recipe with us.
seems tasty. someday I will try this recipe. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
It’s beautiful! What can be better than a freshly baked bread? 🙂 Yummy!
There is indeed something very special about freshly baked bread!
I looks wonderful – lots of time theyre too dry for me.
it can makes my belly full 😀
Amazing recipe, It will be valuable to anyone. Nice article
wow.. look like tasty, i want to try this at home..
good good…….