I lived in Dublin, Ireland for a year when I was a child. My grandfather was Irish. Even though I was only three to four years old, I remembered enough of it to always want to return for a visit. In June this year (2025) I finally made it, the impetus an invitation to a (lovely!) wedding. Needless to say, I absolutely adored Ireland!
Nearly every meal (from pub to fine dining) was accompanied by Irish Brown Soda Bread. This is an unleavened bread, that is, no yeast. I liked it so much, I wondered had I eaten it in Ireland when I was a child. In fact, I loved it so much I started to make it when I got home. I looked up a few recipes and the one I’ve used most often is from a blog called Bigger Bolder Baking*. This recipe is heavily based on that one.
Soda bread is so easy. No working with yeast. No waiting for dough to rise and punching it back down. It’s like a scone dough. I suspect you could make it even easier by blending the butter in using a food processor, but I haven’t tried that yet.
The soda bread smells divine while baking, and tastes fabulous eaten warm with lashings of butter. It keeps fresh for about three days, and is nice toasted. I freeze half the loaf and save it for later.
In Ireland, I was sometimes served seeded soda bread, which was also delicious. I’ve added a mix of seeds to this recipe and it turned out well, adding a little extra buttermilk to make sure the dough doesn’t get dry. (Suggestion below.)
You will need
260g wholemeal (wholewheat) flour
260g plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1 teaspoon salt
30g butter, cold, cut into small cubes
1 large egg (room temperature)
390ml buttermilk
1 tablespoon rolled oats (not instant or quick cook)
Before you start
• Preheat oven to 215˚C (fan-forced 195˚C)
• Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper (parchment paper). (Spray a tiny bit of cooking oil on the tray so the paper sticks.)
• Prepare a floured work surface. I use a large wooden board or a large piece of baking paper placed on the kitchen countertop.
Method
1 Mix the flours, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. (You’ll need it large to get your hands in there!) Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. (As you go, shake the bowl so any unblended pieces of butter sit on the surface, so you can continue to rub them in.)
2 Whisk the egg and the buttermilk together in a jug.
3 Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in the liquid.
4 Using your hands, mix the dry ingredients and liquid together to soft, sticky dough. Try not to overhandle it.
5 Turn the dough onto the floured work surface and gently bring the dough into a ball. Flatten it into a 20cm (8 inches) round about 4cm thick.
6 Place on a baking sheet and score the bread into four sections (see photo).
7 Glaze the bread with the leftover buttermilk-egg mix from the jug.
8 Scatter the rolled oats on the top.
9 Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature of your oven to 200˚C (180˚C fan-forced) and bake for 30 minutes more. Remove bread from baking tray, if it sounds hollow when you tap on the bottom it’s ready. Place on a wire rack to cool.
Note I made seeded bread by adding a seed mixture to the final dough. I added 50g each of pepitas (pumpkin seeds), sunflower seeds and linseed with a tablespoon of sesame seeds. Next time I’ll add some poppy seeds too.
*Bigger Bolder Baking, you’ll find the Irish background on Irish Soda Bread at this blog.
https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/irish-soda-bread/
About the Author
Kandy Shepherd is a best-selling, award-winning author of contemporary romance. Her heartfelt, passionate stories are set in exciting locations around the world and are published in multiple languages. Kandy believes in love-at-first-sight and real-life romance—she and her husband of many years decided to spend their lives together after three days! She loves it when readers tell her that her books make them laugh and make them cry. Kandy lives near Sydney, Australia with her husband and numerous four-legged friends.
Natalie is having a nightmare Christmas. Her daughter, Clem, has invited her dad over from Australia—and Natalie hasn’t seen her ex, tycoon Jon, for twenty-two years! They agree for the sake of their daughter to pretend to be the perfect family, but Natalie soon discovers the spark between them never died! After two decades of hurt, can she risk her heart for a second chance—or is this festive fling just for the holidays?
Oh yummy! Thanks for this recipe and this new book sounds so wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThis looks very tasty and wholesome 😋 😊 Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeletelooks good
ReplyDelete