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Brown soda bread

The original recipe for Irish soda bread uses only four ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk or sour milk. Soda bread is best when it is still almost warm.

Ingredients

4 cups flour (whole wheat flour)
4 cups flour (all purpose flour, white)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 1⁄2 cups buttermilk

Instructions

  1. Mix together all the dry ingredients.
  2. Create a well into he center and pour in half of the buttermilk. Mix carefully and slowly add just enough buttermilk to make a soft dough. You may not need to use all of the buttermilk.
  3. Turn dough out on a floured surface. Do not knead or handle dough too much, this could cause the bread to toughen. Seperate the dough into 2 loaves and quickley shape into 2 circles.
  4. Place the loaves into a greased 7 inch pie pan and cut a deep cross onto the top with a knife.
  5. Bake at 450° F (230 ° C) for 15 minutes, then reduce to 400° F (200 ° C) and bake for an additional 25 minutes. The bread will be a light brown. Turn out onto a rack to cool. Slice as soon as it has cooled.
Total time
1 hour
Cooking time
0
Preparation time
60
Yield
2 Loaf

The Irish soda bread rises due to a chemical reaction between the baking soda and the buttermilk or sour milk. Because there is no yeast, the bread does not last long, it is best to eat it as soon as it has cool down. Don't worry, soda bread makes a decent toast.

easy, comforting
breads, baking
Irish food recipes
Food in Europe

Other Irish Recipes

Irish stew

Irish bread pudding.