Recipe Irish Soda Bread

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This is a hand-me down from an irish lady we know in Rosslare, whose mother kindly gave us the recipe after we commented on how much we loved her bread.
It is simply the easiest bread you can make. I have taught this to a 10 year old girl, it really is that easy.

Ingredients
8oz wholemeal flour
8oz self rasing flour
1 pot of buttermilk 284ml (basically what you can buy in UK supermarkets)
1 oz of butter melted (optional)
1tsp of bicarb of soda
1/2-1 tsp salt (to taste, and this recipe does benefit from the salt)

Method
nothing fancy - bung the whole lot in the a mixer on the dough hook and add enough milk (usually not more than a couple of tablespoons) to make a dough. Let it 'kneed' briefly for a couple of mins.

Put onto floured surface and flatten into a long, thin rectangle no more than 3cm thick (same sort of thickness as scones). I have found over the years that the dough cooks better if the width of the rectangle is continuous.

Transfer to baking tray and cook for 45-50 mins at 140C. Like all bread, it should sound hollow if the underneath if tapped.

Next time I make it I will add a photo. But it usually forms a long thin loaf that has risen by 50-100%.
 
Oh, I love soda bread. I especially love it fried in bacon fat as part of a full breakfast...:hungry:
 
Another easy non yeast bread type bake is corn bread I have made a couple batches lately , uses polenta flour so very light with a slight grain
 
If you use yogurt in soda bread will it work with non live yogurt? The recipes always say buttermilk or live yogurt.
 
Watched the Paul Hollywood bread programme last night and he did a soda bread. Think i will give it a go at the weekend. Last time I tried a basic bread it was too dense and heavy. (probably overworked the dough)
 
The liveness of the yogurt should be irrelevant. What you're after is the acidity - lactic acid reacts with the bicarb to give CO2 gas, and that's what makes the bread rise.
It's like the yeast in other bread - the yeast eats sugar, and makes CO2 and alcohol. Alcohol boils off in the oven, and the CO2 makes the bread rise.
 
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