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Traditional rustic Irish Soda Bread
Traditional Irish Soda Bread was very simple and had but a few ingredients: flour, soda, salt and buttermilk. Since no yeast was involved , the bread didn’t require a period of time for it to rise. This recipe was inspired by the website Irish Soda Bread Recipes.
4 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
Mix the whole wheat flour thoroughly with the white flour, salt and baking soda. Make a well in the center and gradually mix in the liquid. Stir with a wooden spoon. You may need less or more liquid – it depends on the absorbent quality of the flour.
The dough should be soft but manageable. Kneed the dough into a ball in the mixing bowl with your floured hands. Put on a lightly floured baking sheet and with the palm of your hand, flatten out in a circle 1 1/2 inches thick.
With a knife dipped in flour, make a cross through the center of the bread so that it will easily break into quarters when it is baked. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake a further 15 minutes. If the crust seems too hard, wrap the baked bread in a damp tea cloth. Leave the loaf standing upright until it is cool. The bread should not be cut until it has set – about 6 hours after it comes out of the oven.
Mix all dry ingredients together.
Add buttermilk and mix. Turn onto a flour dusted surface, knead and shape into a disc that is 1 1/2 inches thick.
Make a cross in the center of the bread. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes and then 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Let cool completely before cutting.
Sinead Kelly says
Just a note from an Irish woman, my Nana used to say the cross cut in the top was to let the Holy Spirit in, but really its so the loaf bakes evenly. I have fond memories of eating warm soda bread in her kitchen as a young child, with loads of homemade loganberry jam. You don’t need to cover soda bread or keep it in a bread bin after it has been cut, just stand it on its cut end and cover with a clean teacloth. And any stale ends that are leftover are delicious fried in a pan after you’ve fried sausages or bacon!
Jackie Garvin says
Sinead,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful note! I love the story of your Nana and Irish Soda Bread. Those wonderful food memories form a connection between generations and reminds us of our priorities in life. I really appreciate your recommendation on how to keep the bread. Frying the stale pieces in sausage or bacon fat is genius! Thanks so much for stopping by, Sinead. We’re so happy to have you visit us. Please come back often.
Is you name pronounced Shu-nade?
Sinead Kelly says
Thats exactly the way to pronounce it!!
Thank you, by the way for using an authentic soda bread recipe, nothing beats the real thing! You can throw in a handful of sultana’s for a sweeter loaf, delicious with butter and a cup of tea!! Memories really are a treasure, and many of my favourites are connected in some way to food, its a pleasure to pass them on.
Jackie Garvin says
Sinead,
I am so grateful you took the time to leave a comment. Your words are priceless! 🙂
Tamika D. says
That looks so yummy & easy to make. BTW, I adore your apron!
Jackie Garvin says
Thanks, Tamika! I still collect aprons! I hope I can hand them down to my granddaughter one day. 🙂
Ann says
Sounds like an easy good recipe!! I saw the comment about the aprons. The first thing I ever learned to sew was an apron at my grandma’s house – made out of flour sacks (I got to pick the pattern from a stack of saved flour sacks). I wish I still had it! – but I do have something even better – one of my grandma’s aprons that she made – and her old fashioned sun bonnet that she wore outside in the garden. I treasure them!! I’m sure your granddaughter will too!
Jackie Garvin says
Ann,
I’m sad that I never got one of my grandmother’s aprons. She only wore the half aprons and I wear the long ones but I would have loved to get one of hers. I don’t even know what happened to them. Take a picture of your Grandmother’s apron and bonnet and post it on our Syrup and Biscuits FB page so we all can see it! 🙂