* Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

I just love this recipe for soda bread. Everyone who trys it says it's the best! So delicious and good for you.  It’s easy to make, no kneading or waiting for it to rise, and this is a recipe even the smallest child can help with. My ‘assistant baker’  my grand daughter Anne, first helped me with this recipe when she was 2 years old.  This bread makes a quick and easy gift from your kitchen too, a gift everyone will love.  Wrap and tie a loaf in a vintage style dish cloth for a fun presentation.

We especially like this bread toasted and this recipe makes a very crusty bread. If you don't like a hard crispy crust, add some butter or oil to the recipe, 2 - 3 tablespoons or so.

In a large bowl mix together well;

         2 cups of all purpose flour

         2 cups of whole wheat flour

         1 ½ cups oatmeal ( I like Old Fashion style rolled oats)

         1 tsp of soda

         1 tsp of salt  

         2-4 tbs of sugar, depending on your preference, we add 4 tbs.

After mixing dry ingredients add 1 cup of buttermilk

Stir; the dough will still be very dry at this point.  Gradually add more buttermilk until you have a soft wet dough that starts pulling a way from the sides of the bowl as you stir. Sometimes I need to add up to another whole cup of buttermilk.

 

Butter the sides and bottom of a loaf pan; then using whole wheat flour, liberally flour the pan leaving a generous amount on the bottom. 

Dump the dough into the floured pan, level the top with your spoon. 

                                                                                  

 Wet your fingers with water and smooth out the top a little. Don’t over wet the dough!

 Now sprinkle a spoonful of whole wheat flour and a spoonful of oatmeal over the top. Make a cut down the center of the wet dough with a serrated knife. In my picture I forgot this step, (my assistant didn’t remind me either :) and it still turns out fine.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400°  for 60 minutes.  Cool 5-10 minutes in the pan then remove the loaf and put it on a cooling rack. 

If you would like a more rustic style loaf, then use a cast iron skillet or baking stone instead of the loaf pan.  Don’t butter, but liberally flour and then dump the dough on top of floured surface.  Keep the dough in a mound, do not flatten it out, while rounding and smoothing with wet fingers. 

Now wasn’t that simple? Give it a try.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

In a large bowl mix together well;
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups oatmeal 
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt 
2-4 tbs of sugar, depending on your preference, we add 4 tbs.
1 1/2 - 2 1/2  cups of buttermilk
(don't have buttermilk? use 1 TB of vinegar to 1 c of milk instead)

Bake in a preheated oven at 400° for 50-60 minutes.

After mixing dry ingredients add 1 cup of buttermilk. Stir; the dough will still be very dry at this point. Gradually add more buttermilk until you have a soft wet dough that starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl as you stir. Sometimes I need to add up to another whole cup of buttermilk.

Butter the sides and bottom of a loaf pan; then using whole wheat flour, liberally flour the pan leaving a generous amount on the bottom. Dump the dough into the floured pan, level the top with your spoon. Wet your fingers with water and smooth out the top a little. Don’t over wet the dough!

Now sprinkle a spoonful of whole wheat flour and a spoonful of oatmeal over the top. Make a cut down the center of the wet dough with a serrated knife. In my picture I forgot this step, (my assistant didn’t remind me either :) and it still turned out fine.

If you would like a more rustic style loaf, then use a cast iron skillet or baking stone instead of the loaf pan. Don’t butter, but liberally flour and then dump the dough on top of floured surface. Keep the dough in a mound (do not flatten it out) while rounding and smoothing with wet fingers.

Allow bread to sit in pan 5-10 minutes then remove and place it on a cooling rack. Slice when completely cool. Cutting while still warm though delicious, can cause it to be gooey in the middle. After you have baked this bread you may decide to increase or decrease your baking time by 5 minutes or so for the next time. I'm sure you will get it just right.

This recipe is very forgiving. Since I often have little helpers in the kitchen it seldom turns out the same way twice! Too much milk? No worries maybe add 5 min to baking time. Out of milk? Use water and vinegar.  You can add some butter, raisins, even an egg if you want but then deduct some liquid. 

* This post first appeared at Family Home & Life.

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