Irish Soda bread

Recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

pre heat oven to 425
Put 1 cup flour, salt and soda in medium mixing bowl, then top with 2nd cup flour. Whisk or mix thoroughly with fork. Using a fist make a large "cup" in the dry ingredients and pour in buttermilk. Mix QUICKLY into a dough. Sprinkle a kneading surface liberally with flour and lightly knead the dough. A few folds is all it takes. Now for baking, liberally sprinkle a baking pan with flour, I use a round stone pizza pan. Dark metal will suffice.
Place dough on pan and flatten into a circle, much like a pizza crust and press till about 1/2" thick. Flour a knife and cut the circle into 4 equal quadrants, but don't separate pieces. Bake for 20-22 mins.

The BEST way to serve is let age 1 day, then cut into strips about 1/4" or less thick, butter both sides and fry in pan on stove top. When butter on top begins to melt, sprinkle with salt...don't be scared of it, get some on there! Fry till the edges stiffen a little and then lift to see golden brown, flip and salt again and fry till golden brown...enjoy hot with a fresh glass of cold milk.

YUMMY!!!

Alternative to frying is slice like a slice of bread and toast in toaster (Bagel setting is Ideal) and then butter and salt!

I'm thinking of adding half cup of spent grain flour to it. Like from an IPA grain bill.

Your recipe is way shorter than my wifes family recipe.

Have you tried baking the bread in a cast iron skillet?

Last year around St Patrick's day when SWMBO makes soda bread I did one loaf with a bottle of Harp in it. Only problem was it dried out faster than normal after cutting into the loaf.

unionrdr - Spent grain flour sounds like a much better way to go.

could also use a touch of leftover wort.

fuzzy2133 said:

Your recipe is way shorter than my wifes family recipe.

Have you tried baking the bread in a cast iron skillet?

Last year around St Patrick's day when SWMBO makes soda bread I did one loaf with a bottle of Harp in it. Only problem was it dried out faster than normal after cutting into the loaf.

unionrdr - Spent grain flour sounds like a much better way to go.

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That's the beauty of soda bread, it is the basest of recipe with all the room in the world for customization. There are probably literally thousands of different recipes out there. This is the closest I have come to my stepmother's (who was born in County Down) recipe, she made it for years, I hadn't tasted it in over 20. I haven't tried the skillet method, that's nt how she did it. I'm game to try it tho..

Just remember that spent grain flour is drier & a bit too heavy to use all by it'self. So out of two cups of regular flour,try first replacing 1/2C of it with spen grain flour from a lighter colored ale like PA or IPA.

T_Baggins said:

That's the beauty of soda bread, it is the basest of recipe with all the room in the world for customization. There are probably literally thousands of different recipes out there. This is the closest I have come to my stepmother's (who was born in County Down) recipe, she made it for years, I hadn't tasted it in over 20. I haven't tried the skillet method, that's nt how she did it. I'm game to try it tho..

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I have had some from professional baker's that made me wonder if they even knew what soda bread was much less tried any before their attempt.

SWMBO's family adds raisins and sour-cream. The batter gets so thick and sticky it might also work as glue.

It can be hard to like other recipes that are different from what you are used to. I totally understand any hesitation to alter a cherished family recipe.

If you do try baking in a cast iron skillet grease the snot out of it and plan for a little extra cooking time when the skillet is out of the oven and cooling.

unionrdr said:

Just remember that spent grain flour is drier & a bit too heavy to use all by it'self. So out of two cups of regular flour,try first replacing 1/2C of it with spen grain flour from a lighter colored ale like PA or IPA.

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Some soda bread recipes make a pretty dense/heavy loaf (like my SWMBO's). When I added harp to the one I made I removed 1/2 of a sour-cream addition. It was still really dense and heavy. Looking back I probably should have also removed some of the buttermilk.

Definitely let us know how it turns out if you make a loaf with spent grain.

My SWMBO makes incredible Irish Soda bread as well. I asked for the recipe awhile back and this is what she sent me. I STRONGLY recommend sticking your spent grains in the blender and really mushing them up.

Irish soda bread with spent grains.

(note: It is of note, that these recipes come from a time when yeast was not freely commercially available. The action of the soda served as a more readily available leavening agent. Although many recipes exist with additional ingredients added in, the simpler recipes such as this one are more authentic to the time period as many ordinary Celts would not have had access to such rich ingredients regularly. Irish soda bread is a daily item, not one reserved for special gatherings.

Soda bread nowadays often has a lot of additions such as sweeteners, fruits, etc that simply would not have been available at the time and place of its origination. It is dense and heavy and filling and quite good without the additions that have happened over time.)

This is just a base recipe...It does not matter what sort of flour you use, unlike yeasted bread the amount of glutenization is unimportant so this is a great bread to make with all whole wheat flour. The amount of spent grain that is added can be manipulated up and down as long as the dough holds together well enough.

This recipe makes two loaves. If you want to just make one, reduce the flour/grain/buttermilk but leave the soda and salt at the current proportions.

Ingredients:
2 1/2-3 cups of flour
1-2 cups spent grain
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
14 oz of buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Lightly grease and flour a cake pan or alternately this bread is fantastic when cooked in a cast iron dutch oven but i would lower the temp to about 400 for that.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients.

Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape) (i just get my hands in there and mix it together until it is a nice dough, adding a little flour or buttermilk as needed....it should be slightly sticky.

Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough. (the cross in the top allows the steam to escape...just cut down a quarter inch or so. I sometimes brush it with a little buttermilk and sprinkle it with some steel cut oats...makes it pretty

Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes (this simulates the bastible pot). Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes reducing the temperature to about 350 at this time.

The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped to show it is done.

Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist.

Thanks for that learned update. Wanna try this.

I agree fuzzy, about professional bakers and there non-understanding of what Soda Bread is. I was told by a friend who was told by a friend the "Dillon's" had it. I've been to several Dillon's stores and always looked thoroughly through the baked goods and have NEVER seen it. Which is surprising (to me) due to the simplicity of the ingredients, lower cost, AND the delicious nature of the bread.

I hope more find this recipe and try it!

BTW, the only variation I remember was a brown bread and one with raisins/currants I think.

I find this particularly tasty on SWMBO's soda bread:

Fresh lemon zest and fennel seed is awesome in soda bread.

T_Baggins said:

I agree fuzzy, about professional bakers and there non-understanding of what Soda Bread is. I was told by a friend who was told by a friend the "Dillon's" had it. I've been to several Dillon's stores and always looked thoroughly through the baked goods and have NEVER seen it. Which is surprising (to me) due to the simplicity of the ingredients, lower cost, AND the delicious nature of the bread.

I hope more find this recipe and try it!

BTW, the only variation I remember was a brown bread and one with raisins/currants I think.

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Never tasted or seen the brown soda bread. I would like to try some one day even if it comes to baking a loaf.

Dang all this talk on soda bread is making me want to whip up a couple batches. Then make 1 or 2 with spent grain or a stout.

fuzzy2133 said:

Never tasted or seen the brown soda bread. I would like to try some one day even if it comes to baking a loaf.

Dang all this talk on soda bread is making me want to whip up a couple batches. Then make 1 or 2 with spent grain or a stout.

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1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly flour a 9x5 loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, bran, baking soda, and salt; cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the pea sized pieces form. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, and mayonnaise. Stir the yogurt into the flour until just mixed. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden.

Try replacing the whole wheat flour with spent grain flour from an IPA/PA. Light rye look & flavor to me.