Wholemeal soda bread

Brown bread🤎 or soda bread. A must have in many Irish households. I hadn’t really eaten soda bread before moving to Ireland, but I’ve loved it ever since I tasted it. I like having it with soup, but my kids love eating it toasted in the morning.

So whenever I have an order for brown bread, I make sure to bake an extra loaf for the kids.

This recipe is inspired by a trip to west Cork, where I had the best brown bread I’ve ever tasted!

Here’s what you need for one loaf

200 grams wholemeal flour

200 grams plain white flour (or you can use 150 grams plain flour and 50 grams of strong bread flour)

65 grams, about 3/4 cup, porridge oats

1 tbsp baking soda

1,5 tsp salt

2 tbsp of either pinhead oatmeal or your favourite seeds

1/2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp treacle

375 g buttermilk

Turn the oven on 200 degrees/180 fan.

Line a 2 lbs/20 cm long bread tin with baking parchment.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add the butter, honey and treacle and mix around using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Keep mixing until all combined and you have a thick, a little sticky dough.

Pour the dough into the tin. Sprinkle some oats on the top and make a cut the centre if the loaf using a sharp knife. Bake for 40-45 min in the middle of the oven.

Once baked, remove from tin and leave to cool. Enjoy for breakfast or with a nice soup.

Here’s the meal that inspired this recipe. A wonderful lunch by Inchydoney beach.