Skip to content
Open menu Close menu

Feed your appetite for cooking with Penguin’s expert authors

penguin logo

Soda Bread

by Justin Gellatly from Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding

Justin Gellatly's traditional soda bread recipe is the perfect low-effort loaf; there's no yeast or kneading involved, so anyone can give it a go! If you don't have buttermilk in your fridge, simply add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to any other milk and leave to sit for 5 minutes before using.

From the book

Introduction

This bread uses bicarbonate of soda to rise, not yeast, and requires only a quick mix by hand and a very short resting time (5 minutes). It is a really quick bread to pull out of the bag and also has a great texture and crust and a beautiful flavour.

Read more Read less

Ingredients

250g coarse or standard strong wholemeal flour
250g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
80g coarse or medium oatmeal, plus a little extra for sprinkling
6g bicarbonate of soda
12g fine sea salt
12g soft light brown sugar
200g water
250ml buttermilk
1 tsp olive, rapeseed or vegetable oil

Method

Suitable for freezing (cooked loaf)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Proving/resting time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6 and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the water and buttermilk and mix together until a wet dough is formed.

Sprinkle over a little flour to help bring the dough together, then roll it into a ball and place on the prepared baking tray. rub the oil all over the top surface of the loaf and sprinkle with oatmeal. Cut a cross through the dough about a quarter of the way through and leave to rest for 5 minutes, then bake for 35 minutes.

Take out of the oven and put on a rack to cool. Serve with good mature Cheddar and some bread and butter pickles, or just with butter for breakfast.

Reviews

Have you tried this recipe? Let us know how it went by leaving a comment below.

Please note: Moderation is enabled and may delay your comment being posted. There is no need to resubmit your comment. By posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use.

There are no comments yet

Be the first to leave a review

newsletter

Subscribe to The Happy Foodie email newsletter

Get our latest recipes, features, book news and ebook deals straight to your inbox every week