Irish Soda-Bread

By: Pete on 09:10:00

This was borderline panic-baking. I was hunting through the cupboards, looking for something to satiate a massive carb-craving (I get those a lot, especially when I'm under-fuelled for a race). as always I have plenty of flour, eggs, butter and sugar, but nothing was to hand and ready to eat.

Once again I attacked Mary Berrys Baking Bible, and spotted a recipe for Irish soda-bread...a quick check showed I had all the ingredients to hand, and once again it was a "throw it all in a bowl", so nice and fast.

The trick with soda-breads and scones is to work the mixture as little as possible...you almost don't want it smooth, but a bunch of lumps barely held together. I served this with some caramelised onions and sun-dried tomatoes, and it went down very well indeed!

Irish Soda-Bread - Recipe

• Pre-heat oven to 180'C
• Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat (or baking parchment)

Ingredients

• 400g strong white flour
• 50g rolled oats
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (about 3-4g)
• 5g salt
• 150g yoghurt (I used fat-free greek yoghurt)
• 150g milk
• ~50ml warm water
• Sunflower oil (optional)

1) Put the flour, oats, salt and bicarbonate in a large mixing bowl. Stir it with a whisk to combine them.

2) Add the milk and yoghurt, and start to gently mix in with a spatula

3) Add the water until the mixture just comes together as a lumpy ball

4) (optional/tip) Lightly grease your hands with sunflower oil, and form the dough into a ball (the oil stops it sticking to your hands)

5) Place the ball of dough on the prepared baking sheet, and press it down slightly

6) Cut a deep cross in the top with a sharp knife

7) Bake for 30 minutes, the flip over and bake for another 10 minutes

8) Remove to a wire rack to cool