There’s a perception that making your own bread is time-consuming, tricky work that can just as easily see you end up with a doorstop as with a fragrant, fluffy loaf. Fear not, though – there are some recipes and ways to make bread that almost guarantee an edible result you can be proud of!
To add to that cookery truth is the nutrition truth that bread is one of those foods that is a cornerstone of a healthy diet, although it’s equally important that it’s properly made. When bread is processed, and not fully proven, it can cause issues with digestion, bloating and unpleasant symptoms that cause people to conclude that they are intolerant to gluten and cut out this incredibly crucial food in favour of GF versions that are no more than dressed up junk food full of sugar and chemicals. Pesticides used on the grain that goes into packaged and supermarket ‘freshly baked’ bread can also cause reactions in sensitised guts, and remember, your gut can be temporarily sensitised by stress, so it’s not always a permanent reaction or a permanent health issue.
Making a soda bread cuts out the need for yeast, kneading and long proving, while giving you the option to use organic high quality flour, cutting down on time and removing the pesticide problem. Bread is healthy in a number of ways, from being a great source of energy-giving B vitamins and minerals, while being one of the most efficient sources of fibre for preventing colon cancers, reducing excess hormones, feeding the microbiome, and more. So, get cracking!
Quick Soda Bread
- Prep Time: 10
- Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 250g of wholemeal flour
- 100g of plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 5g of bicarbonate of soda
- 3g of salt
- 5g of caster sugar
- 50g of butter
- 250ml of buttermilk
- 150ml of milk
Instructions
- Brush a loaf tin with 25g of butter and sprinkle flour around the tin to coat the butter. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Make sure the bread ingredients are at room temperature – this will help the bicarb to raise the dough as it bakes. Alternatively, warm the milk to blood temperature before adding to the mix.
- In a bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar.
- Rub the remaining 25g of butter into the flour until the mix resembles breadcrumbs – this should take approximately 4-5 minutes.
- Add the buttermilk and milk and mix until it has just come together – be careful not to over mix.
- Tip and scrape the dough into the prepared tin, cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for a further 20-25 minutes, or until done. The cooked loaf should produce a hollow sound when tapped on the base.
Notes
- The dough can also be baked in muffin tins for individual soda loaves by reducing the overall baking time to around 20–25 minutes.