5-MINUTE TASTY IRISH SODA BREAD WITH SEEDS: high fibre; egg & butter free; easy

Healthy bread that's super quick and easy, tasty and beautifully textured - make it top of your home baking list

Easy-Peasy 5-min prep Irish Soda Bread with Oatmeal & Seeds
'... so tasty, fresh or toasted, for so little effort!' 

Irish Soda Breads are a lifesaver in busy households: there's no kneading or rising, no preservatives, salt is controlled.  This tasty loaf  takes just 5 mins to measure, mix and slide into the oven.

This simple recipe is free of butter or eggs, relying on low-fat buttermilk and baking soda for the rise.  

It's a lovely tender bread that is also very healthy.  It makes great toast, and freezes well.

This recipe is perfect for small households.

Cost: £1.75'ish (1/2024)

Makes: small loaf (that won't last long!)

Ingredients:

175 gm plain flour (67 used Sharpham Organic wholegrain spelt but any flour will do) 

 50gm oatmeal

handful sunflower seeds

handful pumpkin seeds (opt)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

min 180ml-max 240 ml buttermilk or substitutes (67 used a combo of yoghurt, milk & buttermilk - see Tips) 

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200c/390F
2. The tin size is important to prevent underbaking. Line a 21x11cm/8.4x4.5in (large'ish) loaf tin with a strip of greaseproof paper, ends extending to make removing the bread easily; the loaf will rise beautifully but not very high
3. In a good-sized bowl, mix dry ingredients including seeds; make a depression in the centre
4. Shake buttermilk thoroughly OR make your own (recipes below)
5. Only when the oven is ready and you can immediately put the bread dough in the oven, add about 200 ml buttermilk 
6. Stir with a fork until liquid is absorbed; mixture will be thick but malleable; if it looks dry, add more buttermilk tablespoon by tablespoon 
7. Scrape into the tin; quickly smooth out surface with spatula or offset palette knife
8. Place in oven immediately without resting (the buttermilk activates the baking soda rimmediately; the dough starts rising and will deflate if not baked right away)
9. Bake 30-35 mins; bottom should sound hollow when tapped; if not, turn loaf over, return to oven 5 mins 
10. Serve warm with butter, at room temp or toasted
11. 
    Freezing: cool completely on the same day as it is baked; slice the bread, separate slices with a square of greaseproof paper, slide into a sealable sandwich bag; freeze and remove slices as needed

Comments: 

'My goodness, this is tasty for so little effort!  The toast is especially good. I'll be making this again.' Retired writer

Tips:

No buttermilk?  

• Replace with: 75% yoghurt + 25% water or milk 
• OR 100% whole milk with 2 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice stirred in and rested 10 mins

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission