Soda bread is one of the simplest and quickest breads you could make.

And you do not have to compromise on flavour or texture either. While this kind of bread will not keep for long, it is not intended to do so. You whisk it up, you bake it, and you eat it. Flavour is provided by all the things you add to it. In this case lots of cheese and green onions. The resulting tear and share loaf is soft and fluffy and super cheesy. It is a perfect accompaniment to your favourite soup or stew.

Make sure your oven is hot and ready before you even start making the dough. It is important to bake bread in a well preheated oven. 

This recipe is for a 25cm (10in) square pan. Enough for 9 generous pieces.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

125g (4.4oz) white flour

125g (4.4oz) wholemeal flour

4g (0.14oz) baking powder

4g (0.14oz) baking soda

5g (0.17oz) salt

50g (1.75oz) cold butter, cubed

200g (7oz) strong cheddar or any other mature cheese

60g (2.1oz) chopped spring onions

220g (7.75oz) buttermilk *you can use yogurt mixed with milk at a 1:1 ratio

1 whole egg

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 190C (375F) no fan.
2. Whisk together the egg and buttermilk.
3. In a separate bowl combine the wholemeal & white flour. Add the salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well to distribute the ingredients evenly.
4. Crumble in the butter. Add the cheese and spring onions. Mix well.
5. Add the buttermilk & egg mix to the rest of the ingredients and mix until no dry flour left.
6. Spread the mix out on a piece of parchment paper. Place in your baking tray and shape to fit.
7. Sprinkle the top with wholemeal flour and using your dough scraper cut the bread into sections.
8. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reads above 94C (200F).
9. Let it set for 10 minutes before removing from the tray.

Enjoy whilst warm fresh 🙂

Bread does not get any simpler or quicker than this.

Soda is a chemical leavening agent, and it reacts instantly as soon as you mix it with the wet ingredients. The resulting loaf of bread is light and airy. Mild in flavour, but you can add seeds and cheese to help it out ?.

Ingredients

125g (4.4oz) white flour

125g (4.4oz) wholemeal flour

5g (0.2oz) salt

7g (0.25oz) bicarbonate of soda

250g (8.8oz) buttermilk

80g (2.8oz) diced feta cheese

70g (2.4oz) sunflower seeds

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200C (390F) fan off.
2. Into a large bowl combine the white and wholemeal flour, salt, and soda. Mix well.
3. Add the sunflower seeds and mix again.
4. Add the feta cubes and gently roll them around the flour to ensure they are separate and evenly coated but not crumbled.
5. Add the buttermilk and bring together gently by folding through like making a scone.
6. Scoop out the mix and place it on a well-floured surface.
7. Roll the dough in the flour to coat the surface. Do not fold the dough. You do not want any dry flour inside it.
8. Plaice onto a piece of baking paper, cut the traditional 4 sections into the loaf, before sliding into a hot oven for 30 minutes.

Make sure not to over work the dough. We do not want any gluten development. The dough should be loose so that it has an easy time puffing up in the oven.

Also, make sure to work quickly once you have added the buttermilk because the bicarbonate of soda will start reacting immediately and the dough will start rising straight away.