After making butter the other day with left over cream, I ended up with some buttermilk as part of the process. Being frugal, I had to come up with something to do with it, instead of throwing it out. The first thing that came to mind was soda bread. Growing up in Scotland, we had soda bread in the form of griddle scones, which are slightly leavened triangle farls and nothing beats them straight from the griddle. However they don’t usually contain buttermilk, but Irish soda bread does.
When most people think of soda bread, then tend to think of Irish soda bread. However unless you’ve been to Ireland it is very likely you won’t have tried authentic Irish soda bread as most recipes outside of Ireland contain things other than flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. This recipe for soda bread is far richer than traditional soda breads in that it contains butter, egg and some sugar, to create a richer flavour, but it still tastes of soda bread.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (475g) plain (all purpose) flour
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 0.5 tbsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp baking soda
- 0.25 tsp salt
- 0.25 cup (60g) butter, softened
- 0.5 cup (120ml) buttermilk
- 0.5 egg
Method
Preheat the oven to 375F (190C) and lightly grease a baking sheet. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, egg, buttermilk and butter until it forms a stiff dough.
Soda bread ingredients
Lightly knead the dough. Form the dough into a ball and place onto the baking sheet. Cut a cross into the top of the dough and brush with a little milk and melted butter.
Soda bread dough ready for the oven
Bake in the oven for 45mins, until a knife inserted into it comes out clean.
Enjoyed best hot with butter.
Soda bread and home-made butter
