Beautiful Brown Soda Bread Recipes

BROWN SODA BREAD WITH OATS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch bread pan.
• In a large bowl, mix together flours, steel-cut oats, rolled oats, brown sugar, salt and sifted baking soda. Mix well with your hands.
• Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Pour in buttermilk. Working from the center of the bowl in concentric clockwise circles, with fingers outstretched, stir buttermilk into flour mixture. (You can use a rubber spatula instead if you don't like getting dough on your hands.) This should take about a half a minute at most. Dough will be quite moist. Use a rubber spatula to scrape into bread pan and smooth out the dough to fill pan evenly ( the pan will be filled only about halfway.)
• Place in the oven and bake 40 minutes, until dark brown and a tester inserted comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on a rack.

IRISH BROWN SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly grease two baking sheets.
• In a large bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, white flour, rolled oats, baking soda and salt. Gently mix in the buttermilk until a soft dough is formed. Knead very lightly. Divide dough into 4 pieces; form into rounded flat loaves. Mark each loaf with an 'X' and place on prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 to 45 minutes.

BEAUTIFUL BROWN SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet with 1 teaspoon margarine.
• Sift all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt together into a bowl; mix well. Add 2 tablespoons margarine and rub into flour mixture until crumbly. Pour milk over mixture and stir to form a soft, but not sticky dough.
• Dust your hands with flour and bring dough together, shaping into a ball. Place ball onto the baking sheet and flatten slightly. Cut an "x" on the top to divide it into quarters.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden and risen, 20 to 25 minutes. The base should sound hollow when the loaf is lifted using a towel and you knock on it with your knuckles. Cool a wire rack.

BROWN BUTTER SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Stir butter in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until melted and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Stir flour, oats, sugar, rosemary, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in large bowl to blend. Pour buttermilk and melted browned butter over flour mixture; stir with fork until flour mixture is moistened.
• Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Knead gently until dough comes together, about 7 turns. Divide in half. Shape each half into ball; flatten each into 6-inch round. Place rounds on ungreased baking sheet, spacing 5 inches apart. Brush tops with beaten egg white. Sprinkle lightly with ground black pepper. Using small sharp knife, cut 1/2-inch-deep X in top of each dough round.
• Bake breads until deep golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool breads on rack at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Baker's Wisdom:
• You'll get the most tender soda bread by kneading the dough gently and briefly, just until it comes together, so the gluten is minimally developed.

REAL IRISH BROWN SODA BREAD LOAF

Steps:

• Place wholemeal in a large mixing bowl.
• Sieve in Cream flour, salt, soda and sugar (if used).
• Add buttermilk and oil.
• Mix well.
• Transfer to a well greased 2lb loaf tin.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C, 325°F, Gas 3 for approximately 1 hour.
• Bread will be baked if base sounds hollow when tapped.
• Cool on a wire tray. For a soft crust, wrap bread in a clean tea towel.
• Variations for bread In preparation, after adding the buttermilk and oil, add 50g/2oz chopped walnuts and 50g/2oz chopped dried apricots; When adding buttermilk and oil, add 1 tablespoon of treacle; Add 50g/2oz of grated cheddar cheese to the dry ingredients.

BROWN SODA BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7. Dust selected tin generously with flour (we always used a Swiss roll tin for this bread).
• 2. Sieve the plain flour, salt and soda into a large mixing bowl. Add the wholemeal flour and mix well, lifting the dry ingredients just above the bowl's rim in order to circulate air and produce a lighter bread.
• 3. Beat the egg in a small bowl and beat in the buttermilk. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the liquid and mix to a soft dough with a wooden spoon or by hand.
• 4. Bring dough together with flour-dusted fingers and turn out on a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly into the smooth desired shape. If the dough is sticky, dust over a little more flour and knead it in to make it more manageable. Transfer to prepared tin, dust with wholemeal and cut a cross on top with a sharp knife to allow to rise evenly.
• 5. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. Remove from tin and tap the base of the bread. If it sounds hollow it us cooked, if not return to the oven for a few more minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving with country butter and home-made jam for the full experience.