Irish Soda Bread

The following recipe is as it was given to me. I will add my bit at the end as to what I do differently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Irish Soda Bread

3 cups flour (I prefer whole wheat but white is great too)
1 cup rolled oats (like Quaker Oats)
1 cup dried non-fat milk
1 teaspoon sugar (honey)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350, Grease a large cookie sheet with sides (jellyroll pan).

Mix dry ingredients well, add water and lemon juice, stir until just mixed, don't over stir, if needed add extra water 2 tablespoons at a time (some flours are really thirsty and soak up the water)...you will now have a batter that may be very "firm" like yeasted bread or it may be a little thinner than you are used to with making bread...not to worry, it cooks up very well..."dump" the batter in the middle of the cookie sheet...slightly shape with dampened hands and cut an X in the top to let the gasses escape.

Put in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve hot...it is very good...it is not a traditional loaf of bread but it is great with meals...it is also nice for breakfast the next day with either cheese or peanut butter.

Variations: Instead of using non-fat dried milk in the mix you can substitute sweet milk with the lemon juice for the water or you can use buttermilk without the lemon juice. I had non-fat dried milk in the kitchen so I used what I had. You can add caraway seeds, raisins or ground flax seed to add variety. If you are using white flour and want to add fiber you can stir in bran or wheat germ. Soy flour or powder increases the protein content. Lightly toasted sunflower seeds are a nice addition. This loaf is very flexible -- variations are endless...one day for a dessert loaf of bread I added chopped dried fruit that had been soaked in orange juice. I also added some Pumpkin Pie spice and a little extra sugar...about a half a cup. This was very tasty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lynda comments: I use a variety of flours to make up the 3 cups. This time I used 1 cup wholemeal wheat, 1 cup wholemeal spelt, 1/2 cup besan (chickpea) flour, 1/2 cup white wheat flour. I like to use some rye flour, but didn't have any. You can use any flours you like to make up the 3 cups. I also add some ground linseed and sesame and sunflower seeds.

I like to use molasses instead of sugar or honey.

I only added 1 1/4 cups of water this time and I found the dough was very sticky...almost like cake batter when I 'dumped' it onto the oven tray, so add the water gradually. I think that is why it didn't rise as much this time. The dough is usually a bit stiffer, but always stickier than yeasted bread. But even when it doesn't rise as much...it still tastes good :o)

I also find I need to cook it about an hour. Just stick a skewer or knife into the middle to see if it is cooked. If it's not, give it a bit longer. It will also sound hollow when you knock on the base of the loaf when it is cooked. If you've made bread before, you'll know what I mean.

I use to double the quantities and make 2 loaves, but as it's just for me now and I don't have a very big freezer, I just make the one loaf.

It's nice warm from the oven, but I actually prefer it toasted, so I slice it when it's cold and store in the freezer and just take a slice out as I need it.

If you have a family, it probably won't make it to the freezer :o)

I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you have any problems.