Saturday 9 March 2013

Home made soda bread - Quick, easy and delicious!

I've been really missing eating bread since I found that both yeast and sourdough don't agree with me.  I was relegated to eating plain rice crackers or the occasional homemade pancake because of that.  

The other day, while making a batch of pancakes that used baking powder, I was reminded of making cornbread a while back.  That recipe called for baking soda and baking soda made me think of soda bread.  I looked up soda bread on the web and was led to Irish Soda Bread.  I chose a vegan recipe and got right to it.  Here are the ingredients I used. I list them at the end as well.


I put two cups of All Purpose Spelt Flour and 2 cups of Whole Spelt Flour into a mixing bowl with one teaspoon of baking soda and one teaspoon of salt.


You can add a quarter to half cup of your favourite seeds or seed flours.  I like adding flax seeds, flax flour and sunflower seeds.


I measured two cups of hemp milk although you can use any milk substitute or real milk.  Real Irish Soda Bread calls for buttermilk.  Whatever liquid you use, add 2 teaspoons of cider vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes to "sour" it.


I created a bowl with the flour then started pouring in liquid in small amounts and mixing it with a wooden spoon (the wooden spoon is key, apparently).


Once the flour was thoroughly mixed I patted it into a ball.  I found that a slightly wetter, but not gooey or sloppy consistency works the best.  It should be damp but not too sticky on your hands.  I don't usually use the full two cups of liquid.


Place the dough into a lightly greased baking pan (I used a bit of coconut oil) and score the top with a knife making a cross.  I am not sure why you score it but it gives it that nice rustic soda bread look in the end.


Place in a preheated 425 degree oven, uncovered for 35 minutes.......... and voila!


It's delicious steaming hot right out of the oven.  Not sure how well it keeps yet as it does not last more than a day right now.


Here are the basic ingredients. 
  • 2 cups nut, rice or hemp milk, real milk or buttermilk
  • 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 4 cups flour (usually whole wheat pastry flour but I used spelt flour)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Optional: 2 tbsp sweetener and/or 1/4 seeds, raisin, dried berries of choice.

I don't put in raisins; they feel like biting into a slug to me.  I stuck to the basics of the recipe and ad-libbed after that. Enjoy!

Misha

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