For many people Irish soda bread becomes the first bread that they decide to bake themselves. The reason is a simple recipe. No yeast, long kneading, proofing. I just mixed the dough with a spoon, kneaded it with my hands for a couple of minutes, rolled it into a ball and put it in the oven.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour,
- glass of rolled oats,
- 50 g butter,
- a third of a glass of sugar,
- one and a half teaspoons of soda,
- 1 teaspoon salt,
- 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of kefir or sour milk,
- 2 handfuls of small raisins,
- 2 handfuls of walnuts
How to make Irish soda bread
Mix all the “dry ingredients”: flour, oatmeal, sugar, salt and soda.
Remove the butter from the refrigerator and immediately cut it into small pieces. There is no need to soften the butter for this test.
Place in a bowl with dry ingredients and rub into crumbs with your hands. Literally one minute.
Cut the nuts with a knife and pour into the dough along with the raisins.
Pour kefir into the dough...
Mix well.
Place the dough on a floured board and knead for just a couple of minutes until you get a soft ball.
Flour a baking sheet or pan, place the bread, sprinkle flour on top and make two shallow cuts in the shape of a cross with a knife.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the bread on the middle shelf. Bake for about an hour. It’s very easy to check if it’s ready: tap the crust; if it’s hardened enough, you’ll hear a dull sound. So our Irish soda bread is ready.
Irish soda bread has several dozen varieties. It is not necessary to add raisins, nuts, oatmeal or sugar to it. This bread can also be baked unsweetened, for example, with pieces of cheese and herbs. Only four ingredients remain unchanged: flour, soda, salt and sour milk. 
History of Irish Soda Bread
Like many other simple and quick recipes, which has gained worldwide popularity, Irish soda bread was invented in the kitchens of poor people. It was baked almost every day. Only five minutes to knead, the cheapest ingredients. And if you throw a handful of dried cherries, a couple of spoons of sugar or some aromatic herbs into the dough, then such baked goods can also be served festive table.
Before putting bread in the oven, housewives made a cross-shaped cut on it, which protected the family from evil spirits. However, some historians believe that the magical meaning of the cross on bread did not appear immediately. Initially, bread was cut before baking so that it would be easier to break it into four parts.
Bread of this shape is traditionally baked in the South of Ireland. In the North, soda bread is flattened into a disk, which is cut crosswise into four pieces and fried in a frying pan. In remote areas of Ireland, the poorest Irish houses, where there were not only ovens, but even open hearths, housewives put bread in cast iron pots on tripods directly above the burning peat.
Contrary to the legend widespread on the Russian Internet that soda bread has been baked in Ireland almost since the time of King Arthur, in fact this recipe is not even two hundred years old. Baking soda(sodium bicarbonate) was first developed in Ireland in 1840. Since then, the bread industry has come a long way. There is an abundance of lush yeast loaves and long loaves on supermarket shelves. But large Irish families continue to bake traditional soda bread almost every day, recipes for which are passed down from generation to generation.
Irish bread can be baked in a slow cooker
I would also like to add that Irish bread is the first bread I baked. And I didn’t make it in the oven, like the one I baked to illustrate this recipe, but in a slow cooker, because I didn’t have an oven at that time. I can’t say that the device could completely replace the oven. Of course not. But I was able to bake a lot of things perfectly in it.
Irish bakers often press a cross to the top of a round loaf of soda bread - but this is not a blessing at all, even though the Irish are staunch Catholics. In fact, this is a much older superstitious tradition. Unique Irish pastries are interesting not only for their rich taste, but also for their deep connection with the history of the country. What about the cross pressed onto the dough before baking? This is to release the fairies from the dough! This does not mean at all that modern bakery masters believe in little magical folk, just like in previous centuries, but still the tradition is observed - no one knows what will happen if it is broken. And this is not the only mystery associated with bread production. Irish soda bread itself can be considered a mystery. Many people prepare it by eye, without even using measuring cups. If you watch the cooking process, you may think that this is some kind of magic trick, ingredients are added to the dough so quickly and deftly. The recipe is passed down from generation to generation; children learn to make bread simply by watching the process. As a result, the first tests may not be very successful, but then everything turns out as expected. This is how the tradition of making special Irish bread is preserved, the secrets of which are kept only among the emerald Irish meadows. 
Bread Recipe Journey
In Irish restaurants you can find several varieties of soda bread and just as many varieties of buns. This bread is so famous that in other countries the Irish present it at events in embassies. In fact, if desired, anyone can learn the unique process of preparing it - you just need to sincerely want it. And remember: every soda bread is different. Although the bread also has a traditional feature - a thick crust. Of course, incredible taste is also a mandatory characteristic. Nevertheless, according to the same recipe different masters perfectly cooked different variants of bread. The most popular option is brown soda bread, which is full of healthy grains. You can find other varieties in bakeries - with a white crispy crust, with herbs, with the addition of Irish beer, walnuts and even seaweed. But nothing compares to one taste - sweetish, rich and aromatic raisin bread. It is cooked less and less often in Ireland, but was once traditional for many families. 
The history of Irish bread
Yeast-free dough has become popular in the country because local grains contain too little gluten and the dough simply does not rise with yeast. In 1846, soda appeared and Irish bakers immediately began using it. At the end of the nineteenth century, white Canadian flour with a large amount of gluten began to be brought to the island, and bakeries began to White bread by leaps and bounds. At the same time, the Irish continued to love soda bread, it just stopped being fashionable. However, many still could not afford store-bought bread, so the traditional recipe was preserved. After some time, it gained popularity in combination with smoked salmon - in the sixties of the twentieth century it was a luxurious dish for hotels. Recently, traditional recipes began to be especially appreciated, and production flourished again. 
Differences in details
Flour plays a huge role as it determines the texture and flavor. To get acquainted with the production down to the smallest detail, you can even visit a mill - in Ireland, traditional millstone mills with stone millstones, powered by a water wheel, have been preserved. Such a mill is capable of grinding a lot of grain. The result is a flour with the perfect texture for Irish bread. Behind last years The demand for such baked goods has grown, and now there are three thousand different soda bread recipes. The best ones are those that use the traditions of past generations. The secret is to barely touch the dough as if it were a red-hot iron. 
The importance of air
In soda bread, not only is the correct method of touching the dough important, but also the air. The flour needs to be shaken in a special way to make the bread airy. This is why the dough is never kneaded and handled with the utmost care. This is important for any Irish bread recipe. If you mix too long you will end up with a very stiff dough.
Hello friends! Here's a recipe for truly yeast-free bread - I baked Irish Soda Bread! It should be noted that soda bread was not invented in Ireland; soda was used as a leavening agent for many years before by the Americans. However, soda bread gained worldwide fame as the traditional bread of Ireland. Its peculiarity is that it is always a very quick and simple bread; it can be made from white and whole grain flour and from a mixture various types flour, often add nuts and dried fruits and various spices to the dough, often cumin. Before baking, make a cross-shaped cut on the bread.
I remembered this recipe because I just wanted something very simple and quick, plus I have a very positive attitude towards light soda notes in the taste of baked goods. Please pay attention: it is this kind of bread that has every right to be called yeast-free, because it is loosened with soda and yeast is not added to the dough in any form: neither with sourdough, nor with pure form. It is generally accepted that fermented bread is better for digestion, however, there are people who do not tolerate yeast bread well, be it a sliced loaf from a supermarket or homemade leavened bread. For such people, soda bread is an excellent solution, because the dough with soda completely avoids fermentation processes. Plus, soda bread is delicious! If you suddenly find that you don’t have a crumb of bread at home or you just want to try something new, bake it, it’s a very interesting bread! I took it for him freshly ground whole grain wheat flour (you can take not only wheat flour, you can make a mix of rye, wheat, oatmeal, spelled, etc.) and homemade curdled milk, not a drop of butter or eggs got into the dough!
Recipe in detail, for one loaf:
450 gr. whole grain wheat flour or a mixture of different types flour (but at least 50% should remain wheat);
350 gr. curdled milk or other fermented milk (kefir, fermented baked milk, whey, buttermilk, water, however, is also possible);
5-6 gr. salt;
20 gr. brown sugar (optional);
1 tsp without a slide of soda (about 3 grams);
100 gr. raisins (optional, but delicious with them).
The process is simple:
Turn on the oven in advance so that it warms up with stone and up to 230 degrees.
Rinse the raisins and pour boiling water for 15 minutes, drain the water.
In a bowl, first mix flour, soda, sugar, salt and raisins, add curdled milk, mix until smooth. There is no need to knead, the soda will begin to react with the acid instantly, and if you continue kneading until the gluten develops, you will squeeze out all the gas bubbles and the bread will turn out slightly loosened.
After mixing, the dough will be sticky, leave for about 15 minutes so that the bran swells a little and it becomes less sticky. Dump the dough onto a floured surface silicone mat.
Form a loaf about 6-7 cm high.
Or sharp knife make a cross-shaped cut.
Place in the oven under the hood. Bake with steam for the first 15 minutes (under a hood), then remove the steam, reduce the temperature to 200 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes. The finished bread will make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.
Cool for grate, cut when cooled.
I cut it while it was warm and the bread crumbled mercilessly, but it was very tasty! Especially if you spread a piece with butter and then with currant jam))
This bread on video:
Music by N.A.S.A, composition Way Down.
Good luck and delicious bread!
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add 375 g of kefir, stir with a spatula or hand until the dough comes together. No need to knead! The dough should be soft. If necessary, add more kefir (add 1 tablespoon at a time). You can knead the dough manually in the same sequence.
Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat and sprinkle with a little flour. Preheat the oven to 230°C.
Place the dough on a baking sheet, sprinkle with flour, form a round disk ~3.5 cm high. Using a sharp knife or blade, make a shallow (~8 mm) cross-shaped cut on the surface of the dough.
Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200°C and bake for another 20-30 minutes. The bread should rise, brown and make a hollow sound when tapped. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
It is advisable to consume the bread on the same day, or store it in a tightly sealed container or bag for no more than 1 day.
The second variation is from Jamie Oliver's latest book, Everyday Superfood. The recipe is slightly different from the above, but just as easy to follow. The recipe uses rye, whole wheat flour and oatmeal, making bread healthier. I didn’t have rye flour, I replaced it with barley flour - the bread turned out very tasty too. Of the two soda bread options described, I liked Jamie's recipe better.
Caucasian lavash, Indian chapati, Mexican tortilla, Jewish matzo and Russian flatbread. How great is the variety of unleavened bread in different nations. The tradition of baking yeast-free bread dates back to ancient egypt, but this product is still popular. Soda bread is also called Irish because it was poor Irish housewives who baked it every day to feed their families. And for the festive table they served freshly baked soda cake with the addition of herbs, berries, sugar.
Today we will teach you how to cook soda bread according to ancient and modern recipes with the addition of various ingredients.
We are used to buying bread in stores, which is usually prepared using yeast. Nowadays we can increasingly see new varieties of this flour product on the shelves: whole grain, “live”, bio bread. Is this some kind of advertising ploy or is it really a new product? Let's try to figure it out.
Traditional Irish bread is baked both on weekdays and for holidays.
Specialists in healthy eating claim that constant consumption of yeast bread threatens not only weight gain, but also a deterioration in well-being. Fermentation products destroy healthy human microflora, can provoke dysbacteriosis, and reduce immunity. Therefore, the safest bread is considered to be bread that is prepared not with yeast, but with soda. It is important that it is done at home.
Pros of Irish bread:
- high content of fiber, carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins;
- positive effect on the functioning of the digestive system;
- wholemeal flour in this bread helps to lose weight;
- quickly absorbed by the body;
- The dense crumb activates the intestines, training the muscles of the digestive tract.
People who are overweight should consume soda bread with caution, because if there is an excess of it in the body, the acid metabolism is disrupted and the opposite effect occurs: instead of losing weight, weight begins to increase.
Video recipe for yeast-free bread
Irish soda bread
In the south of Ireland, housewives baked soda bread round shape. On a piece ready dough they made a cross-shaped cut to make it easier to separate. They fried it in a frying pan, but if a poor family had neither a stove nor a frying pan, then soda bread was baked in cast iron pots over burning peat.
Classic recipe - ingredients
This classic Irish bread recipe contains a selection of the most... simple ingredients, so even culinary beginners can make it. In addition, the production of this product will take much less time than bread with yeast. We will need:
- flour,
- kefir, buttermilk or yogurt,
- soda,
- salt.
Flour for soda bread can be wheat premium, but it’s best to take wheat as a basis, and then mix it with coarse, whole grain flour, because it’s healthier than regular flour. You can prepare the dough with rye or corn flour. First, it’s better to try everything, and then decide which Irish bread you like best.
- Buttermilk
Many people are not familiar with this fermented milk product. It is familiar to the Irish, like legislators of bread and soda. But there is nothing unusual here, because buttermilk is the water that remains after churning the butter. It definitely needs to be fermented. This is essentially low-fat cream, on the basis of which you can make various fermented milk drinks.
If you don't have buttermilk, there's no reason to stop baking Irish bread. It can easily be replaced by regular kefir, yogurt, ayran, unsweetened yogurt, sour cream. The main thing is that it is a fermented milk product, so that when interacting with soda it will release carbon dioxide and loosened the dough.
- Salt and soda
Important components, without which you won’t get delicious soda bread. In the classic recipe, salt is added in the amount of 0.5 tbsp. spoons for 2 cups flour. The main thing to remember is that salt is added gradually when kneading, because under-salted dough is easier to correct than over-salted dough. Soda is a mandatory ingredient; it is added in the amount of 1 teaspoon along with flour to an acidic environment. Happening chemical reaction, the soda is quenched with buttermilk or another fermented milk product, the bread turns out fluffy and tasty.
- Spices and other additives
The Irish love to add classic recipe raisins or caraway seeds. There are many recipes for soda bread with... oatmeal, fruits and berries, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, hard cheese. Let's try to make Irish bread with the most popular additives.
Unlike yeast bread, soda bread does not need to be kneaded for a long time; just knead it for a couple of minutes.
Irish soda bread with oatmeal
To prepare it you need:
- wholemeal or wheat flour - 2 cups;
- oatmeal – 1 cup;
- kefir or buttermilk – 1 glass;
- butter – 50 grams;
- salt – 1 teaspoon;
- soda – 1 teaspoon;
- sugar – 1.5 teaspoons.
First, combine the dry ingredients in a container: oatmeal with flour, salt, sugar, soda. Now it’s time for the liquid ingredients: mix the softened butter with kefir. Combine everything and mix well. Grease the baking pan with butter or use baking paper. If the shape is round, then according to Irish tradition, sprinkle with flour and make a cross-shaped cut on a piece of dough with a sharp knife. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Serve warm.
Kefir bread recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya
In her culinary show, Yulia Vysotskaya suggested original recipe Irish bread. Let's try it. To do this you will need:
- flour with bran – 500 g;
- low-fat kefir – 450 g;
- sesame seeds – 1 tbsp. spoon;
- sunflower seeds – 2 tbsp. spoons;
- soda – 1 teaspoon;
- salt 1 teaspoon;
- raisins – 2 tbsp. spoons;
- wheat flour – 1 tbsp. spoon.
The preparation process is usual: mix dry ingredients, add kefir. Dry the sesame and sunflower seeds in a frying pan, soak the raisins in water and squeeze. Add everything to the dough. Knead and place on a baking sheet. Cutting crosswise will give the bread beautiful view. Sprinkle the dough with wheat flour and bake in the oven for 50 minutes.
You can safely add pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, caraway seeds, Provençal herbs, berries, and cheese to Irish bread.
Bread options with additives
Irish soda bread with currants
Another original recipe from the ancient Irish. Since this country is rich in various berries, we will make a festive version of soda bread. For it you will need:
- kefir – 1.5 cups;
- butter – 2 tablespoons;
- black currant – 1 cup;
- flour - 3 cups;
- sugar – 3 tablespoons;
- salt – 1 teaspoon;
- soda – 1 teaspoon;
- baking powder for dough - 3 teaspoons;
- egg – 2 pcs.
Prepare the dough by mixing the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, soda, baking powder), adding beaten eggs with melted butter and kefir to this mixture. The dough is very similar to biscuit dough. Bake in the oven for about an hour. It is important not to remove the Irish bread from the pan when it is hot. It's better to wait until it cools down completely.
Soda bread with cheese
- Classic composition
Irish soda bread can be savory thanks to the addition of herbs and different varieties cheese. For classic soda bread with cheese you will need:
- 350 g wholemeal flour,
- 120 g ground oat flakes,
- 300 g kefir,
- 1 teaspoon honey,
- 100 g parmesan,
- 30 g dried and chopped walnuts.
It’s easy to prepare the dough: mix the dry ingredients with grated Parmesan and walnuts, then pour kefir and honey into this mass. Knead the dough, place the finished cake in a mold and bake for 40-50 minutes at 180 degrees.
- How I do
Soda bread, to which paprika is added, has a very piquant taste. mustard powder and marble cheese.
Proportions for dry part:
- 300 g wheat flour,
- 10 g baking powder,
- 10 g sugar,
- 5 g salt,
- 5 g sweet ground paprika,
- 5 g dry mustard,
- 250 g grated cheese"Marble"
Liquid part:
- 2 eggs,
- 250 ml kefir or ayran,
- 40 ml vegetable oil.
When cut, Irish bread with marble cheese looks original and appetizing.
We do everything as usual: mix the dry ingredients, the liquid ones too, then combine everything in one container. Knead for a couple of minutes and then bake in the pan. The temperature is stable 180 degrees, the time is 40 minutes.
Lenten soda bread
Healthy flatbread for breakfast
This bread has a dense structure and is best served for breakfast while still warm. Pairs perfectly with jam, preserves and tea. The recipe is as follows:
- 300 g wheat flour,
- 200 ml water,
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds,
- 2 tbsp raisins,
- 2 tbsp. spoons of pumpkin seeds,
- 3 tbsp. spoons of bran,
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 teaspoon of salt, slaked with vinegar,
- 2 tbsp. spoons of sunflower oil.
Dry the pumpkin and sesame seeds in a frying pan and soak the raisins. Add bran, sugar, salt to the flour, add water with soda and vinegar, sunflower oil, raisin. Knead the dough, form a small bun with your hands, make cross cuts on top - and put it in the oven for 50 minutes.
The soda bread pan can be of any shape, as long as you grease it with butter or use parchment
Bread with soda and water in the oven, bread maker, multicooker
Irish bread is not fussy about baking. The poor could bake such Lenten flatbreads over open coals in cast iron cauldrons. Nowadays there are many devices for making bread at home: molds, multicookers, bread machines, ovens. Here are some tips to ensure your freshly baked Irish bread is delicious and fluffy:
- You can take any shape for the loaf - round, rectangular, oval;
- the oven is always preheated to 200 °C in advance, only then is a mold with bread placed in it;
- when using a bread machine, all ingredients are added gradually, in accordance with the instructions for this model;
- Having placed the container in the bread machine, set the appropriate program for yeast bread;
- In the multicooker, select the “Bread” mode.
You can prepare Irish bread either in a conventional oven or in a slow cooker or bread maker.
How to store soda bread? The main rule of storage is to do without it. This means that there is no need to bake Irish bread in reserve; it only tastes freshly baked. On the second day it becomes hard and the crumb becomes plasticine. You can place the remaining pieces of bread in a plastic bag, this will keep the product soft. But to store such bread for a long time Not recommended.