Another Variation of the Soda Bread Theme

Just in time to experiment for St. Patrick's Day, coming up in a couple of weeks, I have tried out yet another Soda Bread.

Oat & Whole Wheat Soda Bread

Before ever trying to make soda bread, I had only ever heard negative comments on it. That it was very dry, or too heavy, or flat, or any number of other unfavorable comments. With that as its recommendation, why would anyone choose to make it?

And then, I got interested. I am ever curious about how things originated. What was the reasoning for making this kind of bread? Some years back, I decided to make soda bread, so I went online to search for information. In most places one sees soda bread recipes, either on TV or online, it is made with pure white, all-purpose flour, has eggs, sugar, butter, raisins and who knows how many other things in it. And I wondered . . .  Because Ireland had been a poor country, and sometimes subject to famine, why would this enriched type of "soda bread" be touted as their bread? I went searching online again, delving further, and was enlightened in oh, so many ways! Rather than go into all this again, and spend time up on my soapbox again, please refer to my first soda bread recipe, here, where I went into more detail on the whys behind the bread.

But in the meantime, over the past many years, I have been more and more interested in whole grains, nuts and seeds, and using them in breads of all description. I have always preferred whole, heavier and denser breads, though some of my tries and experiments nearly exceeded my own tolerances. There has been a learning curve in both making and eating. Also, I have learned that in many countries, where ovens were not at all common, barring a communal oven sometimes only fired up once a month, a yeasted bread was only made at that one time and had to last. Meaning, of course, that the bread dried out completely, and a saw was needed to cut off chunks, which were used as a thickening for soups and stews, as there was no way to have it safely eaten, hard as a rock as it was. With that knowledge, I wondered if something similar was done in Ireland? I got no real answer to that. But I did learn a lot more about soda bread.

Oat & Whole Wheat Soda Bread

Since that foray into all things to do with Irish Brown Bread, I have altered the recipe myriad times and in myriad ways. I have used freshly ground whole grain wheat, oats (whether old fashioned oats, minute oats or steel cut oats), whole grain barley flour, sprouted grain flour, rye flour and possibly others. Through all these recipes and experiments I have kept one constant: I use some all-purpose flour and some cake flour. Why, you might ask?

Oat & Whole Wheat Soda Bread

The reason the Irish went to a soda bread rather than a yeast-risen bread is that their flour was too "soft." Meaning their whole grain flour did not have sufficient gluten in the grains to allow the yeast to work. In this sense, cake flour is perhaps one of the "softest" of flours. Making bread with cake flour would likely be a catastrophe, though I have not tried it. My reasoning was that these flours would make the resultant mixture less suitable for yeast rising; conversely, more apt to work well with baking soda. I have no scientific basis for these statements, only my own experiences.

To date, my only concession to using eggs or butter in a supposed "soda bread," was when I tried to approximate the bread we ate at an Irish restaurant in Las Vegas, which was exceptionally good. I am happy to say I did make that one a few times, it is that good. I called it Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread. It is also the only soda bread I have made in a loaf pan, rather than as a freestanding loaf. Otherwise, any upstanding Irish person would likely have said, why waste butter IN the bread, when it was going to be used to put ON the bread when they ate it. Ever frugal, and the notion of wasting eggs in the bread or, horror or horrors, making the bread with beer, when it could have been used to drink, was unthinkable!

In an attempt to increase the use of oats, being one of my favorite of grains, I tried out another new recipe yesterday and it was delicious as well. And without any further ado, this is that recipe:

Oat & Wheat Soda Bread

Makes one loaf

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Have ready a heavy baking sheet lined with parchment.

Grind the steel cut oats (regular, long cooking variety) lightly in a blender or food processor.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 7 dry ingredients and whisk briefly to distribute the ingredients. Pour in most of the buttermilk and the molasses and stir, until it is no longer possible. Turn the mass out onto a greased surface and lightly "knead" (flatten, fold, turn, flatten, fold) two or three times to bring the mixture together. If the dough needs more liquid, add in the remaining buttermilk. If it is too wet, add in up to ¼-cup more of flour to firm up. Form the dough into a tight, high-domed ball and set onto the prepared parchment lined baking sheet. With a very sharp knife, cut an "X" across the top, at least 1-inch deep. This will flatten the loaf considerably from the little ball shape. Place in the oven and time for 50 to 55 minutes. Internal temperature should be at least 200 degrees. Allow to cool completely before cutting.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

A Love of Whole Grain Bread

Over the years, I have come to love whole grain breads more and more. I am even beginning to get my husband to at least tolerate or like them. So, when we were recently in Las Vegas, we happened upon an Irish Pub called "Ri Ra" and they served us a soda bread that was just so good I could hardly credit its flavor or moistness. My husband was quite taken with the bread also, and I asked about the recipe. The server said the chef would not divulge the recipe, but he said he knew for sure that they used whole grain wheat, rolled oats, honey and eggs.
 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread

I took this as a personal challenge.

As soon as I got home, I attempted a loaf. It came out quite well, but we both felt it needed to be just a little sweeter, and from the photos I took of the bread at the Pub, mine definitely needed more oats. Back to the drawing board. 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread

My second attempt, only a couple of days after making the first (if the first loaf wasn't perfect, neither was it inedible 😉), came out quite a bit better. I may, or may not do any more tweaking of the recipe, because this second loaf was quite lovely and very, very good. 

You have to like whole grains, for sure, but I do feel this is a loaf worth trying, most particularly if you have the ability to grind your own wheat. I am not sure it would be remotely as good if you bought pre-ground "whole wheat" flour. I have repeatedly found what a difference it makes to be able to grind my own wheat (or rye, or Kamut, or buckwheat, or anything else), versus buying pre-ground "whole-grain" flours. I put those words in quotes, because I have read that factories grind wheat into white flour, separating out all bran and germ, then only add back in what they estimate is needed to recreate a "whole-grain" flour for commercial sale. That really gripes me. While grinding my own grains at home means I will have a more "grainy" (pardon the pun) loaf, then so be it, but the flavor factor goes up by miles. 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Soda Bread

Makes one loaf 

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (85 grams)
1½ cups buttermilk (350 ml) 
2¼ cups whole wheat flour (300 grams)*
¼ cup all-purpose flour (33 grams)
2 teaspoons baking soda (15 grams)
½ teaspoon salt (3 grams)
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons honey (60 grams)
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (42 grams)
1½ tablespoons flax seeds (18 g), optional
1½ tablespoons raw, hulled sunflower seeds (15 g), optional

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 2½-inch loaf pan.

Stir together the buttermilk and oats and set aside for about 15 minutes or so, while preparing the other ingredients. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Combine the melted butter and honey and add to the bowl, along with the buttermilk-oatmeal mixture and eggs. Stir until all dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake the loaf for approximately one hour, or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees, using an instant-read thermometer. Set the pan to cool for 10 minutes before turning the loaf out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing.

*Note: If desired, substitute ⅔ cup (50 g) white rye or plain all-purpose flour for part of the whole wheat flour. This would make the amount of whole wheat flour to be 250 grams.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Another Soda Bread Recipe

I wrote a few days ago (the day before St Paddy's) about my take on Irish Brown Bread, or Soda Bread. Which turned out so wonderful, by the way, that I was just itching to try another recipe, this time using some barley flour. Since the loaf made a few days back is down to the last two slices remaining, I made a second loaf this morning. It was in the oven before I sat down to breakfast.

New this morning: Barley Flour Soda Bread

I will tell you why I so loved this first bread that I had to make a second loaf so soon after: It is moist and dense, chewy but not hard, smells sweet, somewhat like molasses, though there is none in the recipe, toasts beautifully, tastes great just with butter, goes excellently with stew (or eggs for breakfast, or a sandwich for lunch, if sliced thinly and for a lot more things, I am sure). I imagine you get my drift. I really loved this bread. And it is almost instant gratification. Only baking soda in the recipe, means no waiting for the bread to rise. 

Not that I have a problem with waiting for breads to rise. I have been making yeast breads for almost 45 years. I am well-used to the waiting part!

Irish Brown Bread; oats making little lines

As I mentioned in the blog on the first Irish Brown Bread, since I have an electric grain mill, I wanted to try this with barley flour. Not all barley flour, but just some. In that first bread, I used mostly whole wheat flour, with some all-purpose flour and cake flour, and then added in some toasted wheat germ and rolled oats. The oats caused the bread (seen at right) to have little lines running through the cut slices, which is no problem whatsoever. Still, this time I milled some whole pearled barley (the long-cooking kind) and wheat berries, and used all-purpose flour and cake flour as the other flours. No extra additions. I was tempted to add currants, but opted out at last minute. What I do need to do is find a source for some soft wheat rather than only the hard red wheat I currently have. That is for another day.

Once my second attempt this morning cooled enough to slice, I tasted a tiny corner (I had just finished with breakfast, but wanted to get some idea of flavor differences). I find that this one smells less of molasses (maybe it was the toasted wheat germ giving that flavor?) and has a more straightforward whole-grain flavor, but it is still nice and dense, moist and chewy, so I am very content. I might be on this kick for Soda Breads for a while, at this rate!

Barley Flour Soda Bread

And then this morning, reading further on soda breads, and other things, I came on a site that talked of bicarbonate really first being used in the early American colonies in the later 1700s. So, how "original to Ireland" is Irish "Soda" Bread? Who knows? None of this really matters. What matters is that these breads come out so wonderfully good. Soda breads are known in many countries, including Serbia, from where my paternal grandparents haled (then Yugoslavia). I had no clue. Grandma never made soda bread, to my recollection. I believe she did occasionally make yeast bread, but that was not her "thing". Her thing was making pastries: rich, full of lard, flaky, not-too-sweet pastries. I can still taste them in my mind, though the last time I ate her pastries was in the early 1970s.  They were truly memorable. Who cares if bread baking was not her thing!?

Long and short, if you have the ability to grind barley and wheat, these breads, or any using whole grain flour, taste immeasurably better if the grain is freshly ground. Store-bought whole wheat flour has always tasted awful to me, and now I realize that this is because, once ground, the germ goes rancid very quickly. I would not recommend making these recipes of mine unless you have a grain mill of some kind and can grind your own fresh grain. This is what I did this morning:

Barley Flour Soda Bread

Barley Flour Soda Bread

Makes one loaf

1 cup whole wheat flour

Barley Flour Soda Bread

1 cup whole grain barley flour
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1 cup cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside. In a large mixing bowl stir together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in all the buttermilk. Stir, beginning in the center, with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating all the dry ingredients, until no dry remains. Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and "knead" gently by patting out the dough, folding it in half, flattening and folding, about 8 to 10 times. Form into a round loaf approximately 8-inches in diameter and 2-inches high. Set it in the prepared baking sheet. Cut a large "X" across the top (this allows for easier expansion and helps to have the loaf baked through in the center). Bake the loaf for about 50 to 60 minutes, until nicely golden and it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. If an instant read thermometer is among your kitchen gadgetry, the loaf should read at least 185 to 190 degrees in the center. Cool completely on a rack before cutting.
 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

St Paddy's Day and Irish Brown Bread

Irish Brown Bread

I don't really celebrate St Paddy's Day myself, nor am I Irish. My eldest daughter chose that day to get married 20 years ago, and so that remains a cause for celebration, but not because of the Irish sense of it. I rarely remember to wear green, and do not have much of anything green to wear, even should I choose to do so.

 
Still. While Irish is nowhere in my own heritage, my husband does have Irish in his ancestry. He pays no more attention to St Paddy's Day than I do; probably less. Green is a color he probably wouldn't be caught dead in anyway. As for food, well, when attending Gaelic festivals, he will eat lamb stew. He does not drink beer. At all, ever. He'd probably be thrown out of Ireland for that heresy. Just being facetious here.

What I am getting at is that in all my (almost) 65 years, I have never even once made anything specifically "Irish", whether for St Paddy's or any other time. Unless you count Irish Oatmeal ;-) When perusing my Facebook feed a few days ago, I saw a recipe for Irish Brown Bread, something I have never tried before. I did eat what was supposedly Irish Soda Bread a couple of years ago at the local Gaelic Festival, with some lamb stew, but while it was good, having never looked at a recipe, I really had no idea what went in it (besides baking soda). And there began my search.

My Irish Brown Bread, sliced and buttered

Search, and Research

When I look into a new recipe, and more particularly if it is a specific ethnic food, I like to find out what I can about where it came from, why it is made that way and what the most authentic recipe might be. On that research I base any ideas of my own. The recipe I saw on FB had whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, soda, salt, butter and buttermilk. Many recipes I saw online also had butter in the ingredients, and some had eggs. Some added honey, and some added sugar. Okay, but what is truly authentic, I wondered? I refined my search to "traditional" Irish Brown Bread and came up with actual Irish people's recipes. One was from Rachel Allen. But more to the point, I did learn a bit more about Irish Brown Bread or Soda Bread and why it is made as it is.

What I learned is that in Ireland, the flour that was available long ago was too "soft" (their words, not mine), or too low in gluten and did not work well with yeast to make a yeast risen bread. The flour available was mainly coarse whole grain, whether wheat, barley or oat. Soda was used as the leavening agent, but the bread itself was a simple thing: flour, soda and buttermilk. Even salt was optional. What was stated is that anything like butter, eggs or much less honey added to this bread is most absolutely not traditional Irish Brown Bread. The Irish would keep the butter to spread on the finished bread, not waste it in making the loaf. 

Having looked at and compared over 10 recipes, from the butter and egg types to the simple flour, soda and buttermilk varieties, I decided on a very slight deviation from the absolute basics. Based on the concept that the flour was not conducive to yeast use, I thought I would use mostly a slightly coarse grind of whole wheat, with a little all-purpose flour and an even lesser amount of cake flour to try and replicate a mixture that would be a poor mixture for yeast bread. The cake flour can be substituted with all-purpose flour, bringing that amount up to 1½ cups total. I did toast some wheat germ to add, as well as adding a little oatmeal. Other than that, I stayed within the basics. I did consider using some barley flour, but I will reserve that for the next try. My husband got me a wonderful grain mill not long ago, so making some barley flour will be a fun experiment. For now, this is what I did to make my version of Irish Brown Bread, which I will be serving with my Irish Lamb Stew tomorrow.

Irish Brown Bread sliced

Irish Brown Bread

Makes 1 loaf

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour (or use all-purpose)
½ cup wheat germ, lightly toasted
½ cup rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside. In a large mixing bowl stir together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in all the buttermilk. Stir in the center, gradually incorporating all the dry ingredients, until no dry remains. Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and "knead" gently by patting out the dough, folding it in half, flattening and folding, about 8 to 10 times. Form into a round loaf approximately 9-inches in diameter and 1½ inches high. Cut a large "X" across the top. Bake the loaf for about 45 to 50 minutes, until nicely golden and it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a rack.

Irish Brown Bread

The Verdict?

This loaf came out nice and brown with a great crust, moist in the center and a beautiful crumb. It is dense and filled with all that is good in wheat. This bread will pair extremely well with the Lamb Stew I will make tomorrow. I will be making this again, as I want to try it with barley flour. The recipe, as it stands, is fantastic!


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.