Soda bread
Soda bread has no yeast and no starter — it rises on the reaction between bicarbonate and the acid in buttermilk, which starts on contact. So speed matters: the dough should go into the oven within a few minutes of adding the buttermilk. Kneading is the enemy here.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Preheating the oven 15 min
- Mixing the dough 8 min
- Shaping and the cross 4 min
- Baking 45 min
- Cooling 30 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneHeat the oven in advance
Set the oven to 200°C and let it come fully to temperature before you start mixing. This is not just caution — the bicarbonate starts working as soon as the buttermilk goes in, and waiting for the oven means a loaf that rises less.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 200 g wholemeal flour · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1½ tsp salt · 50 g rolled oats
Mix the dry ingredients
Combine both flours with the bicarbonate, salt and oats. Sieve the bicarbonate or rub it in thoroughly — an unbroken lump leaves a bitter, soapy spot in the bread.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 200 g wholemeal flour · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1½ tsp salt · 50 g rolled oats
Add buttermilk and mix by hand
Pour in the buttermilk with the honey and mix with splayed fingers like a claw, turning the bowl. Stop as soon as the dough comes together — it should be sticky and rough. This takes 30 seconds, not two minutes.
Ingredients: 400 ml buttermilk · 1 tbsp honey
TipIf the dough seems too wet, it is probably right. Soda bread made too dry comes out dense and crumbly.
Fingers like a rake — you are mixing, not kneading.Shape without kneading
Tip the dough onto a floured surface and pat it into a round loaf 5 cm high in a few movements. Do not knead — every press expels the carbon dioxide already produced and the bread comes out dense.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 200 g wholemeal flour · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1½ tsp salt · 50 g rolled oats
Cut a deep cross
Move the loaf to a tray and slash a cross almost down to the base with a sharp knife. This is not decoration — the cross opens the centre to the heat, so a thick loaf bakes through before the crust burns.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 200 g wholemeal flour · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1½ tsp salt · 50 g rolled oats
Cut deep — otherwise the middle stays raw.Bake for 45 minutes
Scatter oats over the top and bake at 200°C for 40–45 minutes. The bread is done when tapping the base sounds hollow. Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 200 g wholemeal flour · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1½ tsp salt · 50 g rolled oats
TipWrapping the hot loaf in a damp cloth gives a soft crust. Cooling it uncovered gives a crisp one.
Before you start
Without buttermilk
Swap in kefir, or milk with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice left 10 minutes. The acid is essential — without it the bicarbonate does nothing.
Eat it the same day
Soda bread stales within a day. On day two it is best toasted or turned into croutons for soup.
Sweet version
Add 100 g of raisins and 2 tablespoons of sugar to the dry ingredients — that makes Irish spotted dog, served buttered with tea.
