Recipe: St Paddy’s Day Bread!

Soda Bread is a traditional Irish bread made with baking soda and buttermilk instead of yeast.

It’s been on my list-of-things-to-bake for a while, and I figured that St Patrick’s Day is the perfect day to try it out!

It was suuuuuuper easy to make (it only took me about 35 minutes to make the dough AND bake it in my toaster oven!). I was a little worried that it wouldn’t actually work out because my dough was a little too wet and I had run out of flour… plus I replaced buttermilk with whole milk and lemon juice. But, it ended up tripling in size and I’ve been snacking on it all day. I mixed in lots of dill, thyme, and Parmesan so it tastes incredible (made the inside look slightly green and festive in the photo too). I also garnished the loaf with thin slices of potato too.

An extra bonus: my place smelled AMAZING while I was baking this.

Hope you try this out and enjoy it as much as I do! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

INGREDIENTS

450g all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda (or one individual packet)

400 mL buttermilk (or 400 mL whole milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice)

2 Tbsp Parmesan

2 Tbsp dried dill

2 Tbsp dried thyme

Potato slices for garnish, sliced thin with mandolin

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 218C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Create a well in the center and pour in milk. Mix everything together with hands, forming a soft cohesive dough.
  4. Move dough to a floured surface and knead lightly. Shape into a circle and place on baking sheet.
  5. Cut an X across the top with a sharp knife. Lightly press on potato slices over each section, making sure they overlap. Do not cover the X.
  6. Bake until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom (approximately 25-30 minutes).
  7. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool until warm.
  8. Serve and enjoy!