Taking a walk down memory lane! I went through a phase of refusing to buy bread a few years ago when I discovered how quick & easy it was to make my favourite Irish brown bread. I pretty much forced all my then new Australian friends to like it. When I went back home I forced my family to eat my bread instead of Brennan’s (Today’s bread today!) who we had been loyal to for 20 odd years! I even brought Odlum’s wholemeal flour to Malaysia with me when I moved there so I could make it. That’s how obsessed I was.
There are so many difference recipes out there that are most probably more traditional but I swear by this one that took me a few trial and errors. I’ve replaced the buttermilk and added a dash of nutrients in my recipe. Irish brown soda bread is dense and hearty, goes so perfectly with a bowl of hot soup on a Wintery day or I love it simple with a scrape of fresh butter and honey.
3 cups coarse wholemeal self-raising flour, 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup rolled oats, 1tsp baking soda, 250mls almond milk, 1tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup milled flaxseeds, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, pinch of salt, 2 large eggs
Preheat the (fan) oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Mix the lemon juice into the almond milk in a measuring jug, stir and set it aside for a few minutes. In the meantime grease and flour the loaf tin. Then sieve the flours into a large mixing bowl, add the pinch of salt, baking soda and milled flaxseeds. Crack the eggs into the milk mixture now and whisk it lightly with a fork. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the half the milk/egg mix into the mixing bowl. Combine with a wooden spoon and repeat with the rest of the milk/egg mix. Add more almond milk here if you think it’s too dry. Then gently fold in the rolled oats and sunflower seeds.
The mixture should be wet & sticky (I can’t think of any other more appropriate adjectives ok!), not quite a dough yet not quite a cake batter, and not very appetising looking. Transfer the mixture into your ready greased loaf tins. Sprinkle some rolled oats and sunflower seeds on top. Bake in the hot oven for about 40-45 minutes. It won’t rise much, maybe about 1 inch. Use a clean tea towel to tip it out of the tin and place it on a cooling rack. If you knock the bottom of the loaf it should sound hollow - that’s how you know it’s cooked through.
Cut a thick slice while still warm, spread some butter and drizzle some honey on it - Heaven!
Notes: This bread is very handy to freeze once it’s completely cooled and can last up to 3 months. I generally make a double recipe and cut it into portions first.
