Lush Whole Wheat Soda Bread Recipes

100% WHOLE WHEAT IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• In a big mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.
• Cut in butter until it reaches a coarse meal consistency. (I started with two knives, then finished the process with my fingers.).
• Add raisins.
• Combine liquids separately. Add liquids to dry ingredients.
• Mix until a soft dough forms. At some point it will become hard to stir it, and it will be better to use your hands. Kneading the dough is the best way to combine all the ingredients completely -- knead it gently until it is smooth (about 3 minutes). You can knead it right there in the mixing bowl.
• Shape the dough into two balls, and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball slightly and cut an X about 1/4" deep in the top of each loaf.
• Bake at 375 for 35 minutes.

TRADITIONAL IRISH WHEATEN BREAD (BROWN SODA BREAD) RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 F (200 C or Gas Mark 6).

WHOLE WHEAT SODA BREAD WITH RAISINS (SPOTTED DOG)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. In a large bowl, mix together flours, soda, salt and brown sugar. Swish mixture around with your hands to distribute salt and soda through the bread. Add raisins and toss mixture together to coat raisins with flour.
• Beat egg and place in a measuring cup. Add buttermilk; the liquid in the cup should measure about 1 3/4 cups.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour egg/buttermilk mixture into the well. Working from the center of the bowl in concentric clockwise circles, with fingers outstretched, stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture. (You can use a rubber spatula instead if you don't like getting dough on your hands.) This should take about a half a minute at most. Dough will be sticky and ragged.
• Dust your work surface with flour, clean and dry your hands and dust with flour. Scrape out dough and very quickly and gently pat it into a 1 1/2- to 2-inch-high round and tuck the bottom edges under. (Alternatively, place in a lightly buttered 10-inch round cake pan.) Place on parchment-covered baking sheet. Moisten a knife and cut a deep cross across top of bread.
• Place in oven and immediately turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Bake 40 minutes, until the loaf is dark brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped. Remove from oven, wrap loosely in a kitchen towel (to soften the crust) and place on a rack to cool.

MUM'S TRADITIONAL IRISH SODA BREAD RECIPE (BROWN BREAD)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F (215°C).
• Mix together the flours, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs.
• In a separate jug, whisk the egg and buttermilk together (see note on how to make Buttermilk below)
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid, 3/4 at once, into the flour mixture.
• Using an open hand bring the flour and liquid together to a loose dough. The dough should be quite soft, but not too sticky. You will know then if it needs more of the liquids. (Flour in different places reacts differently to added liquid).
• Turn onto a floured work surface and gently bring the dough together into a round, about 1 1/2 inches (4cm) thick (8 inches by 8 inches).
• Place on a baking sheet dusted well with flour.
• Score the bread by blessing it with a deep cross on top. Poke a hole in the 4 corners of the bread to release the fairies and stop them from cursing your beautiful bread.
• Glaze the bread with the leftover bit of buttermilk in your jug and dust the top with rolled oats.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake for 30 minutes more. When done, the loaf will sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool.

LUSH WHOLE WHEAT SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a heavy cookie sheet or rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Sift the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Drop in the chunks of butter and, using a pastry blender or two round-bladed table knives, cut the fat into the flour mixture until reduced to flakes and pea-size bits. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the flour mixture and stir to form a dough. It will be moist and come together in large patches. Collect, gather, and form into a mass that adheres to itself with your hands. Note that the dough should be mixed only to shape and form, as actual kneading results in a dense-textured crumb. Transfer dough to a work surface sprinkled with the wheat bran. Gently smooth and roll the dough into a well-domed sphere measuring 5 to 5-1/2 inches in diameter, allowing it to take up a light coating of the bran; the bran will adhere to the dough randomly. Place the dough ball in the center of the baking pan. With a small sharp knife, cut a 4 by 4-inch cross on top of the bread, no more than 1/4 inch deep. A deeper, longer cross will allow the loaf to bake out of shape - if this happens, reduce the baking time by about 4 minutes, as the dough will widen a little more during early baking - the bread, however, will still be delicious. Bake the bread for 40 minutes, or until set. The baked bread will sound hollow when gently tapped on the bottom with the long handle of a wooden spoon. Since the unbaked dough is somewhat dark to begin with, you will see ruddier patches on all four quadrants created by the cross-slashing. Let the bread stand on the baking pan for 2 minutes, then remove it to a cooling rack. Serve barely warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container.