Real Irish Brown Soda Bread Loaf - cooking recipe

Ingredients

275 g coarse whole meal flour
175 g plain flour (use Bread flour for better texture)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons caster sugar (optional)
500 ml buttermilk
1 tablespoon oil

Preparation

Place wholemeal in a large mixing bowl.
Sieve in Cream flour, salt, soda and sugar (if used).
Add buttermilk and oil.
Mix well.
Transfer to a well greased 2lb loaf tin.
Bake in a preheated oven at 170\u00b0C, 325\u00b0F, Gas 3 for approximately 1 hour.
Bread will be baked if base sounds hollow when tapped.
Cool on a wire tray. For a soft crust, wrap bread in a clean tea towel.
Variations for bread In preparation, after adding the buttermilk and oil, add 50g/2oz chopped walnuts and 50g/2oz chopped dried apricots; When adding buttermilk and oil, add 1 tablespoon of treacle; Add 50g/2oz of grated cheddar cheese to the dry ingredients.