MY BIG HEALTHY BREAKFAST - IRISH SODA BREAD

Soda bread has become a staple of Cooking Club meals. It is very popular with our participants as it's scrumptious, cheap and incredibly quick and easy to make....... So much so that the group can turn out batches now without any help from the tutor.

It takes only 10 minutes to mix the dough and approx 30 minutes to bake in the oven. It has no preservatives or added sugars and can  last for a few days in a cool place.
Here's how.........

Ingredients: (1 loaf)

500g plain or self-raising flour
400ml milk/soya/almond/coconut/hemp milks
1 teaspoon  salt
1 teaspoon baking soda/bicarbonate of soda

Method:

*Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C
*Grease a loaf or cake tin and line inside with greaseproof paper

*Measure out all the ingredients and sift the flour through a sieve.

*In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking soda

*Slowly start adding the milk and stir together and then use clean hands to  the mixture into a ball of dough

*Place the ball of dough lightly in the grease-proofed cake tin and mark a cross on the top with a knife (this is the traditional Irish way of presenting the loaf)

*Bake in the oven for approx. 30 mins.
*You can test if it is ready by pushing a  knife into the centre of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the loaf is cooked through. If it has sticky residue then place the loaf back in the oven for more baking. (Test regularly.)

*Allow to cool for 10 minutes then cut the loaf into segments and serve warm with butter...

.......you can add extras to  the to flour give your loaf a variety of flavours: dried herbs, cinnamon and raisins, cheese, walnuts, sundried tomatoes,.........lovely with soups as well......

Thank you to Jeff Crownson for the photographs.