Buckwheat Soda Bread

5 from 1 vote

Buckwheat flour adds a delicious extra dimension to this soda bread recipe. A much healthier option than shop-bought bread, this Easy Buckwheat Soda Bread is also super quick to make – you can have fresh bread in under 40 minutes. And no kneading or proving required!

Course Bread, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine Irish

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Servings slices

Calories 164kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

175 g buckwheat flour (I use Doves Farm Organic Buckwheat Flour*)
175 g plain wholemeal flour see Note 1
½ teaspoon salt or to taste (see Note 2)
1 teaspoon baking soda see Note 3
250 ml milk see Note 4
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar see Note 5

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 200C / 180C fan / gas mark 6 / 400F. Dust a non-stick baking tray with a little wholemeal flour.
In a large bowl, mix together thoroughly the two flours, salt and baking soda.
In a jug, mix together the milk and vinegar.
Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Leave the mixture to rest for 5 minutes. (See Note 6.)
Bring the dough together into a ball using your hands. The dough should just come together into a ball, but shouldn’t be wet and sloppy. (If it doesn’t all come together, add a splash of water. If it’s too wet and sloppy add a touch more flour.)
Roll the dough into a ball and place on your prepared baking tray.
Flatten the ball a little and then cut a deep cross into it. The cross should go almost to the base of the loaf – but not quite!
Sprinkle the loaf with a little wholemeal flour.
Bake the loaf in your pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes until cooked all the way through and golden on top.
Ideally, serve warm – straight out of the oven!

Notes

Be sure to use plain (all purpose) wholemeal flour NOT wholemeal bread flour or wholemeal self-raising flour.
Salt is a very personal thing. I find ½ to 1 teaspoon is about right for my own personal tastes, but feel free to adjust to suit your own personal preferences.
Be sure to use baking soda (which is the same as bicarbonate of soda) DO NOT use baking powder, which is a different thing entirely!
Traditionally soda bread uses buttermilk, however buttermilk can be hard to get hold of and expensive. Regular milk plus 1 tablespoon of vinegar (or lemon juice) works just as well, and means you don’t have to go out and buy special ingredients for this recipe. However, if you prefer, you can use 300ml buttermilk or 300g natural yogurt in this recipe, in place of the milk AND vinegar. Any milk will work in this recipe. I use regular cow’s milk, but you can use a plant-based milk, if you prefer.
Alternatively, you can use white wine vinegar or lemon juice. At a push you could use red wine vinegar, but DO NOT use malt vinegar or balsamic vinegar.
I would normally put soda bread straight into the oven, but I find buckwheat flour can be a bit ‘gritty’ if you do that. Resting the mixture for 5 minutes before shaping and baking means the buckwheat flour can absorb some of the liquid from the milk, resulting in a less ‘gritty’ texture. The 5 minute resting time does not affect the loaf’s ability to rise in the oven.
Suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition