I wish we had time to cook hot crusty loaves of fresh bread every day, but sadly we don’t. What we do have time for, though, is this quick and easy no-knead, no-fuss soda bread. It’s just the sort of thing you want to make on a Saturday morning to fill the house with the smell of freshly baked bread. It is very good toasted and used for bruschettas, but best of all with a hunk of delicious cheese.
MAKES 1 LARGE LOAF
450g mixed grain flour
50g porridge oats
50g walnuts, chopped
100g pitted dates, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250ml buttermilk
200ml natural yoghurt
1 tbsp honey
butter, melted, for brushing
1 Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas 4 and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
2 Mix together the flour, oats, walnuts, dates, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl and make a well in the middle.
3 Pour in the buttermilk, yoghurt and honey. Working quickly, mix everything together with your hands to form a sticky dough. Turn out on to the lined baking sheet and form into a round. Use a sharp knife to mark the bread into quarters, cutting deeply.
4 Place in the oven and cook for 50 minutes, until a hard, golden crust has formed. Remove from the oven and use a pastry brush to cover with the melted butter. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
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