Sesame Brown Soda Loaf

Bread is one of my favourite things to bake. I used to shy away from it as I thought working with yeast and kneading dough would be too tough for an amateur, but, with this simple soda bread recipe my mind changed completely. Bread doesn't need to be complicated in the slightest.

 Ingredients 

225g Brown Flour

225g Plain Flour 

1 handful porridge oats 

4 tbsp Bran 

6 tbsp sesame seeds 

2 tbsp brown sugar 

1 pinch of salt 

1 tbsp Bread Soda

500ml Buttermilk 

Method

1) Preheat your oven to 180C/ 350f/ Gas Mark 4, grease a loaf tin with oil and line the bottom with grease proof paper 

2) Sift the flour and bread soda into your bowl, then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix with wooden spoon 

3) Make a hole in the centre of the bowl and pour in roughly half the buttermilk and mix

4) Add the remaining buttermilk and stir (be careful that the mixture is not too wet- it should be firm but still 'plop' off the spoon - if it's too wet simply add a little more flour) 

5) Empty the mixture into your tin, sprinkle some seeds on top and bake for 35-40 minutes until firm to touch

6) Leave to cool on a wire wrack, slice and enjoy - I love to eat it with thick slices of vintage cheddar or real butter and raspberry jam.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread with Flax Seeds

First off, my Dad's a huge fan of home-made brown bread. Last weekend, he arrived home from Scotland after being away for just over 2 weeks. I was certain that he would be craving some good home cooking (as he's not the greatest cook in the world) So, I decided to help my Mam out by baking a Traditional Irish Soda Bread for lunch seens as she'd be making dinner. 

This soda bread recipe is really easy to make. Its the base recipe to almost any bread that I bake. I decided to add Flax Seeds to the recipe this time to give the bread a nice grainy texture and also to boost nutrient intake. Apparently flax seeds are one of the biggest nutrient carriers in the world - that's what we like to hear :) If you don't have flax seeds at home don't worry. You can substitute them for sunflower seeds, sesame seeds or even porridge oats.

INGREDIENTS

225g/ 8oz Plain Flour

225g/ 8oz Wholemeal Flour

1 tsp Bread Soda (sieved)

1 tsp Sugar

Pinch of Salt

4 tbsp Flax Seeds

500ml Buttermilk

METHOD

1) Preheat your oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4

2) Mix all of your dry ingredients together in a large bowl (make sure to sieve the bread soda)

3) Make a hole in the middle of your bowl and pour in the buttermilk

4) Stir in the buttermilk 

(The mixture should almost "plop" off the spoon - if it's too dry simply add more milk and if its too wet add more flour)

5) Pour the mixture into a loaf tin lined with baking paper and bake for approx. 40 mins
6) After 40 mins, remove the loaf from the tin and stick it back in the oven for a further 10 mins
7) Leave to cool on a wire tray before slicing & enjoy!!

I love this bread with real Irish butter and raspberry jam in the morning, or else with nothing but thick slices of cheddar cheese for lunch - YUMMMMYY :)

Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil Bread

If you're looking for something a little different to serve instead of garlic bread, this Sun-dried Tomato bread is what you need... I make it to serve with Lasagna, but it goes really well with pasta or any other Italian dish, and its really yummmmyy to snack on with butter or Pesto spread on top -- It's extremely easy to make, its basically a soda bread recipe with a few small tweaks - Hope you like it, here goes.....

INGREDIENTS

1 lb/455g Plain flour

1 tsp Bread Soda

2 pinches Salt

1 tbsp Ground Basil

2 large handfuls of sun-dried tomatoes (roughly chopped)

500ml Buttermilk

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4

2) Put the flour, salt, basil and chopped sun-dried tomatoes in a large bowl & mix

3) Sieve the bread soda into the mixture & mix again

4) Make a hole in the middle of the dry mixture and pour in the buttermilk

5) Mix well - the mixture should "plop" off the spoon - if its too runny, add more flour and if its too dry add more buttermilk

6) Pour the mixture into a loaf tin lined with grease-proof paper and put in the oven for 40 mins

7) Take the loaf out after 40 mins, remove it from the tin and place it back into the oven for a further 10 minutes

8) Leave the loaf to cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Love these!!! :)

  

Breakfast Bread

So last night I decided to stick a Brown Bread in the oven, but, when I went to the fridge to get the Natural Yogurt we had none - I didn't want to have to run down to the Supermarket so I decided to be brave and try out a new recipe using what I had... To be honest I thought I'd be giving this bread out to the dogs this morning but, to my surprise, everyone here loved it - Guess I'll be making it again :)

Don't worry, this bread won't interfere with any healthy eating resolutions you may have - It's full of goodness: nutrients from the nuts and seeds, calcium from the yogurt and fibre from the whole grain oats...

INGREDIENTS

225g Self Raising Flour

225g Wholemeal Flour

1 tbsp Bread Soda (sieved)

1 tbsp Sunflower Oil

2 tbsp Brown Sugar (if you don't have brown sugar, ordinary sugar will do)

4 tbsp Porridge Oats

2 tbsp Crushed Hazelnuts (buy them crushed or chop them finely yourself)

2 tbsp Crushed Walnuts     

1 tbsp Almond Flakes (crushed)

1 tbsp Sunflower Seeds

3 tbsp Raisins

200ml Milk

400ml Yogurt 

I used Onken Mango, Papaya & Passionfruit Yogurt - Peach or Mango & Apple would work too

** Feel free to add in any other nuts or seeds of your choice**

1) Preheat your oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4

2) Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl

3) Add all wet ingredients (yogurt, milk and oil) and mix - the mixture should now "plop" off the spoon - if it is too runny then add some more wholemeal flour and if it is too dry, add some more milk.

4) Line a loaf tin with grease proof paper and empty the mixture into it

5) Sprinkle the top with nuts or seeds of your choice

6) Cook in the oven for 45 mins, then take the bread out of the loaf tin, put it back in the oven directly on the shelf and cook for another 10-15 mins

7) Poke the bread with a sharp knife to make sure that the middle is cooked

8) Leave it cool on a wire tray

We all thought that Lemon Curd went really
well with the bread, but, if you really want to
stick to those New Year's resolutions
try it with Natural Honey 

Check out  the Wellness Warrior for more info 

on the super qualities of nuts and seeds at....

http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/2012/05/the-super-qualities-of-nuts/?doing_wp_cron=1357309783.2845818996429443359375