Make traditional Irish brown soda bread with me

By
Haley Burrow
-
Students watch as Kenzie Campbell attempts to catch an egg without dropping it, so she can use it to finish making her bread. Photo courtesy of Harper Leigh

By Haley Burrow | Guest Contributor

Irish brown soda bread is a traditional recipe that became a staple food during the Potato Famine — or the Great Hunger, as it’s called in Ireland. Soda bread became popular due to its ease and convenience since the simple recipe included ingredients that were easy to come by in a time when food was scarce.

Between eggs getting tossed at us and being chastised for attempting to mix the dough together with my hands, learning this recipe was definitely an experience I never expected to enjoy. Our trip to Causey Farm included many adventures, such as feeding animals out of our hands and jumping into a bog, but the bread recipe was the most interesting to me. Learning the history of the recipe and actually being able to cook a traditional Irish dish allowed me to feel as close as I could to being a local Irishman.

Grace Cusick and Clara Lincicome pause to pose with their bread mixtures in the middle of the demonstration. Photo courtesy of Harper Leigh Roberts
Grace Cusick and Clara Lincicome pause to pose with their bread mixtures in the middle of the demonstration. Photo courtesy of Harper Leigh

Ingredients:

  • One heaping cup of white flour
  • One leveled cup of brown flour
  • One teaspoon of salt
  • One teaspoon of baking soda
  • One egg
  • Roughly three-fourths cup of buttermilk
Cavan Burns and Nathan Tran add their ingredients to their bowls before mixing it all together. Photo courtesy of Harper Leigh Roberts
Cavan Burns and Nathan Tran add their ingredients to their bowls before mixing it all together. Photo courtesy of Harper Leigh

Instructions:

  • Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit).
  • Add both of your flours and the salt to a mixing bowl.
  • Add the spoonful of baking soda to your hand. Smooth out the soda with a spoon to ensure that the dough does not have clumps in it. In this recipe, the baking soda acts as the leavening agent, as opposed to yeast, which is used in most other bread recipes.
  • Combine all of the dry ingredients with your hands.
  • Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Crack an egg into the center of the well and lightly beat together without incorporating the dry ingredients.
  • Add the milk to the egg center and mix the entire dough together with a spoon. Avoid mixing the dough with your hands, or you will end up with a sticky mess. Be careful not to overmix the dough, as the baking soda will lose its ability to leaven the dough if it is overmixed.
  • Add a light dusting of flour to the dough and roll it around the mixing bowl to form a ball.
  • Roll your ball from the bowl into a 9×5-inch bread pan.
  • Bake your bread for around 45 minutes.
  • Once your bread is finished baking, let it cool and enjoy it the traditional Irish way — with butter, jam and a hot cup of tea.
Jenna Fitzgerald, Rachel Royster and Kenzie Campbell pose with their “bread babies” before their finished projects make it into the oven. Photo courtesy of Harper Leigh Roberts
Jenna Fitzgerald, Rachel Royster and Kenzie Campbell pose with their “bread babies” before their finished projects make it into the oven. Photo courtesy of Harper Leigh

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