Soda bread is one of the easiest breads to make at home, not only is there no need for lengthy kneading, you also don’t need to leave it for hours to prove. It’s a great one to cook if you don’t have any yeast as there are a couple of really easy options which forgo the need for yeast.

The recipe I have provided here is for a basic white Irish soda bread. You can replace the white flour with wholemeal flour, or you can use a mix of white and wholemeal.

Most soda bread recipes that you find will require buttermilk. Although you can get hold of buttermilk in most big supermarkets, it’s not something that you are likely just to have in the fridge! The solution is a really easy replacement to the buttermilk. You can use normal milk, and curdle it (sounds horrible but don’t let it put you off!) with either distilled white vinegar or with lemon juice.

Please note that ovens can vary in temperature, and as this is a very dense loaf it can take longer than 35 minutes to cook. You can slide a sharp knife into the middle to see if it comes out sticky with dough. If it needs to cook for longer you can wrap it in foil at the end to save it getting overly browned, but allow it to keep cooking in the middle. The other option is to split the dough into 2 parts and make 2 smaller loaves.

Soda bread is delicious when it is freshly cooked, and once a day or two old it makes brilliant toast!