Wheaten bread

My boyfriend is Northern Irish and absolutely adores wheaten bread. For the uninitiated this is a wholemeal soda bread, soda bread uses no yeast and relies on bicarbonate of soda and buttermilk for its texture. To be honest its not my favourite bread, though I do like it toasted. Still it takes literally seconds to whip up and lasts well in a tin so I don't mind making it on a pretty regular basis, just for him.

Wheaten bread

makes 1 large loaf

300g wholemeal bread flour
100g white bread flour
tsp salt
tsp bicarbonate of soda
60g butter
300ml buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN. Mix the flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda together in a large bowl. Rub in the butter, with your fingertips, until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the buttermilk then bring together with your hands. You may need a little extra milk, I use regular milk to 'rinse' out the buttermilk pot and add that until the dough comes together.

Shape the dough into a round and place onto a baking tray. If you wish brush the top with milk and sprinkle on a few oats. Press a knife deep into the dough to create four farls (wedges). 

Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until fully cooked, it should sound hollow when tapped underneath.

Allow to fully cool on a wire rack and then store in an airtight container.