Rye Soda Bread

I have come to the conclusion that I really need to make soda bread more often. Sure, I usually remember to make a loaf in March because of the whole “Irish Soda Bread” thing, but that’s not enough. A nice crunchy-crusted round loaf is such a big pay-off for the small investment of time and talent it requires. Perhaps it’s not a perfect sandwich bread, but there are more things to do with a nice loaf of bread than make sandwiches.

I recently made the Rye Soda Bread in Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson, one of my favorite blog and cookbook authors. I didn’t make mine quite as craggy and crunchy as the bread in the original recipe, but I did make a delightfully flavorful and extremely useful loaf. I ate it for breakfast alongside eggs, as a lovely accompaniment with this soup, and on its own, toasted and buttered with one of my many-cups-a-day of coffee.

This bread comes together like any soda bread recipe, more like a biscuit dough than a quick bread or yeast bread dough. It needs only a brief kneading, more to finish the mixing and to coax everything into place than to develop gluten. Slashing the loaf before baking not only gives it some room to expand as it bakes, but also creates some extra surface area for more crunchy crust.

I really like rye breads, so was excited to try this unyeasted loaf. I used a stone-ground rye flour, which is about all I can usually find. All this whole grain stuff does not make this bread crumbly, though. It’s soft, but firm enough to hold up as you slice through the crunchy crust. I added caraway seeds, which I also love, but they are not necessary if you do not like them. If you wanted to take this into a sweeter range, you may be able to add some currants or raisins, just like you might find in a white-flour version of soda bread.

 

I certainly hope to have more opportunity to make this delicious bread, especially since it’s getting difficult to fit as many yeasted loaves into my life as I would like. It’s so delicious with soups and even just all by itself. And I’m certain its whole grainy goodness is much healthier than the chocolate cake with ganache I hope to tell you about soon!

Caraway Rye Soda Bread

Adapted from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson

2 1/3 cups stone ground rye flour

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 ¾ teaspoon baking soda

1 ¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

2 cups buttermilk

Additional flour for your kneading surface

Additional buttermilk for brushing the dough

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

2. Combine the rye flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, caraway seeds, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together to combine well.

3. Pour in the buttermilk and stir together just until the dough comes together in a shaggy, moist ball. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface.

4. Knead the dough gently just long enough to be able to form it into a smooth ball. Place the ball of dough on the prepared baking sheet.

5. With a sharp knife, slash several deep cuts in the top of the ball of dough. Brush the dough all over with buttermilk.

6. Bake at 400 F for 45-55 minutes or until the bread has a dark, crunchy crust and is baked through (the bread will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom). Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 big round loaf that will last a few days. Leftovers are good lightly toasted.

Other recipes like this one: Soda Bread with Wild Rice and Cranberries, Caraway Rye Sandwich Bread, Rosemary Raisin Rye Bread, Beer and Onion Rye Bread