No Knead, No Prove Wholemeal Soda Bread

The dry ingredients

The raw dough

Ready when it is firm in the centre

It slices well

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This is cheats bread. I love making bread and lets face it, bread- making takes much less time than you might think but it does require a bit of planning. I am not especially organised and often need bread in a hurry, for a picnic or just a weekend “bits and bobs” lunch. Currently, for some reason, my wrists ache when I knead. So, this super quick, super simple “bread” is a fantastic “stand-by” recipe. It is tasty, slices well and what’s more, it is pretty healthy. It doesn’t fill the house with the same “baker at home” scent that “real” bread does but it certainly beats shop- bought bread hands down and is certainly a lot closer to “real bread”. It is best eaten on the same day you bake it.

Ingredients

250g wholemeal plain flour

250g plain flour

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp salt

1tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp golden caster sugar

25g unsalted butter

280mls buttermilk

100-130mls milk

Tin

A lightly floured baking tray/ stoneware

Oven

Preheat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/ Gas Mark 5

Method

1. Measure the flours, salt, bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar and sugar into a large bowl.

2. Rub the butter into the flour mix. If you prefer, you can blitz in a food processor with some of the plain flour (until it is the texture of fine breadcrumbs) and then mix into the remaining flour ingredients. However, this is such a small quantity of butter to rub in, it is quick to do by hand and it’s probably not worth the extra washing up.

3. Add the buttermilk and 100 mls of the milk. Stir in with a wooden spoon/ spatula and finish with your hands. If it is too dry, add a little more of the milk. Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. Manipulate it until there are no dry bits left in the bowl and you can form a ball with the dough. Try and avoid actually kneading the dough though- treat it like a scone dough.

4. Place the ball of dough on the floured baking tray. Slash the top 2 times with a sharp knife or cut a deep cross.

5. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes until it has risen well, the top is golden and the centre feels firm to touch.