Irish Soda Spelt Bread
I’ve been in the mood for baking over the last week and today I made my favourite wholemeal spelt Soda bread to go with a roast pumpkin soup we were having for dinner. I love baking my own breads, the feel of the dough, the smell of it baking in the oven. It’s something I used to do with my great Aunt when I was growing up. She had this amazing wood stove that would turn out these awesome home made breads and apple cakes – and you could tell a lot of love went into the food we ate. It’s so important when making any type of bread to take the time, not to rush, feel the dough underneath your hands and give it the attention it deserves.
My soda bread is easy to make and has a subtle sweetness and density that goes with just about anything sweet or savoury. Whole meal spelt has a higher amino acid profile then regular wheat flours, it’s the flour of choice in my healthy chef cafe and much better for the digestive system, high in fiber with a low GI for sustained energy. You can get spelt flour in most supermarkets theses days or your local health food store. For those who are allergic to gluten or on a Paleo diet watch this space as I have an fantastic GF version coming up soon.
500 g whole meal spelt flour
½ cup (50g) ground flaxseed (linseed)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarb soda)
2 cups milk (soy, rice, almond or seed)
1 tablespoon honey
(60 ml) ¼ cup cold pressed olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin)
Preheat oven to 180 C. (160 C FAN FORCED)
Combine flour, flaxseed, salt and soda then mix through.
Combine honey, olive oil, lemon and milk.
Pour over the dry ingredients all at once and mix through lightly with your fingers. The dough should be lovely and moist much like a scone dough.
Place dough onto a lightly floured board and form into 1 large loaf or 2 smaller round loaves.
Place onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
Cut a small cross over the top of the bread.
Brush the top with a little extra milk then spinkle with seeds.
Bake for 40 minutes then reduce the heat to 160 and bake for another 10 – 15 minutes until cooked through and the crust is lovely and golden brown. If baking smaller loaves reduce the time to 30 – 40 minutes total.
Cool for at least 10 minutes before you eat.
Makes 24 delicate slices
Serving suggestions:
Spread with hummus, spinach, roasted veggies and salsa verde
Spread with almond butter and top with banana a little honey
Delicious spread with avocado and served with roasted pumpkin soup or ribollita
Protein: 3.8g
Fat: 4.1 g
Carbs: 15 g
Kilojoules: 454
calories: 104
Fiber: 3 g
Sodium: 22 mg
NOTES:
You need to treat this bread much like a scone dough.
Don’t kneed it too much, but just lightly enough for it to combine.
Make sure all the dry ing is distributed evenly before adding wet.
Make sure you add the bicarb?
Let it rest for 30 miinutes before baking if you overwork the dough.
What flour would be best to use in order to make it gluten free?
Hi Amanda, I am posting up a lovely gluten free version in the next few weeks. GF Flours I love using are almond meal, ground flaxseed and sunflower:)
Looking forward to it
Hi Teresa
How can I make this gluten free?
Thanks
I would love to try by hand if I have time but do you think it will also work in a bread making machine? Thanks
Hi Ellen, you don’t need a bread machine as it doesn’t contain any yeast the dough will not require kneeding and prooving like traditional bread mixes. The soda bread dough needs gentle treatment, much like a scone dough. Takes about 5 minutes to put together
I love Irish soda bread. My mum is Irish so have made this quite often. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
The oven temperatures given, are they for fan forced ovens ?
Fan forced 160 C. Regular 180 C.
Teresa you keep making my WEEK!!! I can’t wait to make this – so happy that your recipes are so delicious, but not too high in energy as many health foods can be… Got a good friend onto this site and she has made the chocolate cake… I am counting down the hours until I can try it!! We have a girls weekend in Sydney in Oct and guess where we are heading for breakfast…..
Hi Teresa,
Is this bread in the pic a small loaf or large?
Tks,
Kim
Forgot to ask……which milk did you use Teresa?
For this recipe you can use any type of milk Kim. For mine I used my home made almond milk. Also a good idea for first times…halve the recipe. The one in the picture is a full loaf and stores well in the fridge for about 5 days.
Hi Teresa
I’m looking forward to trying out this bread recipe. Is there a substitute I can use for the flaxseed? Unfortunately, while I love flaxseed I react pretty badly to it and need to avoid it.
Hi Luisa, substitute chia seed or ground almonds. T:)
I made this this morning but found it came out a little dense, did not rise much…I followed the instructions to a t…so I thought haha. Any suggestions on what it might be?
Sounds like you overworked the dough and in which case did not allow it to rest if you do so. Think of this much like a scone dough…lovely, delicate soft dough that really doesn’t need to be worked much. BUT if you do happen to be a little heavy handed, then you need to allow it to rest for about 30 minutes and it should be ok. Also another error could have been that your flour absorbed more liquid than mine did and in which case you would end up with a tougher dough Hope this helps Esther. x
hi teresa
does this bread contain salt, as im on a low-salt diet.
Sodium content is only 22 mg…which is very low Emily. The bread recipe has 1 tsp salt…but you can also give this a miss if you prefer. It will still be delicious.
Hello. Just wondering if I have missed your post on the gf version? Or is it still in the pipeline? Thankyou.
Still in the pipeline Renae. Need to get through Christmas recipes first !
x
Thanks for a great recipe Teresa…mine is in the oven and I just peeked and I couldn’t believe how well it has risen and turned out…just like a professional! Can you tell me just how this bread rises without any yeast?? thanks, regards Cheryl.
That’s great to hear Cheryl !! Really hope you enjoy eating it. T:) x
Hi Teresa
Just made this bread and it looks ok in the oven. I found the mixture rather wet. I used a measuring jug with cups stated on the side. Is 2 cups the equivalent of 16 fl ozs of milk? I had to add some more flour to be able to handle it.
Hey Tessa, the bread should be sticky and soft like a scone dough…but not so wet you can’t form it into a loaf. It could also depend of the flour used, some absorb more or less then other varieties….:)
Thank you for this.
I used whole spelt flour as the recipe suggests. Anyway the bread turned out fine and tastes great so I think I will just reduce the milk slightly in future. I eat for my blood type so this bread is ideal for me
Thank you again
I made this bread for the second time this weekend and the result was much better, it wasn’t so dense and it rose!
hi Teresa!
I cant wait to make this tomorrow, just wondering if it works well without seeds and if i could add some quinoa flakes or oats into it as well? if so how much? and would i use less spelt flour then?
thank you
Hey Caitlin – you can make this without seeds if you like. Oat flakes would be lovely. Use instead of flaxseed and soak for a little in the milk. make as directed and sprinkle with oats before baking. T:)
Thank you soo much for this recipe, made it today but with sesame seeds on top… next time i make it i wanna do it with dark rye flour…. do you think it will work with the same measurements? caitlin x.
Hi T
You are a legend! Finally, someone who gets it!!
Just wondering how that gluten free bread recipe was coming along ..
Ha Ha……Yes time for some baking I think….good weather for it. x
Hi Teresa, It was this recipe that got me onto your website – a friend made it for me and I just had to have the recipe. I’ve made so many of your recipes since then and have passed on your website to many of my friends who have asked for the recipes for the things I’ve cooked. Just about to take another loaf out of the oven (to go with your zesty humus). Thank you!
Thank you Nicole….really glad you like them. xx
What is the hummus recipe? I have been dying to make my own!
Hi Teresa, I love your recipes so much! Just wondering what serving size (in grams) is your nutritional information for this bread based on?
Hi Teresa,
Can you substitute water instead of ‘milk’?
Thanks!
Yes you can Anna, however milk will give it a slightly richer texture and add flavour