Bread. It’s something I am working on mastering. Slowly… The thing I find with bread is the timing is often the biggest challenge – when I work backwards from the time I want to be enjoying my freshly-baked loaf, it sometimes means I am starting it in the middle of the night. I never seem to get the timing right! For me, that’s the biggest factor standing in the way of my experimentation and ultimate success! And baking bread is something I’d love to do more of with my cooking club boys but often when you are baking bread with kids, not just the timing but the waiting time involved can be off-putting. Sometimes, though, even I like instant results in the kitchen (though I know that some of the best things involve a lot of wait time!) and soda bread is a wonderful introduction to baking bread for anyone because it’s fast to make – and it tastes “just like real bread” (in the words of one of my cooking club members!). I’ve made Jamie Oliver’s rye soda bread before with my cooking club before and made it into rolls because it bakes faster (important when you only have an hour or so to work with!) and they were a huge success. Definitely the way to go with kids – and impatient adults đ
When I received received my shipment of 1847 flours I was really keen to try the Daily Bread flour as well as the Rye Humour flour and soda bread seemed like a great idea. Jamie’s original recipe calls for whole-wheat flour which can make the rolls a little tough if you over handle it, so I wondered about using bread flour with the rye flour to see how that worked. Turns out, it works beautifully! You might wonder about the inclusion of mayonnaise in this recipe – when you might be expecting an egg. Well, yes… that would be a good question! One time when we made these at school I forgot to get eggs and consulted with my assistant and the school chef who both assured me that mayonnaise (in such a small quantity) would be a fine substitute for an egg in soda bread – and no, you can’t taste it!
Simple soda bread with rye flour.Rye soda bread dinner rolls
Ingredients
Instructions
These are definitely best the day you make them but it’s a fun vacation project for kids (and their parents!). I definitely recommend soda bread as an easy introduction to baking bread. Warning, though – you’ll be hooked!
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Disclosure: 1847 Stone Milling provided me with samples of their flours and compensation in exchange for recipe development. All opinions are, as always, 100% my own.
Bread remains what it always was: the staff of life. Fresh bread. Nothing like it.
Right – the smell and the sense of accomplishment when you bake?! Best feeling!