In the last month I made only soda bread because I love the texture and taste and it’s ready to be served in 1 hour. When I make bread with yeast, I make a blend of white and wholemeal, usually 50/50. I think the soda bread is delicious with only wholemeal flour, because its texture is more dense anyway.

Ingredients for a big loaf of Wholemeal soda bread:

– 600g plain wholemeal flour
– 500ml buttermilk
– 1 spoon of olive oil
– 1 teaspoon of sea salt
– 1 teaspoon and a quarter of bicarbonate of soda

Start by heating the oven at 200C/180C fan.

In a bowl, mix the wholemeal flour with the bicarbonate and salt. Make a well and pour the buttermilk and the olive oil in the middle. Mix it with a spoon until it starts to thicken. Tip it over the floured worktop and start incorporating all the flour. The dough doesn’t need kneading, so as soon as all the flour is incorporated you can stop. Give it the shape of a loaf. You can flatten it until is 3-4 cm tall, I didn’t this time.

Put the loaf on an oiled baking tray or use non-stick grease paper. With a sharp knife cut a cross on top of the bread and dust it with flour.

Bake the bread for 35 minutes. When is baked, it should sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. Leave it on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes and it’s ready to be served.