Cooking time: 55 - 60 minutes

Ingredients

Method:

To make Maurice’s Traditional Irish Brown Soda Bread place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with your fingers allowing the air to pass through the mixture.

Mix for a couple of minutes and make a well in the middle of the mixture. Break egg into bowl, add buttermilk and whisk. Then pour mixture into well of dry ingredients, holding back a small amount. Mix until all combines, (the mixture should be quite wet).

Pour mixture or dough into a greased baking tin and if you like sprinkle with some sesame seeds or poppy seeds, which brings a lovely appearance to the loaf when cooked. Place in a pre-heated oven, 150/160 for 55-60 minutes.

Check if loaf is cooked by inserting a skewer into the loaf, if the skewer is completely dry when removed the bread is cooked. Remove loaf from tin, (should sound hollow when tapped), and allow to cool.

Top Tips:

A little drop of Guinness can be added to the buttermilk/egg mixture, which darkens the bread and introduces a yeast flavour, a small bit of brown sugar can also be added.

Try sultanas and walnuts, try pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or any seeds. Try some chopped apricots or your own favourite dried fruits. The combinations are endless...but most importantly…enjoy and have fun baking.