THE EASIEST LOAF OF BREAD YOU WILL EVER BAKE
Date & Pecan Soda Bread
There is something wonderfully impressive about home-baked bread but the practice can be daunting. Anyone who has spent weeks babysitting a troublesome sourdough starter only to be met with a tough and chewy loaf that tasted more sour than dough will be relieved to read that when it comes to soda bread, there is very little that can go wrong.
On the topic of sourdough baking. As is the case with most things, the perfect recipe to good sourdough is patience and a good teacher. I recommend Edd Kimber, aka The Boy Who Bakes, who is also on Substack and from whom I have gained invaluable wisdom about the art of sourdough baking.
Back to the soda bread.
I cannot stress enough how simple this bread is to make. You need one bowl and there is no need to wait around for any proving, chilling, or even shaping. If you suddenly plan to have people over, or simply fancy a steaming hot loaf of bread at 5.00pm you could have this with you by 6.00! There is little more inviting than the smell of warm baked bread when walking into a kitchen. It is a smell that simultaneously soothes and impresses guests. As hosting points go, home-made bread is right up there. But again, I must stress the ease of this recipe. It is so simple, I have often felt as though I am cheating calling it bread-baking. But the result proves that it is indeed bread. Good bread. Great bread! Soda bread is soft with a slightly crumbly texture and a chewy crust. It is best eaten still warm with a thick layer of salty butter.
Many traditional recipes for soda bread call for buttermilk. Here in the Uk, buttermilk isn’t always readily available, so I use plain yogurt in mine. It has the same slightly sour tanginess of buttermilk but is easily available, plus I find many pots hold 500g meaning I don’t even need to weigh it and can just plonk it in. You can of course mimic the effect of buttermilk by adding lemon juice to milk but I find yogurt works best. I am not overly fussy about the brand. Ideally I’ll choose organic and always natural (you don’t want your soda bread carrying notes of banana or strawberry). I find that a thinner natural yogurt works better as opposed to a heavier Greek-style yogurt.
For the most part, I make my soda bread without any additions. When I am baking it just for me, I jazz it up once baked and sliced with the likes of scrambled eggs, whatever jams I have lurking in the back of my fridge, and always always butter. Good butter is essential when enjoying any form of soda bread and ideally lots of it. Always buy good butter! But when people come for supper, I like to make my soda bread a little more special. This bread has a buttery soft crumb with generous chunks of nutty pecans and sweet caramel-like dates. I often serve it just as everyone sits down but is delicious on a cheese board. The one non-negotiable is butter. Soda bread loves butter. Take this as your sign to treat yourself to a good packet of butter.
See Note* for the adjustments to turn this recipe into a classic soda bread but first make this date and pecan soda bread.
150g Medjool dates (170g stone in weight, always buy dates with the stone in, they are stickier and less dry this way)
80g pecans
200g white spelt flour
200g wholegrain spelt flour (einkorn flour is also delicious)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g porridge oats
450g plain yogurt
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C fan setting. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
De-stone and roughly chop the dates. Set aside in a small bowl and toss in a little flour to ensure the pieces stay separate during baking.
Roughly chop the pecans leaving the pieces large enough that you will achieve generous chunky pieces in the bread. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, bicarbonate of soda and oats. Stir in the chopped pecans.
Add the yogurt and the dates and mix using your hands, a spatula or a bench scraper into a scraggy wet dough. Do not worry about it being messy. It should be.
Flour your hands and shape the dough into a ball as best you can before dropping it onto the parchment lined tray.
Using a large kitchen knife or bench scraper, mark a large deep cross across the centre of the loaf scoring about two thirds of the way down.
Sprinkle the loaf with a little more flour and finish with a liberal sprinkling of oats.
Bake for 35-45 mins. Check after 35. The loaf should sound hollow when you tap the base of it.
Let the loaf cool for five minutes before transferring to a cutting board if enjoying right away or wire wrack if saving for later.
Soda bread is best enjoyed slightly warm with lashings of good salty butter.
Note* To make a classic soda bread simply omit the pecans and dates and follow the rest of the recipe accordingly.
If you are still not convinced on how simple this recipe really is, here is a step-by-step video showing you how to make it.
A Note on butter.
As a general rule, French is best. If I am going to the supermarket, I can usually bank on the fact that I will find Président (the slightly salty one is the one to look for). Isigny Sainte-Mère is also very good. Occasionally, you can find Paysan Breton demi sel, or even better, Lescure but you’ll have more luck finding these two at your local cheese shop or delicatessen. There is a French bakery close to me that sells Lescure demi sel and whenever I pass I cannot resist treating myself to a packet. It comes in a long cylindrical shape that for some reason makes it seem all the more special and all the more delicious. Slice it into thick rounds and place it onto little dishes (or scallop shells) to serve alongside your just-baked loaf of soda bread and believe me, your guests will be impressed!
It’s important to note that the English make good butter too. This small-batch churned cultured butter is especially delicious. It is not cheap but it is without a doubt worth it.