Irish Soda Bread

I know, I know, it is the day after St. Patrick's day here in the US, but I finally got this recipe to where I like it and I wanted to share it before I forget to do so. I ended up combining a recipe from my old baking book from Better Homes and Gardens and the GF Irish soda bread recipe from Living Without from last year. I liked the flavor of the Living Without bread, but the loaf turned out with a really heavy consistency to it. It could have been just the fact that I don't have a food scale, but I wanted to find a flour mix that worked more with what I keep on hand at all times and not end up with such a dense bread. I also wanted it to be a more traditional style so I did bake it on the baking stone in a free-form shape.

This bread also went really well with the vegetarian Shepard's pie that I made for dinner and there was only a small piece of the loaf left after our meal was over. I got the recipe for the Shepard's pie from foodnetwork.com, so I will not share that one here, but it is a good one if you want to try it for your meal next year. Even though this bread is made by people outside Ireland only once a year, it is full of flavor and I think works well for any time of year when you want a quick loaf to go with dinner. Enjoy.




Ingredients:

1 cup/235ml oat flour finely milled
1/2 cup/120ml brown rice flour
1/2 cup/120ml potato starch
1/4 cup/60ml oats, coarsely milled
1 tsp/5ml baking soda
1 tsp/5ml cream of tartar
1/2 tsp/2.5ml salt

2 tbsp/30ml flax seed, milled
6 tbsp/90ml hot water

1 cup/235ml non-dairy beverage of choice (I like hemp or coconut-unsweetened)
1/4tsp/1ml vinegar
2 tbsp/30ml brown sugar

Preheat the over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix the water and flax seed and set aside for 10 minutes or so. Mix together the dry ingredients. Blend in the remaining ingredients and blend together until just mixed. On a preheated baking stone (or a cookie sheet that has been lightly oiled), spoon out the mixture into the center of the stone. With slightly wet hands, shape the dough into a round and pat it down a little so that it has a good loaf shape.

Cut an x shape into the top of the dough. This step is optional.

Bake for 30-35 minutes (less at lower altitudes) until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let it rest on a cooling rack for at least 1/2 an hour before cutting and serving.

Scottish Oat Scones

Scones pictured with homemade orange marmalade. (The marmalade recipe is still in process as it was my first time ever making it, but the taste combination is classic.)

Slowly I am getting back into the kitchen and creating new recipes since baby has been born. It was a wonderful pregnancy and delivery and maybe someday I'll have more than a few minutes to work on the blog, but today, I chose to post a recipe for scones instead.

I got this idea after reading in Wikipedia that scones were originally from Scotland and that it was believed that they were originally made from oat flour. After a little recipe hunt, I was able to locate several recipes that used oat flour for their scones. I was unable to find one that was 100% oat flour, but after experimenting with a combination of tried and true GF scone recipes and oat scone recipes, I was able to come up with this tasty gluten free version of a Scottish style oat scone. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 cup/235 ml brown rice flour
½ cup/120 ml potato starch
1 ¼ cup/235 + 60 ml oats-milled in a coffee grinder
¼ cup/60 ml brown sugar
1 tsp/5 ml baking soda
3 tsp/15 ml cream of tartar
1 tsp/5 ml guar gum
¼ tsp/1 ml salt

1 Tbsp/15 ml flax seed-milled
3 Tbsp/45 ml hot water

1/3 cup/80ml applesauce
1/3 cup/80 ml oil
1/3 cup/80 ml non-dairy beverage of choice (I like hemp milk)

(½ cup raisins are a traditional add in, but I have not tried it yet.)

Preheat an oven and baking stone at 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mill the flax seed (or use flax seed meal) and mix with hot water and set aside for 10 minutes.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together.

Blend in all the remaining wet ingredients until just moist. Do not over mix or scone will become dense and the center will not be able to bake properly.

Form the dough into a ball and pat it into a round shape on the preheated stone or a greased baking sheet. Score with a knife or a pizza cutter into wedges. Makes about 12 wedges.

Bake for 12-15 minutes (depending on your oven and altitude). Cut the wedges apart and allow them to cool on a rack or serve warm. Place in an air tight container and place in the refrigerator. These also freeze really well.