Soda Farls

Hi, this recipe is from BBC Goodfood's Magazine, March 2022 issue, page 72/73 by Esther Clark, find online here.

These Soda Farls were really fun to make and they are super quick too because they don't have yeast in them, unlike 'normal' bread which requires rising time. For me, I didn't need all of the buttermilk suggested in the recipe. But, fortunately I was adding it bit by bit to the dough anyway so I didn't end up with a really gloopy dough, just leftover buttermilk which me and my sister are going to turn into more Soda Farls later in the week together. If you do end up with a gloopy dough though, just add more flour until it comes back together. On the other hand, if it's too dry, add extra buttermilk and if you run out of buttermilk mid recipe, try adding some natural yogurt or milk to the dough.

These Soda Farls are plain, without a specific flavour, other than Soda Bread, but that makes them great for all meals: savoury dishes or sweet. You can top them with beans (like beans on toast), cheese, hummous, chicken, falafels, ham, pickles, literally whatever you normally have on a sandwich. You can serve them with soups, stews or with garlic butter (like garlic bread). You can top them with sweet spreads too: jam, honey, marmalade, Nutella, peanut butter or whatever else you fancy.

Another route, would be to add 'extras' to the dough: spices such as turmeric, paprika, cumin, chilli powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves. Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil etc... Or additional bits like grated cheese, olives, chocolate chips, raisins, cocoa powder etc... The lists are endless! You can easily adapt the dough or the topping to suit whatever meal you are serving it with.

Enjoy!

Hazel :)

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Dietary Info:

-Contains Dairy

{According to Easy Peasie Foodie, substitute the buttermilk for an oat milk and add 1tbsp for 200ml milk of something acidic but with a more mild flavour e.g. apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, white wine vinegar. The acidic element with react with the baking soda to create a rise. }

-Contains Gluten

{Use a Gluten-Free flour, available in most super markets free from sections. You may need to add extra milk though as Gluten-Free flours tend to absorb more water.}

-No Nuts

-Suitable for Vegetarians

-Unsuitable for Vegans

{See 'Contains Dairy'.}

-Snack

-Side for Breakfast, Dinner, Tea, Brunch, Lunch

-Starter

Prep: 8mins

Cook: 20mins {May take longer to cook all the way through, I had to finish mine off in the oven and cook in the pan in 2 batches. See recipe method for more details.}

Makes: 4

Ingredients:

-250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting {I used a strong white bread flour, but you don't have to use bread flour here.}

-1/2tsp salt

-1tsp sugar

-1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda

-225ml buttermilk {You may not need all of this buttermilk, I only needed about 150-175ml of it for my flour.}

Method:

1: {I sieved the flour to remove all lumps.} Tip the flour into a large bowl and stir through the salt, sugar and bicarb. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, {Add the buttermilk a little at a time to see how much you will need. This dough will be slightly stickier than a normal dough but you should still be able to knead it.} then swiftly stir to combine. {It may be easier (it was for me) to just immediately use your hands to combine the wet and dry ingredients this way you can also keep an eye on the buttermilk quantities more easily.} Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Roll into a roughly 20cm circle and cut into quarters. {I ended up just splitting into 4 balls and rolling them out separately.}

2: Heat a skillet or heavy-based frying pan {I used a frying pan.} over a low-medium heat. Add the farls and cook for 8-10 mins on each side, {Mine were starting to become overcooked on the outside within 5mins on each side. So after they were appropriately browned, I put them into the oven (200॰C) for about 10mins, covered in foil, to cook through. They will be done when they sound hollow when tapped and the outside is no longer squishy like dough.} or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the heat and leave the farls to cool in the pan for 10 mins. Split open and eat warm with butter. {I ate mine with some tomato and bean soup.}

While you're here...

I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html. 

https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile

This recipe:

https://pin.it/2fD38ZG