Irish Brown Soda Bread

Last few days I was hankering for some bread not made of yeast. So I did some research and decided to make Irish Brown Soda Bread. Baking soda is the leavening agent along with buttermilk or liquefied yogurt. Anyways, below are the pictures and a brief description about the recipe.

Recipe

Whole wheat flour - 3.5 cups

All purpose flour - 0.5 cups

Buttermilk or liquid yogurt - 2 cups or as much necessary to make a slightly wet dough

Sugar - 5 teaspoons (adjust to taste)

Salt - 1.5 teaspoon (adjust to taste)

Baking Soda - 1.5 teaspoon

Organic raisins - 1 cup (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg Fahrenheit. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dry ingredients. Blend nicely
3. Create a well in the middle and add the wet ingredient that is the buttermilk
4. Mix nicely but DO NOT knead long like a regular dough. It is important not to knead too much as the bread will become hard and stiff. Just incorporate the ingredients nicely together and add flour till the dough is  not sticking. Make the dough into an oval like ball.
5. Move the dough to a pan with parchment paper.
6. Make an "X" on top of the dough so when the dough rises it will expand nicely.
7. Leave the dough on the table top for around 30 minutes so the ingredients start to chemically react with each other. Some recipes skip this step. However, I allowed the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
8. After resting for 30 minutes, bake the bread in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes.
9. Remove from oven. It can tested by inserting a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean then it is cooked. Another way is to tap the base for a hollow sound. I tested using both methods.
10. Very important: Leave the bread to cool completely for at least 2 hours. Then cut it into slices otherwise the bread will crumble and become powdery which will not be nice.
11. Finally I applied some butter on top and offered to Lord Krishna.

The bread came out nicely for me and I had a peanut butter and jelly slice. I also had a cheese and olive slice. 

Hare Krishna