Made with wholesome buckwheat flour and sweetened with honey, this soda bread is delicious.
Let this Honey Buckwheat Soda Bread ease you into the art of bread making. It’s so easy! No kneading or waiting for the bread to prove. Just mix, shape and bake!
For more recipes with buckwheat flour, try our Buckwheat Pancakes or Buckwheat Waffles with Rhubarb Cream.
(Thank you Sainsbury’s for sponsoring this post!)
Nothing can beat homemade bread, and as much as I am a fan of yeasted breads with their chewy crust and airy interior, they are quite a bit of work. They also take time to rise.
Soda bread, on the other hand, is quick, easy and dare I say, just as satisfying. And when baked with carefully chosen ingredients could be also nourishing for our bodies and mind.
I believe the simple task of mixing flour, water and an egg, kneading it briefly… Sticky hands, flour flying through the air…Then smelling the most tantalising aroma of freshly baked bread wafting through the house could be very calming in the midst of busy and hectic of life.
What is soda bread and where is it from?
Now let’s talk about this bread. Traditionally Irish soda bread is made with wholemeal flour, and is soft and crumbly in texture as opposed to its brother yeasted bread, which is light and airy.
Is soda bread difficult to make?
It is the world’s easiest loaf! Just mix all ingredients, form a rough loaf, after all it is half of the appeal, score a cross on top with a sharp knife, pop in the oven and 45 min later enjoy with butter and honey.
I chose to use buckwheat flour as I love the nutty taste it comes with. This wholemeal flour gives the bread a lot of character. It is naturally gluten free and soda breads are usually made with low gluten flours, so mixing the two is a good idea.
The addition of honey instead of sugar scents the entire loaf, which in combination with the smell of buckwheat, makes it irresistible. I had to pause while photographing it just to take the aroma in!
You can also make soda bread using 100% buckwheat flour, making this loaf gluten free.
The best part is you don’t have to run to specialty shops. I found all these items at my local Sainsbury’s.
How do you make buckwheat bread?
This soda bread is equally tasty with butter and jam as it is spread with a little bit of soft goat cheese or cream cheese, but my son’s favourite is peanut butter and blackcurrant jam!
How long does soda bread keep?
It’s best enjoyed on the day it’s been baked. If you have leftovers the next day, toasting soda bread will produce best results.
More bread recipes:
Originally published in 02/2015. Updated in 04/2019.
Honey Buckwheat Soda Bread with Sea Salt
Ingredients
- 275g/2 ½cups Sainsbury's very strong Canadian bread flour
- 200g/1 ⅔cups Doves Farm wholemeal buckwheat flour
- 350ml/1 ½cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 large egg large
- 1 tsp Sainsbury's runny honey
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sea salt to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/375F.
- Combine both flours, baking soda, salt in a mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl whisk buttermilk with the egg and honey.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, and then pour in the wet mixture. Start mixing with a wooden spoon until comes together. Alternatively you can mix it in a stand mixer.
- Turn out the dough on a flour surface and gently knead until smooth. It shouldn't take longer than 20-30 seconds. Add a little extra flour if you find the dough is too wet and sticky or a bit more buttermilk if it's too dry.
- Shape into a ball and put on a floured baking sheet. Sprinkle with more flour and score a cross on it and top with flaky sea salt such as Maldon or your favourite.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until the bread sounds hollow if you tap on it.
Video
Nutrition
Vicky says
I don’t need to follow a gluten free diet, but I have substituted cereal with buckwheat grains in the morning and wanted to add it in bread as well. Buckwheat is proven to lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and does not affect your blood glucose level, so you want feel hungry an hour after you have consumed it.
Jessica says
how can I make this gluten free? I need a decent bread for this paleo diet I am on. Not a fan of almond flour maybe coconut or cassava.
Thanks
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Buckwheat flour is gluten free, so I would suggest using 100% buckwheat flour in this recipe.
Tina says
Hi can I use this same recipe in a bread maker machine
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
This recipe is not suitable for a bread maker as it is not a yeasted bread, Tina.
Maria Dominguez says
Made this recipe with 100% buckwheat flour and milk instead of buttermilk. I had to add more flour at the end but the result was fantastic! The beat gluten free bread i have ever tried
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
I am so glad to hear that even with 100% buckwheat flour this soda bread still turns out well. Thank you for letting me know, Maria!
Jessica Wood says
thank you thats what I wanted to know
Ian says
Hi, not a success for me I’m afraid, 475g flour to 350ml liquid seems wrong. It was more like a batter than a dough. I needed to add a lot more flour.
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Hi Ian, quite a few people made this recipe using this exact proportion with no issues as you can see from the comments. Did you use buttermilk for your liquid as it’s much thicker than regular milk?
Cheryl says
I’ve made this twice now, the first time it was raw in the middle (but we saved it by making bruschetta)…and I’ve just made it for the second time but had to cook it for 1.5 hours at gas mark 5 (loosely covered with foil once brown enough on the outside). It’s turned out lovely. I also used oat milk as this is all I had. Yum. Thanks for the recipe.
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Hi Cheryl, I am so glad you enjoyed this bread recipe. The first time I baked it the middle didn’t cook all the way through, so I tested it again and again. What I came to is soda bread needs to be scored deeper than usual to allow it to cook evenly. I think buckwheat flour plays a part in it too as it’s quite gummy. In the video attached to this recipe you can see how deeply it’s scored. I hope this helps!! 🙂
Wendy Crunden says
What can I use instead of buttermilk. Could I use coconut Jon dairy milk?
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
I am sorry I have no experience with that product, Wendy.
Deborah says
Hi Wendy, I use soya milk with the juice of 1 lemon to make an alternative to dairy buttermilk. I think you can use any plant milk . Hope this helps 🙂
Diane says
Just make Buttermilk from plant milk. Lots of recipes for doing that on web.
Deborah says
Hi Julia,
I made soda bread recently for my partner but due to allergies my daughter and I can only eat buckwheat flour at the moment so I’m very excited about this version. We can’t have eggs / milk and I was wondering if fruit puree and oil/ water might work?
I’ve made buckwheat bread with just ground groats and water ( soaked , ground and left to “rise” in the oven all day before cooking – It’s a little sourdough like ), crazy cupcakes with buckwheat flour and flour and water pancakes but I am keen to branch out.
This also looks wonderfully quick ! Our daughter is nearly 1 so quick is good 🙂
And I forgot to add – thank you for your site and recipes I’m really enjoying reading them.
vikalinka says
Hi Deborah, I can’t be sure about substituting the egg without testing it but you should definitely experiment and let me know! Thank you for reading, it’s so great to hear you are enjoying my website!
Yvonne says
Hi Julia
I’ve just made your buckwheat and honey soda bread.
I used only buckwheat flour. It was a bit crusty on top, but once you get past that and get use to the taste. I found it ok. I can’t stand the gluten free bread that you buy in the supermarket.
I was very happy with the outcome of your recipe today.
vikalinka says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Yvonne! Yes, buckwheat flour taste is definitely something that takes getting used to and that is why I mixed it with the wheat flour. Of course, I understand it’s not possible to do if you follow the gluten-free diet.
Suzanne says
I was just gifted some buckwheat and rye flours. I want to try this bread with the buckwheat but have a question. What is very strong Canadian bread flour compared to? Should I use stone ground whole wheat or do I need to use a bread flour (white)? This looks amazing!
vikalinka says
Strong Canadian bread flour is simply white bread flour of high quality. You can use whole wheat or white flour for this recipe, Suzanne.
Jessica says
I used all buckwheat but substituted 60 g almond flour, and one Tbsp rice bran. It’s definitely buckwheat-ey.. so you would have to like that flavor. But honestly once you’re past the first bite and it’s topped with plenty of butter, jam and another sprinkle of salt, this does not disappoint!
vikalinka says
You are right about the buckwheat flavour, Jessica. Have you baked with light buckwheat flour or regular? I find that light buckwheat flour has a less pronounced taste, so I prefer it!
Caron says
Found this last week on pinterest, just had to try today. Being gluten free I replaced bread flour with gluten free bread flour, and added a little more buttermilk. Delicious, will certainly make again.
vikalinka says
Excellent, thank you for sharing this with me, Caron!
Laura | Tutti Dolci says
I’m a bread-a-holic and this recipe looks perfect! 🙂
vikalinka says
Thank you so much, Laura! I love baking with buckwheat flour!
Nadia says
Hi Vika. As I was looking into making this I googled conversions and they didn’t match yours. What am I doing wrong? They were very off, not just a smidge.
vikalinka says
I wouldn’t worry about online conversions, Nadia. They are very inaccurate. You have to actually measure yourself to be sure. I am a Canadian living in the UK, so I am comfortable with both metric and imperial systems. I can assure you, these measurements are correct. By the way, my name is actually Julia, not Vika. 🙂
Jim says
I just made it, & it came out really good.
I did make a few changes.
Where you had bread flour, which is high-gluten. I swapped in spelt flour, also high-gluten. I really like the taste & crumb of using the buckwheat & spelt together!
I also used closer to 2T buckwheat honey, and I cooled it w/ about 1 T of fresh rosemary, which was left over & starting to dry out in my fridge, finely minced, plus 1T of rum.
thanks for the recipe!
vikalinka says
I love the addition of spelt flour, Jim. It’s a regular in our house as well. I love baking yeasted breads with it. I also love buckwheat honey but it’s not too easy to find! Where do you buy yours?
Donald says
Can you substitute agava for the honey?
vikalinka says
You sure can, Donald. Agave can definitely sweeten this bread but unfortunately it won’t give it the same aroma that honey does.
Mrs. Trent says
Since right now I am having allergic issues with wheat ..can I substitute the wheat flour for oat flour?? Thanks
vikalinka says
I haven’t tried but it’s definitely worth experimenting with!
Lizzy says
Made this recipe last night. It was DELISH! I only used half the buttermilk, but there you have it. It popped it in the oven on a cookie sheet as a round loaf with a criss cross hatch , did 450 w/ parchment for 10m., then lowered to 390 for 15-20. Perfect little loaf for my batch of Irish stew. My husband loved it, as did I. Thank you for posting!
vikalinka says
Perfect! So happy you enjoyed it!
Iana says
The bread looks absolutely delicious! Would the recipe work with buckwheat flour only? Many thanks!
vikalinka says
Thank you, Iana! I haven’t tried, so I can’t be sure but I think it might work if you split the dough into halves and bake two smaller loaves instead to insure baking all the way through. Do let me know if you go ahead with it. 🙂
Issa says
Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
My boyfriend and I are on a yeast-free diet and we’ve been looking for the perfect bread for months. But I think that our search is finally over 🙂
Thank you!
And greetings from Croatia!
Tam says
Great! I don’t eat grains at all and found your site from my search for a recipe using only buckwheat flour (as it’s a pseudo-cereal not a grain). So I’ve followed your recipe but not used any wheat flour at all. It has made my day! I’ve not been able to eat any bread since going grain-free, and I was so happy to find a way I could eat soda bread again. My aunt is irish and showed me the family recipe for soda bread which I’ve been missing making, her version is with wheat flour and differs a little from this. Yours works perfectly, thanks so much for sharing.
vikalinka says
I was so happy to read your comment, Tam! I am happy I could help you to rediscover bread! 🙂 Buckwheat flour is wonderful and I use it a lot in my baking. There are more recipes my blog with buckwheat flour for cakes and waffles as well as savoury buckwheat groats, just enter “buckwheat” in the search bar.
Jen says
Did you sub the flour for more buckwheat flour or just simply leave it out? Thanks!
vikalinka says
You will have to use more buckwheat flour to make up for missing wholewheat flour, Jen. Otherwise the dough will be too wet.
Katya says
This is so pretty!! I really need to get into bread baking. My mama used to make bread from scratch so I have no good reason that I shouldn’t either. He he. I love that this one has no yeast! Yeast intimidates me.
vikalinka says
Yeast used to intimidate me as well but I can’t stand being pulled back by something so I pushed myself to get over it. lol Also, I think it’s so much easier to make good bread nowadays with all wonderful machines we have access to. They practically do all the kneading for us. This loaf though is SO EASY and yum!
marla says
I would LOVE a giant hunk of this bread with butter right now!
vikalinka says
There is just something about a freshly baked bread that is so irresistible! Thanks, Marla!
Amanda says
Beautiful photos! I love honey-flavoured breads, so this sounds brilliant. Also, I’m with your son – peanut butter and blackcurrant jam for the win!
vikalinka says
Blackcurrant jam is my absolute favourite! I think it reminds me of my grandma and her wonderful jams from the childhood.
Sammi says
Another bread recipe for me to indulge in? Don’t mind if I do! This looks incredible.
vikalinka says
Thank you, Sammi and this loaf is pretty healthy, it’s got buckwheat flour, that’s my rationale anyway.
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
What a gorgeous loaf, I love the sea salt topping!
vikalinka says
Thank you, Laura! I love the look of it too…like little snow flakes!
Oanaa says
Beautiful pictures! Your blog is so inspiring in every way! Thanks for sharing your recipes and pictures!
vikalinka says
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Oanaa and for visiting Vikalinka!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
Beautiful! That is a perfect loaf. Would love this with a stew (or just warm with butter).
vikalinka says
Oh yes, I would gladly eat it with one of your soups, Jennifer! I am making your pork chop recipe tonight and can’t wait!
Lucy @SupergoldenBakes says
Thank goodness we have baking for all those moments of panic! I love the look of this bread – a slice is begging to be slathered in salted butter! Beautiful photos – especially that last one – just perfect.
vikalinka says
I know, right! Sometimes you just have to leave things behind and get your hands covered in flour up to your elbows! 🙂
Janelle says
Could I substitute the whole wheat flour with a standard cup for cup of gluten free flour?
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Hi Janelle, I haven’t tried but some of my readers have…you should be able to.