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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! And with wholesome buckwheat flour and honey for sweetening, you’ll love the taste as well!
For more recipes with buckwheat flour, try our Buckwheat Pancakes or Buckwheat Waffles with Rhubarb Cream.
Nothing can beat homemade bread. But as much as I am a fan of yeasted breads with their chewy crust and airy interior, they are quite a bit of work and take lots of patience as they rise.
It’s why I’m so grateful for soda bread, which is quick, easy and dare I say, just as satisfying. And when baked with carefully chosen ingredients could be especially nourishing.
It’s a bread recipe that is worth having in your repertoire for those moments when only a homemade loaf will do, but time is not on your side!
What is soda bread and where is it from?
Now let’s talk about this bread. Although most closely associated with Ireland, it actually comes from America, as early settlers learned to keep baking bread despite a shortage of yeast. From there it made it back to Ireland, finding it’s final form and much fandom.
Traditionally Irish soda bread is made with wholemeal flour. It’s soft and crumbly in texture as opposed to its brother yeasted bread, which is light and airy.
There is no need for yeast here. The baking soda does the job of adding an airy lift to the loaf.
It also always has a cross cut into the top of the dough. Although there are religious stories about this approach, it actually has a practical purpose in allowing the dough to rise properly.
Is soda bread difficult to make?
This bread is definitely in competition for 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 This is an affiliate link.sharp knife, pop in the oven. Just 45 minutes later, you can enjoy it with butter, honey or whatever you love most.
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 makes sense.
The addition of honey instead of sugar scents the entire loaf, which in combination with the smell of buckwheat, makes it irresistible.
The best part is you don’t have to run to specialty shops. I found all these items at my local supermarket.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- You can also make soda bread using 100% buckwheat flour, making this loaf gluten free.
- This bread dough doesn’t require a lot of kneading, but some is important. This is the time to gauge whether the consistency is right. Add a bit of flour if it is too loose, and buttermilk if it’s too dry.
- It’s important to cut a cross into the top of the dough before adding to the oven. Not only does this give the traditional look to the loaf, it allows it to rise properly as it bakes.
Serving suggestions
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 maple peanut butter and blackcurrant jam!
Or to make it even more friendly, try with my version of homemade nutella!
Storage and Leftovers
Soda bread is best enjoyed on the day it’s been baked. I don’t find that it stores very well, so only make it when I’m sure it’ll be eaten.
But if you do need to keep it longer, keep it at room temperature and put away in a breadbox, airtight container or plastic wrap so it doesn’t lose moisture. It can last up to 3 days.
If you are enjoying after the first day, toasting soda bread will produce the best results.
It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Just let it cool and seal it in plastic wrap or a bag.
More bread recipes
Honey Buckwheat Soda Bread with Sea Salt
Ingredients
- 275g / 2½ cups bread flour
- 200g / 1⅔ cups wholemeal buckwheat flour
- 350ml / 1½ cup buttermilk
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1 egg, large
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1/2 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
Notes
- To make this loaf gluten free, use only buckwheat flour.
- The kneading step is the best time to adjust the consistency of the dough if needed. Add a little flour if it is too loose and buttermilk if it feels too dry.
- Cutting a cross into the top of the dough before baking is important to ensure that the loaf rises properly while baking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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!
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!
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.
Excellent, thank you for sharing this with me, Caron!
I’m a bread-a-holic and this recipe looks perfect! 🙂
Thank you so much, Laura! I love baking with buckwheat flour!
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.
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. 🙂
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!
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?
Can you substitute agava for the honey?
You sure can, Donald. Agave can definitely sweeten this bread but unfortunately it won’t give it the same aroma that honey does.
Since right now I am having allergic issues with wheat ..can I substitute the wheat flour for oat flour?? Thanks
I haven’t tried but it’s definitely worth experimenting with!
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!
Perfect! So happy you enjoyed it!
The bread looks absolutely delicious! Would the recipe work with buckwheat flour only? Many thanks!
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. 🙂
Could I substitute the whole wheat flour with a standard cup for cup of gluten free flour?
Hi Janelle, I haven’t tried but some of my readers have…you should be able to.