Rustic Buttermilk Soda Bread with Oats and Honey

⏱ 55 min · Serves 10

A craggy, golden loaf you can have on the table in under an hour — no yeast, no kneading, no waiting. The oats give it a nutty chew and a whisper of honey rounds out the tang of the buttermilk. Best torn apart while still warm, with cold salted butter melting into the crumb.

Per serving: 232 kcal · 7.5g protein · 40.0g carbs · 3.9g fat

Ingredients

• 350g plain (all-purpose) flour
• 100g wholemeal flour
• 50g rolled oats, plus 1 tbsp for topping
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 400ml buttermilk
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 25g butter, melted and cooled slightly

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/400F (fan 180C) and line a baking tray with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, the 50g oats, bicarbonate of soda and salt, breaking up any lumps with your fingers.
3. Stir the honey and melted butter into the buttermilk until loosely combined.
4. Pour the wet mix into the dry and stir quickly with a table knife or your hand, just until a shaggy, sticky dough forms. Do not knead or overwork it — lumpy is good.
5. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and pat gently into a round about 18cm wide and 5cm tall. Lift onto the tray.
6. Cut a deep cross into the top, going about two thirds of the way down. Brush the top with a splash of buttermilk and scatter over the remaining oats.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until deeply golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath. If it browns too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
8. Cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before cutting — it keeps steaming and setting as it cools. Best eaten the day it's baked, or toasted the next.