Irish Soda Farls

These soda farls are one of the easiest bread you can make. They can be on the table in under 30 minutes and they taste amazing warm with butter and jam!

Course Bread

Cuisine Irish

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 16

Total Time 26

Servings

Calories 297kcal

Author Michelle Alston

Equipment

A well seasoned cast iron skillet or heavy based pan

Ingredients

300 g (2¼ cups) of plain flour (all-purpose flour) + more for dusting
280 ml (1⅛ cup) buttermilk
1 ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon salt I use sea salt finely ground

Instructions

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt to a large mixing bowl, stir everything together.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the buttermilk.
Stir the flour and buttermilk together. You should have a sticky dough, that is not too wet.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured board and very briefly kneed it to bring the dough together.
Shape the dough into a round, press the dough down to a width of half an inch and it should measure around 8 inches in diameter.
Cut the round into quarters.
Heat a cast-iron skillet over low heat, sprinkle the skillet with a little flour.
Place the farls in the skillet and cook for about 8 minutes then turn and cook for a further 8 minutes.
The farls are cooked once they are brown and crisp on the outside and cooked in the middle.
Leave them to cool slightly in the skillet before serving them.
Cut open the farls with a bread knife then serve with butter and jam, I love them with raspberry jam.

Notes

Don't overwork the dough, it just needs to be brought together quickly then shaped into a round. I don't use a rolling pin for this, just the palms of my hands. The more you work the dough the tougher your farls will be.
Use a good cast iron skillet - if you have a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet this is perfect for making farls. If you don't have one then a good non-stick heavy-based frying pan will work too. My skillet measures 9 ½ inches in diameter.
Keep the heat low - this is the best way to cook your farls. If the pan is too hot the outside of the farl will cook quickly and the inside will still be raw. So have the heat on low, all the time.
Test your bicarb of soda is still good - it's hard to tell if your bicarb of soda is still good. It can lose its potency and if this happens you won't get good results when making these farls. So if you're not sure test it first! Add a teaspoon of bicarb of soda to a bowl, add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice. If the mixture fizzes up straight away it's still good. If you don't get much fizz at all bin it, or use it for cleaning!
Test the farls are cooked - you can do this two ways, you can pierce the farls with a skewer, if it comes out clean they're done.
Nutritional Information - is calculated using an online nutrition tool and is approximate. It is based on one farl and does not include butter or jam.
Weights and measurements - For US readers, I use Cuisipro measuring cups and spoons, and a Pyrex measuring jug for liquids. These are the industry standard. Cup/spoon volumes can differ from brand to brand, for accuracy, I recommend weighing all ingredients using a digital scale if possible, for best results.

Nutrition