Recipe #34 Mike's Irish Wheaten Bread

 This recipe is adapted from one I read on the Interwebs. I added margarine to soften the final texture.

Using less margarine makes for a firmer, dryer bread. Too much margarine makes a crumbly bread.

Ingredients:

350g wholemeal flour
100g strong white flour
300ml buttermilk
60g margarine
1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda (not baking powder)
1-2 tsp salt to taste
1-2 tsp sugar to taste
50g porridge oats (optional)

 Method: Prep:10min  Cook:30min  Ready in:40min 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C.
2. Sift flours, salt, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and half the oats (if using) together in a bowl.
3. Add buttermilk and mix into a dough (you need to use your hands, don’t over knead or it will produce a tough loaf, you just want to mix the ingredients together).
4. Form into a ball.
5. Place onto a greased baking tray.
6. Create an indentation half way through the middle of the loaf with the palm of your hand or a finger. This splits the bread into crusty sections.
7. Sprinkle the rest of the oats over the surface of the loaf [this helps to prevent the loaf from scorching]
8. Cook for 30 mins, if you don't like your bread very crusty cover with foil for the last 5 minutes or so. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped.
9. Let it cool on a wire rack for 10-15 mins.