Recipes for Biscuit Bread

My grandmother made something she called biscuit bread. When I married Larry his mother had a similar recipe, only she called it hoe cake. Eventually I discovered that the bread was also known as Irish Soda Bread.

This is a very simple bread recipe that is easily prepared in the morning and provides bread for the day. A good thing when it wasn't possible to run to the store for a loaf of bread if the housewife ran out of her weekly baking of yeast bread.

The recipes are remarkably similar with only slight variations. The biggest difference in the three recipes is that the biscuit bread has some butter cut into the dough and the hoecake is made with baking powder instead of baking soda. All are made with flour, salt, buttermilk and quick leavening though.

There are some recipes called Irish Soda bread that add currents or other fruit as well as sugar, flavoring etc. These should be more correctly considered as scone, muffin, or quick breads. Tasty, but not a good basic recipe for either soda or biscuit bread.

Buttermilk is necessary to the following recipes because it provides the acid which will activate the soda. Without it you will just have a tortilla or other flat bread.

Substituting whole wheat flour for half of the flour will give you a dense nutty flavored bread. The recipes can be easily doubled for larger amounts. Just be sure to increase the baking time to 45 minutes if you make one loaf of the larger recipe..

Biscuit Bread Recipe 8 servings

Heat oven to 425º

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon of butter or lard
½ teaspoon of soda
½ teaspoon of salt
1 cup of buttermilk

Sift or stir the flour, soda and salt together. Add butter and cut in until the dough is the consistency of small pebbles. Add ¾ cup of buttermilk and mix. Add the rest of the buttermilk a bit at a time until you have a ball of dough. How much buttermilk is used depends on the weather conditions. High humidity means you use less buttermilk, low humidity means you need to use more buttermilk. Lightly knead the dough for a minute or two to develop the gluten. Do not over knead though because this will release the bubbles created by the soda and buttermilk.

Place in small pan and bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before cutting. This bread is best eaten soon after baking because it doesn't keep well. However, if there is some left over, it can be buttered and toasted then served with jam or syrup, which makes for a tasty treat.

Hoecake

One difference between Hoecake, Biscuit Bread and Irish Soda Bread is the leavening used. With Hoecake and Biscuit Bread you can use baking powder instead of baking soda. If you do then you do not need buttermilk; though I do think that buttermilk makes the bread tastier.

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon of butter or lard
½ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
1 cup of buttermilk

Sift or stir the flour, soda and salt together. Add butter and cut in until the dough is the consistency of small pebbles. Add ¾ cup of buttermilk and mix. Add the rest of the buttermilk a bit at a time until you have a ball of dough. How much buttermilk is used depends on the weather conditions. High humidity means you use less buttermilk, low
humidity means you need to use more buttermilk. Lightly knead the dough for a minute or two to develop the gluten. Do not over knead though because this will release the bubbles created by the soda and buttermilk.

Place in small pan and bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before cutting.

Both Biscuit Bread and Hoecake can be made using a biscuit mix. Simply follow directions and instead of cutting into biscuits form a loaf and bake.

Another difference in the three breads is that real Irish Soda Bread does not have any butter or lard added; though fat can be added to make richer bread.

Recipe for Irish Soda Bread 8 servings

Preheat oven to 425º.
Place cast iron pot in oven.

2 cups of flour
½ teaspoon of soda
½ teaspoon of salt
1 cup of buttermilk

Sift or stir the flour, soda and salt together. Add about three-fourths of the buttermilk and mix. Slowly add more buttermilk until you have a ball of dough. If the weather is muggy you may need less buttermilk, but if it is dry you may need more so adjust accordingly.

Knead the dough for a minute or two, but no more than that. You want to develop some gluten, but you do not want to release the gasses created by the soda and buttermilk.

Make a ball of your dough and dump it in the cast iron pan being careful to not burn yourself. Cover and cook for twenty minutes. Remove lid and bake for another ten minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for a few minutes before slicing.

This recipe doesn't keep well so it is best made up and eaten the same day. It can be toasted if it is kept over to make a good snack or quick meal on the run.

These recipes were given to me by my grandmother and my husband's mother. However, I was the one who experimented with using whole wheat flour.