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Quick & Easy Sourdough Soda Bread {For Discard Starter}

5 from 33 votes

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This Sourdough Soda Bread recipe uses baking soda and buttermilk along with your discard starter so you don’t have the normal wait for the bread to rise.

sourdough soda bread on wooden board with white and blue towel

Do you love to put fresh bread on the table every night?

I sure do!

But most days you simply don’t have time to do the whole waiting on bread to rise thing.

And those are the days that I turn to my favorite sourdough soda bread recipe!

Instead of yeast, a soda bread uses, you guessed it, baking soda and baking powder to rise. In this type of bread, the baking soda is activated by the lactic acid in the buttermilk and causes a chemical reaction.

Do you remember that time in middle school science when you made that volcano?

And you put the baking soda in the middle and then that cute boy poured too much vinegar in?

You remember the gush of bubbles that came out and got all over that mean girl’s notebook? 

And then y’all didn’t get to go to recess because you had to clean up the floor?

Remember now?

Same thing happens here.

Only not nearly so dramatically…

The baking soda bubbles up, and the bread rises.

With soda breads there’s no kneading and no waiting for it to rise. 

You can mix it up and pop it straight in the oven and it can bake while you’re fixing dinner.

And as a bonus you can use discard starter! This is hand’s down the fastest sourdough bread you can make!

Don’t have a sourdough starter yet? Learn how to make your own sourdough starter here.

So let’s do this!

sourdough soda bread in white and blue towel

Sourdough Soda Bread

This recipe makes one delicious loaf

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sourdough discard starter
  • ½ cup homemade buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2-3 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Start by preheating the oven to 400°F.

Now melt your butter. I like to melt mine in my cast iron melting pot.

Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper and lightly sprinkle it with flour. Then set it aside.

Grab a medium bowl and whisk together all the wet ingredients: sourdough starter, buttermilk, the egg, and the melted butter.

all wet ingredients in bowl with whisk

Just as an aside, y’all, I love this flat whiskIt’s so much better than the balloon ones because you don’t have to dig stuff out of the middle.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: 2 cups of flour, the rolled oats (keeping a few aside to sprinkle on the top), baking soda, baking powder, and the sea salt.

all the dry ingredients in a bowl

Now we’re going to add the sourdough and buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix that up well. It will be a sticky dough.

If it’s dry and crumbly add a little more buttermilk a Tbsp at a time. If it’s really sticky add some more flour a Tbsp at a time.

sourdough soda bread dough

You want it kinda sticky, but you need to be able to form it into a ball. The picture there is way too sticky. I added quite a bit more flour.

Now form the dough into a ball and place it on the center of your prepared baking sheet.

sourdough soda bread dough call on parchment paper

Using a pastry brush, brush buttermilk on the top of the dough. Then sprinkle a few oats over the top.

To make sure it rises well, grab a sharp knife or a bakers lame and cut a deep cross in the top. And by deep, I mean it needs to go about 1/3 of the way down.

soda bread dough ball with cross cut in top

Pop that baby into the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is a beautiful golden brown and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

You should let the bread cool for about 15 minutes before you cut it.

If you can. 🙂

I usually can’t…

This sourdough soda bread is great with any meal just the way it is. But sometimes if we’re having something Italian inspired, I’ll brush it with garlic butter instead of buttermilk.

I store the little bit that’s left over in a linen bread bag for a few days. If there’s any left after that I use it for bread pudding.

It makes great toast with butter and jam, and a pretty awesome French Toast.

Assuming you didn’t put garlic butter on it. Because if you did, that would make terrible French Toast…

Frequently Asked Questions About Sourdough Soda Bread

How long does sourdough soda bread keep?

This bread should last 3 to 5 days tightly wrapped on the counter or 7 to 10 days in the fridge. There’s usually not any left after a day or 2 here, so I store it in a linen bread bag.

Can I freeze sourdough soda bread?

Absolutely! Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then a freezer zip top bag. Keep in the freezer for 3 to 5 months.

To reheat, let thaw completely then put in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes.

More Sourdough Discard Recipes you should try:

Sourdough Soda Bread

This Sourdough Soda Bread recipe uses baking soda and buttermilk to make it rise, along with your discard starter so you don't have the normal wait.
5 from 33 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 1 loaf
Calories 1637 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 c sourdough starter unfed/discard
  • ½ c buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp butter melted
  • 2-3 c flour
  • ½ c rolled oats
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp baking soda

Instructions
 

  • Start by preheating the oven to 400°F.
  • Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper and lightly sprinkle it with flour.
  • Whisk together the starter, buttermilk, egg, and the melted butter.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, the rolled oats (keeping a few aside to sprinkle on the top), baking soda, baking powder, and the sea salt.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well. It will be a slightly sticky dough.
  • If it’s dry and crumbly add a little more buttermilk a Tbsp at a time. If it’s really sticky add some more flour a Tbsp at a time. It should be sticky, but dry enough to form it into a ball.
  • Form the dough into a ball and place it on the center of your prepared baking sheet.
  • Cut a deep “X” across the top.
  • Using a pastry brush, brush buttermilk on the top of the dough. Sprinkle oats on the top.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is a beautiful golden brown.
  • Let the bread cool for 15 minutes before you cut it.

Notes

This sourdough soda bread is great with any meal just the way it is. But sometimes if we’re having something Italian inspired, I’ll brush it with garlic butter instead of buttermilk.

Nutrition

Calories: 1637kcalCarbohydrates: 275gProtein: 47gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 238mgSodium: 6658mgPotassium: 637mgFiber: 13gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 1145IUCalcium: 762mgIron: 15mg
Keyword sourdough soda bread
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
By on March 7th, 2022

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