Brown Soda Bread

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Ingredients:

(Makes Two Loaves)

• Rapeseed oil, for greasing
• 5 ¾ cups (800g) strong brown (wholewheat) bread flour
• 1 ½ cups 200g strong white bread flour
• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
• 4 teaspoons sea salt
• 3 handfuls (approx 1 ½ cips) of mixed seeds (such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and linseeds/flaxseed)
• ⅔ cup (200g) molasses, treacle, I used golden syrup, which makes a paler bread, but still v delicious
• 2 eggs
• 3 ½ cups (850ml) buttermilk
• 1 cup (200ml) Guinness stout
• ½ cup (50g) pinhead oats, for the topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 130°C/265°F/ Gas Mark 3⁄4. Grease two 23 × 13 × 7-cm loaf pans.

2. Stir all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add the treacle, eggs and buttermilk and combine, then add enough stout until you achieve a wet dough.

3. Pour the dough into the two prepared loaf pans, sprinkle the oats on top and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hr 30 minutes to 1 hr 45 minutes, until the loaves sound hollow when the bottoms are tapped.