This is the easiest Irish Soda Bread recipe! It is so simple, yet delicious. Made with einkorn flour and kefir, you can be sure it is healthy and nutritious. Kefir is a wonderful way to incorporate the benefits of fermented foods into your diet.
Benefits of kefir
Kefir is simply fermented milk, and it tastes incredible. Fermented foods are rich in probiotics and have been used for thousands of years to preserve foods. Unlike other preserving methods such as canning or freezing, when foods are fermented, the nutritional content increases through the addition of good bacteria. Other delicious ferments we eat every week include sauerkraut, yogurt, raw cheese, cottage cheese and apple cider vinegar.
Kefir also contains 9 grams of protein per serving, along with calcium, phosphorus, B12, B2 and magnesium. So, these nutrients in addition to probiotics make it quite the nutritious food. But what are probiotics and do we actually need them?
What about probiotics?
Probiotics are a friendly bacteria that have been shown to improve digestion, sleep, brain health as well as immune system function. But why do we need them today? Well, our guts are in terrible condition. This is due to the ultra processed modern diet that our generation as well as the few before us have been consuming.
When my son was first born his gut was in awful condition, he had extreme colic and stomach issues. I put him on an infant probiotic and it completely fixed all his issues. Now that he is eating solids I make sure to occasionally give him kefir as well as all of the other fermented foods listed above.
What is my favorite brand of kefir?
I absolutely love this product: https://alexandrefamilyfarm.com/products/100-grass-fed-whole-milk-kefir
Head over to the blog to find more on my product recommendations here —> Blog
Now let’s get baking!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups plain kefir
- 3 and 1/2 cups sifted einkorn flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup water
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 500 F with a dutch oven placed inside, cover on.
- Combine the kefir, sifted flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Combine the water and baking soda until it’s dissolved. Then add it to the flour mixture. ( Feel free to add in any sweet or savory mix ins for a special treat!)
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Fold the dough four times, then form into a ball. (The dough will be very very wet, this is ok!)*
- Cut a large cross into the dough. Place into the dutch oven with the cover on. Lower the oven temperature to 450 F. Cook for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and cook an additional 5 minutes. Enjoy!
*One of my favorite savory options is rosemary and garlic with parmesan. A sweet option could be cinnamon raisin! I have even made a green loaf for St. Patty’s Day using spinach!