Pantry Bread

Because I work from home and keep my son, the biggest Coronavirus impact on my family thus far has been the difficulty of finding basic food items; bread and other staples have been flying off my local shelves. Figuring that I’m not the only one in this boat, I decided to share a quick bread recipe that uses only things that I always have on hand. This bread is perfect for munching or pairing with soups, it can even be cut in half for a bun!

The consistency of this bread turns out to be sort of halfway between bread and a biscuit, as this recipe started life many moons ago as an Irish soda bread recipe. I can’t really call it that anymore, because the original called for buttermilk, which I don’t keep on hand.

Ingredients:

250g/2 Cups AP Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoons Sugar, optional
1 1/3 Cups Plain Greek Yogurt
Warm water

Steps

Preheat oven to 400* (375* Fan/Convection)
Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Mix in yogurt, I start with the separated whey. Add warm water 2 tablespoons at a time until dry ingredients are fully integrated into the dough.
Form into balls and place on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet, flattening a bit. It will be very sticky, so be prepared to get your hands dirty.
Bake until golden brown and tapping on underside produces a hollow sound; about 20 minutes for palm-sized loaves.

Customization notes: If you don’t keep plain Greek yogurt on hand, you can try out some of the other buttermilk substitutes (such as milk mixed with lemon juice, vinegar, or cream of tartar). Also, I assume that you can use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose, omitting the salt and baking soda, but I’ve never tried it, so I can’t promise that it will work. Finally, this is a basic recipe, but it can be jazzed up with onion, cheese, anything you like really!